Showing posts with label led zepplin. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

No AVM's

Led Zeppelin...

I got nothing for you... NO AVM's...

So I'll give you some Led Zeppelin.

or...

Amazon.com Widgets

The day felt long. I did not do much.... I did not know what to do... not having a job really sucks.
oh well... maby tomorrow will look better.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Dr. Zager, Dr. Zager

Perhaps I should back-track and talk about how we arrived at brain surgery as The Choice. All the websites and the research I’d done on AVMs thus far yielded 3 options on AVM treatment: embolization, radiation, or microsurgery. Because each AVM is unique in size, location, and involvement of blood vessels, and because each patient is different in age, ability, and health status, no two AVMs can be approached in the same manner. Some are completely inoperable, while others are relatively easily corrected with little side effects. It all depends. That’s where Dr. Zager came in. Dr. Hart could diagnose me, and even tell me the options that were widely available, but it was Dr. Zager’s expertise that allowed him to look at my MRA and MRI scans and say I needed brain surgery. He also said that embolization would be used in conjunction with the craniotomy.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

got a avm news... and me too...

Losing normal

Son's Successful battle with rare, often-deadly brain condition strengthens family's bonds.

I can't go to any more basketball games," 10-year-old Christopher Banks said, teary eyed"Why not?" his mom wanted to know.

He pointed to his head, shaved for surgery with a still-raw incision marking the spot where doctors had removed the tumor from his brain. "Because of this."

Kim Banks looked at her son. For almost two years, she'd waited for a moment like this one, a moment when her son faced a challenge she could help him with without consulting specialists, without undergoing tests, without traveling halfway across the country. Here was a problem she could solve....
read more...
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if you want a new look buy a book...

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okay wassup with me... nothing really... I had turkey for dinner... and I may be allergic to it... i mean i am really sick... so i'm gonna make this short...

i have a friend who loves my photos.. so this is for you...

okay there you go... pics of me... i don't know what you see in me...

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog - Rare Acoustic

After hearing the lovely fake that was a youtube I thought I had better put some led zep on... go ahead and buy something... or don't.

I'm gonna leave.. see ya!
R

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

AVM and Led Zeppelin

A separate poster.

Worrying now.

It seems like this journey has taken so long, and We've waited for so long to find out whats going to happen, and now that its just around the corner im terrified. This time next week we'l know what they are going to do, wether they are going to let her have the operation or wether they have decided that she just wont survive it...I cant decide what would be for the best? with all the risks involved with surgery would it be better to leave it? And then theres the risks with just leaving it?. Really scared now of what they are going to do and say next week....hardly sleeping, its just such a big decision that we arent going to have any say in....Just felt like ranting...feeling lost all over again.

go give a read...
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AVM survivor

Sen. Tim Johnson tours Muenster University Center

JOE SNEVE

VOLANTE NEWS REPORTER

The recently opened Muenster University Center was paid a visit Monday by South Dakota’s longest-serving Democratic U.S. Senator, Tim Johnson.

The Vermillion native and USD alumnus greeted students and faculty and took a few photos as he received a tour of the new facility. The building’s namesake, Ted Muenster, and USD President James Abbott guided Johnson on the tour....

for more...

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Led Zeppelin Over the Hills and Far Away

LED ZEPPELIN GOING TO CALIFORNIA

Led Zeppelin No Quarter

If you can still believe it ... I still have a headache... Right now it's livable... oh yah... I quit my job yesterday. Now it is a matter of finding one... shoud not be hard to replace... p/t minimum wage is equivalent. I have to get over this headache...

So what do you think... shoud I offer some Led Zeppelin... nah you'll find it in this blog if you are intrested.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

I just felt like it...

have some youtube... sorry.

Dust in the Wind - Kansas

Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son" 1976 Video

Wow I can't believe it has been so many years!

I use to worship the ground they walked.

There that should get you running...

Led Zeppelin Black Dog 1973

Led Zeppelin Since I've Been Loving You 1973

The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin (Acoustic)

Robert Plant - Morning Dew

robert Plant - Tall Cool one

Robert Plant - Nine Lives

An interview. I liked him better in Led Zeppelin... but he's still relay good.

I have a headache now... sh&t... I am gona go...

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A definition... and a bit of me.

just a definition...

~What is Arteriovenous Malformation?~

Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) is the abnormal collection and tangle of blood vessels in the brain. Though present at birth, it is not hereditary. AVM is not dependent on race or sex. Strokelike symptoms can be experienced with AVMs because the brain is not able to get teh oxygen from the blood that it normally would.

