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Tim Frakes Productions Inc., 2 S PARK Avenue Unit 2C, Lombard, IL (2025)

12/12/2025

Advent Journey
Update from Tim
Friday December 12, 2025

“For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭7

And the Lord spoke to the MRI Technician and vomited me out of the cold, noisy plastic tube and back onto my hospital bed/gurney.

And so ended another hour long diagnostic adventure in the bowels of Endeavor Edwards Hospital in Naperville.

And if you are saying to yourself, Jonah had it much worse with three days in the belly of a whale than I did in a single hour in an MRI tube, consider this:

Jonah brought trouble on himself by trying to outwit the creator of the universe. I didn’t ask to have half my body go numb followed by daily reoccurrences at random intervals and levels of intensity.

Once out on the beach, Jonah didn’thave to climb back into the whale's belly for further testing. I, on the other hand, have a play date in an hour or so with a neuro interventionist radiologist for another angiogram.

That’s the fun little hour or two when they run a catheter into the carotid artery in your groin, up near your brain and sq**rt various fluids around and record what happens.

Ok, enough sport bitching. The good news is that this morning’s MRI showed no vascular abnormalities. With any luck or divine intervention (which I’m absolutely open to) and if the doctors don’t find any vascular abnormalities in the angiogram, I may get to go home late today or more likely tomorrow.

Today’s lectionary Psalm 146 says
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.

12/11/2025

Advent Journey
Update from Tim
Thursday December 11, 2025

Tomorrow marks a full week since I found myself in the Endeavor Edwards Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit and it looks like I’ll be here for a while as we try to figure out what is going on inside my head (something educators, employers, clients and pastors have been trying to do for 64 years).

An observation regarding aviation pilots and healthcare professionals: when we place our lives into their hands, we tend to praise them. “Boy, Joe is an excellent pilot!” Or, “Doctor Sally really knows her business!”

Nobody ever says “I flew with Ed last week. He is such a mediocre pilot. I’m surprised we didn’t crash!”

I’m guessing this eagerness to praise the people whom we must trust in has more to do with our own insecurities than it does with the actual abilities of our pilots or caregivers.

Insecurities aside, trust me when I say that the care team at Endeavor Edwards Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit is amazing.

From the cleaning crew to the technicians of every stripe, the nurses, PA’s and doctors, this team is top drawer. They serve day and night with skill, humility and cheerfulness, folks like me who didn’t ask or expect to be here and now must depend on them for their very lives.

So this Advent Season, here’s a shout out to the team here in Naperville and healthcare workers everywhere who dedicate their lives to helping others.

Sing 🎵 with me!

On the first day in ICU
My care team gave to me
A bolus through an IV

On the second day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the third day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the fourth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the fifth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the sixth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the seventh day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the eighth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Heparin in the belly
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the ninth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
New gown exposing
Heparin in the belly
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the tenth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Ten wristband scannings
New gown exposing
Heparin in the belly
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the eleventh day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Non-Slip Stockings
Ten wristband scannings
New gown exposing
Heparin in the belly
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

On the twelfth day in ICU
My care team gave to me
Fall prevention
Non-Slip Stockings
Ten wristband scannings
New gown exposing
Heparin in the belly
Transcrainial Doppler
Cheery smiling faces
Five neuro screens!
Four blood draws
Three horse pills
Two needle sticks
And a bolus through an IV

12/10/2025

Advent Journey
Update from Tim,
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭2‬ ‭

Yesterday Gabriel visited and transported me to a place where I saw a great light. Literally.

Ok. Gabriel wasn’t an Angel sent from God. He is a Transportation Tech at Endeavor Edwards Naperville Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit.

Gabriel pushes people like me around in giant wheeled hospital beds through the labyrinth of this vast institution.

In my case it was from Room 6609 down to the basement for another CT scan of my brain.

The aforementioned “great light “ came from X-Rays generated by a Siemens CT Scanner. Computed Tomography is a technique in which an X-Ray tube is spun around the central axis of the area being scanned. In my case, the brain.

I doubt that the author of Isaiah 9 had x-rays in mind but it works for me because the scan shows no funky anomalies in my skull beyond the mysterious bleeding detected last week which placed me in the valley of the shadow of death, so to speak.

Once scanned, Gabriel dutifully returned me back to my room where my medical team assembled to give us an interpretation of the data.

