Last summer, Supervisor of Operations and Promotions Gene Barrera went to the emergency room not expecting it to be the first day of a four-month hospital stay.
In an email, Barrera said the hospital visit was initially to treat an edema, and was expecting to receive some pills. He sent out many group texts to keep family and friends updated, and eventually decided to start a blog in August 2021.
While the blog was public, Barrera said he didn’t think anyone outside his friends and family would care.
“As people were hearing about my situation, my friends and family started asking if it was OK to share the blog with others so that they could keep tabs on what was going on,” Barrera said via email. “That extended to friends of friends and onward.”
At first the blog entries remained as updates, then slowly evolved into a journal to share his feelings on the experience. While this aided as a way for Barrera to vent through his emotions, he felt it was also important to let his friends and family in on his emotional state.
“Of course, this made the blog a bit messier, but I thought that was worth it,” he wrote.
Barrera also said he hopes his blog can help someone else who is going through the same experience.
Throughout the experience, Barrera said a lot of fear was present. Many of the conversations he had to have with the hospital staff were things he never expected to hear. When looking back, however, he mostly thinks about the support.
“I really remember the support I had from everyone I know,” Barrera wrote “Because of COVID, a vast majority of contact that I had with everyone was through text and email. It all was so important to me.”
Supervisor Team President Kristen Campbell said she followed his blog daily and kept in touch throughout the experience.
“I kept the Citrus College community up to date with his recovery, with his permission,” Campbell said in an email.
The last blog entry was in February. Barrera said that since the weekly procedures turned into monthly procedures, he had less to update on.
“Recovery has been so overwhelmingly positive,” Barrera wrote.
The heart transplant took place Nov. 22, 2021 and Barrera was discharged early December. The one-year procedure will be this December, and Barerra said he might make one final update.
“It has been wonderful having him back working, though still from home. It is fantastic to see his face even on a zoom box. We can’t wait to have him back here in person very soon,” Campbell wrote.
To hear more about Gene Barrera’s story, read his blog https://msha.ke/jjbarrera.