~Symptoms~

Symptoms leading to the diagnosis of AVM vary with each person. Seizures and headaches are common symptoms with AVMs. Symptoms usually do not appear until people are well into their 30s. Sometimes AVMs are not even diagnosed until a person is elderly or even after death. AVMs can be diagnosed via a CT or an MRI examination of the vessels in the brain.

~Treatments~

Arteriovenous malformaitons can be treated with embolization, radiation, or surgery. Embolization, stopping up the vessel, is said to be the safest and most effective treatment for AVMs.

from...
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Go take a look at the last one... Trash Bags??? (I don't know)

I am fuming... I went to work, and got Fu%Ked by a road sales rep... I am supposedly get all of the ups... this douchebag took a phone up... wiche he sold... and then the rotten guy did the paperwork had the guy come in and signe it... did not even give me a chance.

I am mad as hell!!!

Anyway I feel the need to youtube!

Pink Floyd The Wall Flower Scene What Shall We Do Now

Led Zeppelin-kashmir...the real video

okay my having a headache ass is going to bed...

good by...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

AVM News... plus Led Zepplin... But but spelled different

Riding the Doctor Merry Go Round on a Horse Called Hope

I may have avoided updating this blog for a couple of months. I think I lost hope and faith that I would begin to feel better or that any one of my doctors were listening to me or helping me. I had hoped to have another baby back a year and a half ago before my health went south. I was very sad. I had nothing solid or enlightening to share on the subject of my health. Everything was the same for so long and I felt like I was beginning to whine and I can't do that to anyone who actually takes the time to read this crap. I HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THIS BLOG WAS CREATED AS A MEANS FOR THOSE WITH AVM's & ANEMIA TO FIND AND SHARE INFORMATION. If anyone is frustrated and at their wit's end for information about these draining conditions, and if I have helped in any small way, then I have served my intended purpose here & am trying to help by sharing my little nuggets of experience and wisdom.

As previously posted, I spoke about the good health and happiness connection, about my slide downward with my health again, having tachycardia and weird heart arrhythmias. I was since placed on a drug to regulate my heart rate; a beta blocker. Theories are that my heart was stressed and was beating too rapidly along with irregular heart beats...a short circuit or misfiring. Well, no kidding it was stressed! My heart was trying to pump blood it did not have enough of through my anemic body. It just blew a circuit I guess. And, admittedly, stressors in my life did not help matters. It is amazing that certain health conditions and people can actually stress your heart.

I am better now. Back on the horse and hopeful that I now have doctors who can manage my health issues in a timely and correct way. Now I am trying to get medical clearance to try to get pregnant again through in vitro. The heart thing is better now and I have since been pumped up with intravenous iron....ALOT of it. I sat for 5 hours (drip, drip, drip) while my body sucked up much-needed iron. This brought up my iron stores which were literally rock bottom, while allowing my body to start making red blood cells to up my hemoglobin which was really beginning to slide. FYI to those who have received or will receive intravenous iron therapy: if you receive 2,000mg of iron or whatever dosage, you may experience side effects such as I did. For three days I had deep-bone pain after my IV. I have never ached so badly in every bone and joint in my body--I mean throbbing, pulsing, aching. It was like the flu from hell. Specific pain was in my hips, groin, thighs, knees & shins. I had to phone the hematologist and they prescribed pain medication for me. I was told this pain was my bone marrow working hard to make red blood cells after having been deprived of enough iron for so long.

I also have since had more endosopy and colonoscopy to search for those dastardly AVM's that can be lurking. The doctor could not find anything. That is not to say AVM's are not there. Remember, people half bleed to death like I did and the source of bleeding was not found by the time I was hospitalized. So, I know they could be there just waiting to break open. Is all the doctors could do was give me drugs to clot my blood (which is probably what gave me a blood clot!), transfuse me with blood and that was it. I will soon do a camera pill study for another look, possibly followed by a double balloon enteroscopy, which is a 4 hours or more procedure in an OR under general anesthesia, which scares me. This may occur only if the cameral pill study finds something I believe.

I am stable and feeling much better than I was 3 months ago. If I can remain stable, keep up my hemoglobin & iron, get the fibroid tumor situation figured out and be healthy enough to have that baby then I will be very happy. I have a pretty good hematologist and some new doctors at The Mayo Clinic and am hopeful they will continue to manage my condition for me. I am still on the doctor merry go round as I call it and again, I am hopeful they will make me well enough. In just one month's time I have seen 2 hematologists, 1 cardiololgist, 2 gastroenterologists, 1 internal medicine specialist, 2 gynecologists and 1 obstetrician/fertility specialtist--hence the Doctor Merry Go Round. Wish me luck!
Signed,
Hope

from.... go visit... I mean it!
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I am guilty of the Brain thing... I admit it. She has an AVM and wants help... I would offer... but I'm a little F'ed up because of the brain AVM.