Basically, they are telling us not to worry too much about the numerous episodes of random numbness that appear frequently throughout the day on the left side of my body and mysteriously disappear as quickly as they come.

According to the neurosurgeon it is likely just a response to my body absorbing the blood left over from the hemorrhage that occurred between the skull and my brain.

When the residue is flushed away through the spinal fluid the brain responds to the unusual activity with an unpleasant nudge.

I’m sure that I got all that completely wrong, but let’s not let science get in the way of a good story.

I’m also on Depacon, a new to me anti seizure medication designed to treat epilepsy which may help control the numbness episodes. Whatever works.

Bottom line, more waiting and watching ahead.

Back to angles, they appeared in a steady parade throughout the day. Friends, colleagues, important figures responsible for my early life formation, my pastor toting the sacrament, and of course family.

My nurse pronounced it “kind of ballsy” for this many people, often unannounced, to appear in a Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit to visit a patient.

I loved it. I’m embarrassed by it. I’m concerned for my twenty neighbors on the floor, most of whom are in far worse shape, and spend the day with no visits.

Mary in Luke’s Gospel didn’t ask for or expect a visit by the Angel Gabriel. Neither did I anticipate the visitation. A great light, indeed.

12/09/2025

Update from Tim

Tuesday, December 8, 2025

Greetings all from Endeavor Edwards Naperville Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit Room 6609.

Matthew 11: 2-11, the lectionary text for the 3rd Sunday in Advent.

This week we find our hero, John the Baptist in the lockup (tradition tells us in the fortress at Machaerus) awaiting his fate.

According to Matthew when JTB heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word to Jesus asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Boy can I relate to John’s apparent impatience. He needed answers and none were readily available. Sitting in the same room day after day is wearing.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that the state of the art Endeavor Edwards Naperville Hospital Critical Neuro Intensive Care Unit Room 6609 is anything close to a first century prison cell, but when you are confined to a room, immediate circumstances take on inflated relevance compared that which transpires beyond. Just like stubbing your toe.

John needed answers. I need answers. Julie needs answers. My clients need answers. All we can do is wait.

Each morning a Transcrainial Doppler Technician comes in and checks the weather inside my skull to make sure I’m not going to have a seizure. So far so good.

One part of the test requires me to bend my chin down to my chest so the technician (Jose or Milton) can get the ultrasound probe squarely in contact with the back of my neck.

I imagine at some point one of John’s jailers gave him a similar instruction right before the sentence was carried out.

Fortunately neither Jose nor Milton have any plans to serve my head up on a silver platter!

My nurse Vanessa informs me that a new MRI and likely Angiogram are scheduled for December 16, 10 days after the original procedure. The idea is to compare the separate test results and get a clearer picture as to what is going on inside my head.

Random bouts of numbness continue in different places on my left side throughout the day. This could just be symptoms of the original injury resolving itself. It’s disconcerting nevertheless.

No one ever says that waiting is easy. But, of course, that’s what Advent is all about. Waiting patiently. I’m doing my best, with no worries about my head being chopped off. I’m also not in any pain. Family and friends continue to visit with words of good cheer. The care team is amazing.

As Jesus eventually responds to John’s anxious inquiry, “..the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

No offense taken.

12/07/2025

In much of the Christian tradition, the season of Advent serves as our time of marking a new year. It is a time of preparation and anticipation awaiting the incarnation of Emanuel, God with us.

It’s also a time when we consider the end of time as we know it, when our familiar world concludes and creation is reborn.

This Advent season and its deeper meaning are vividly illustrated this season in the form of a personal health crisis.

On December 5th, after experiencing some numbness in my left arm, I presented myself at the Edward’s Elmhurst Urgent Care in my hometown of Lombard, Illinois.

Subsequently I was sent to Elmhurst Hospital for a closer examination. Presenting myself at the Emergency Room intake desk, my entire left side became numb. My phone and wallet dropped from my hand onto the carpet and the ER staff sprung into action.

In a few hours the numbness subsided and I found myself being evacuated to Naperville’s Edward’s Hospital in one of those fancy transport ambulances staffed with four highly trained EM’s. Naperville has a specialized neurocritical care unit.

Thus began a journey of high tech diagnostic exams, visits by loving family and friends, and an overwhelming outpouring of expert nursing, technician and physician care.

Basically they determined that I had a small bleed on the surface of my brain.

