Pages

Thursday, June 23, 2011

3 Cheers!

We got the best news EVER this past tuesday! We were in Boston for Malachi's one year follow up to his Pial Synangiosis procedure. This surgery was VITAL to Malachi and his future. Pre-surgery his risk of stroke was VERY high (I was told it was more likely that he would have another than not), if not corrected the blood flow to his brain would get worse and worse eventually causing him to die. We knew the importance of this surgery and that without God's grace and the hands of a skilled and world renowned surgeon, his fate would be dismal. Early tuesday morning my sweet lil man was put to sleep for a cerebral angiogram. The Interventional Radiology team at Boston Children's Hospital inserted a catheter in Malachi's groin and ran it through a major blood vessel to the base of his brain. They then injected dye and watched it flow through the blood vessels in his brain. And flow it did, all over that brain of his. The re-routed temporal arteries stitched directly to his brain grew and grew. Now healthy vessels encompass his brain providing a healthy amount of blood to all areas. His risk of stroke is at 5%...5% that's all! Dr. Scott said the results were more than we could ask for and quit possibly the best he's ever seen. Yet another miracle God has worked in our son. We have few words that express our gratitude and even less that seem fitting enough. We are overwhelmed with gratitude to those who cared for Malachi while he spent time recovering from his stroke and surgery in 4 different hospitals. All the nurses, doctors, and support staff who used their God given talents and knowledge to provide Malachi with the best possible care. To our family and friends who have held our heads up when we were to weak to, who encouraged, listened, prayed and loved on us unconditionally, we are forever indebted. The smile on Malachi's face, the strength of his hug and the joy in his laughter is all because of you! I can't imagine walking this path with anyone else.

3 comments:

Lacey said...

Oh that is fantastic news!!

larag1028 said...

What wonderful news! God is so good! I am so happy for you!

Leah Spring said...

I just ran across your blog. When my daughter Angela (now 15 with DS) was 7 months old she woke up one day and wasn't using one side. She was diagnosed with MMD, and was seen at Mayo in Rochester MN. The neurosurgeon there said she did not have MMD, She DID have narrowing on her rt carotid, but no revascularization seen. Clearly some type of "neurological event", but they couldn't see a stroke on the MRI's they did. She had TIA's for several years, and yearly MRI's with no changes. In 2007 she had a TIA while on the back of a horse. She'd also been having seizure symptoms for a couple years but nothing showing up in EEG's, and nobody could figure out what was going on. Anyway, the TIA on the back of the horse prompted us to get back to Mayo (we're just an hour from there) along with a full-spine MRI (maybe she had AAI or some other spinal anomaly?) Mayo did a cerebral angiogram. The narrowing on the rt carotid was still there, but they saw that the rt side of the circle of willis is not there. The left side has crossed over and is doing the job (gee, sounds like revascularization! LOL) Dr. Scott looked at all her scans, and like the other dr. at MM clinic in CA, everyone agreed it's NOT MM, but clearly SOMETHING going on. It never has been figured out. Nobody knows what the heck it is. We know she's had three significant neuro events, with the symptoms (significant left sided weakness usually regained after a couple of weeks, but sometimes taking months) I wish we knew what was going on. 15 years of feeling like you have a time bomb on your hands is just too much. Incidentally, we're in MN but Angela's GI specialist is at Boston Children's. My son (newly adopted from Serbia) has AAI, and had spinal fusion in May, in Philly.