As anyone who has been hospitalized knows, all semblance of prideful modesty goes out the window as you don that embarrassing but practical hospital gown. The various tubes and sensors mean that you have to ask for permission to go to the bathroom.

Hourly evaluations to make sure that your brain is still functioning means little sleep.

And so the waiting begins. When can I eat? When is the procedure? When is the doctor coming by? When will this end?

Advent. Anticipation. Lessons in gratitude and patience.

Outside my hospital window I enjoyed a brief sunrise before December clouds obscured it.

It was a hopeful sign. For hope is also an important part of Advent. Hope that God is with us. Hope that we have a future beyond this thin mortal veil.

Monumental thanks to my loving spouse Julie, our amazing kids and grandchildren, the dedicated health care professionals who continue to tend to my every need, for insurance that will hopefully pay for all of this, for faithful friends who keep showing up to pray read scripture and offer cheer, including my dear friend Kevin who drove all the way from St. Louis to be with me.

Thanks to all of my clients who are hanging with me during this Advent downtime until I can get back on my feet and continue to help tell their stories.

07/25/2025

Shout out to our freelance production team, Stacey Adams, Jeff De Vrise Jim Parks and Landon Manuel for their excellent work at the 2025 Christian Fellowship Community Luncheon at the Milwaukee Baird Convention Center this week. Well done, team!

06/26/2025

Hales Bar Marina, Guild, Tennessee.

06/05/2025

Visiting with my dad in Chesterfield, Missouri today. He will be 95 this October and spends his days painting and decorating wooden toys crafted by my brother in law, for distribution to nonprofit children’s charities in the St. Louis area.

06/05/2025

American Gothic, Eldon, Iowa.

05/27/2025

Will you still need me, when I'm sixty-four?

If the first half of 2025 is any indication, the answer is yes. On June 1 I celebrate my 64th trip around the sun and give thanks for great opportunities, interesting stories and meaningful video production work in the faith-based, non-profit business space.

My colleague Stacey Adams and I recorded interviews with social justice and civil rights activists Jane Ramsey and Betty Mangnuss with Chicago Theological Seminary’s Jackson Oral History Project. We also produced a Clergy Wellness Gathering video in Westmont, Illinois.

Hephzibah Children’s Association asked us to produce the 2025 Heart of Gold video with a story about Amy Lutz, a woman who was served by Hephzibah as a child, went to work for Hephzibah as an adult and now has her children enrolled in their after school program.

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and local churches team up to care for seniors at LSSI’s Spring Ridge Senior Adult Living facility in Rockford. We also supported LSSI’s Good Shepherd Sunday efforts with video messaging from LSSI President and CEO Mark Stutrud.

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is reshaping theological education with Project Starling, an online learning platform designed to make theological education accessible to all through resources, certificate programs, workshops, and training opportunities.

We also recorded the LSTC 2025 Baccalaureate at Augustana Lutheran Church in Chicago.

The Rural Community Assistance Partnership asked us to help develop training tools for technical assistance providers in rural Indiana. We also produced stories about their work in rural Puerto Rico as communities there face infrastructure challenges following hurricanes Maria and Finona.

The Chicago Rehab Network’s Community Empowerment Series was live streamed to remote audiences and then students jumped on a bus to tour two Chicago affordable housing projects currently under development.

We helped keep people safe during hospital stays with a series of Patient Family Education Videos.

Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America asked us to visit eight Chicago area congregations and ministries and tell their unique stories. It was a refreshing and encouraging look at life in the local church.

Metro Chicago also asked us to produce a fun cooking segment/synod assembly report with Bishop Yaheil Curry titled, Good Stew at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Villa Park.

And the Christian Fellowship Community recalled us to Burton, Texas to cover their annual Reeter Ranch Retreat. We will also be recording their annual Milwaukee gathering this July.

The Law Center for Better Housing asked us to produce and livestream their 2025 Town Hall gathering at the Chicago Community Trust on State Street in front of a live audience.

The University of St. Mary of the Lake’s 2025 Commencement speaker was a no-show due to his presence in Rome for the Papal Conclave and election of Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV Our livestream went ahead without Cardinal Blase Cupich and was a delightful celebration.

I’m thrilled to still be needed, even at the age of 64!

04/19/2025

Mayagüez Plaza, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

04/09/2025

Recording Dr. Christian Scharen, Associate Professor and Gordon Braatz Chair of Worship at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for their new Project Starling asynchronous learning initiative.

Tim Frakes Productions Inc.

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