...but some of you could help.... go do it.

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Why did I post a towel in the "buy something" place... I don't know why but a towel shows up when you put "AVM" in the search box... but when you put 2 l's in "Led Zeppelin" you get nothing.... oh well... time to get funky...

Led Zeppelin-Stairway to Heaven

okay... good by... for now...

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Got a pair... kinda

Red lips, bloody nose, septic knee.

That’s the patient. He has a long history of a bloody nose for the 7 decades of his life and he has red dots at the vermillion border of this lips. And spiders. Not the arachnid, Mr Parker.

And now he has a knee with rubor, dolo,r calo,r tumor (I have to work the title of the podcast in somewhere). It is tapped and filled with pus and methicillin sensitive S. aureus.

It is odd how when I read an article in a journal and I see a case shortly thereafter. I suppose if I never read, I would never see anything new. The reading causes new cases to appear; I am convinced of the cause and effect.

Patient has Osler-Weber-Rendu, now called Osler-Rendu-Weber, I do not know why they changed the name order since I was a medical student. And the CID article calls it Rendu-Osler, poor Weber is aced out. OWR is congenital form of arterial venous malformations (avm’s), and wouldn’t you know it, they get infections. Brain abscesses and infected joints...

want more... click here

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and a second one...

At Least A Visit

It's been a while. A lot has happened, but I 'll restrict my comments to Canada and my brain as much as possible.

Two weeks ago, I had my follow-up angiogram. The coil on my aneurysm is fine, no problems. The AVM is gone too, but the Dr. saw an "early blood vessel." He thinks it is most likely scar tissue, but wants another angiogram in a year just to keep an eye on it. It's nothing to be alarmed about, for certain, not because were it not scar tissue it could be another AVM, but because we shouldn't be afraid of things that can hurt our bodies, but concerned with our souls. So we'll just keep an eye on it, like the Dr. says.
want more.... click here
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Okay I admit it... I Led Zep'ed you again.
but They really do Rock!
I am going to work again... God knows why.
I guess I'm hopping for a full time job... with McMinimum Wage *(plus commission)... hopping and hopping...<--- am I spelling that right? (who cares)

so you wanna see some Zep? Okay!

The Ocean - Led Zeppelin
No band... just lyrics.

LED ZEPPELIN GOING TO CALIFORNIA
with band...

okay I should let you go... Peace,
R

I had ta do it...see ya'

Monday, March 23, 2009

AVM's and Led Zeppelin... huh?

Arteriovenous Malformation

*What is Arteriovenous Malformation?*

Arteriovenous Malformations(AVMs) are defects of the circulatory system that are believed to arise during embryonic development or shortly after birth. The are comprised of tangled arteries and veins. The presence of an AVM disrupts the normal function of these arteries and veins, which is taking blood away from the heart and returning it to it. An AVM can develop in many different areas, but those in the brain and spinal cord can have widespread effects on the rest of the body. AVMs of the brain and spinal cord are believed to effect approximately 300,000 male and female Americans.

*Symptoms*

Most people with AVMs don't experience any symptoms and they are only detected during an autopsy or during treatment for an unrelated disorder. Symptoms only tend to occur when the damage from the AVM to the brain or spinal cord reaches a critical level. For those people that do experience symptoms, seizures and headaches are the most generalized. Other symptoms include muscle weakness or paralysis in one part of the body, a loss of coordination, dizziness, visual disturbances, and memory deficits just to name a few...

from...

Today is going to be definitions day...
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Definition number two...

AVM

For this week's pathology blog I decided to talk about arteriovenous malformations or AVM. In the image seen, this patient's AVM, which was not previously known about, ruptured, causing an acute bleed and was subsequently treated with surgery. During this surgery, the patient's AVM was discovered and also surgcially treated.

An AVM is a defect where the arteries and veins of the brain are not connected properly. The arteries and veins pretty much become a big jumble of vessels and of course can't function properly. This causes increased blood flow and subsequently higher blood pressure in the area of the AVM. Unlike an aneurysm, there are no set "risk factors" for an AVM. They are considered to be congenital as most people who suffer from an AVM are born with them.

The most common symptom of an AVM is an acute brain bleed. Other symptoms may include seizures, loss of motor functions, loss of senses, mass effect seen on a CT scan, severe head or facial pain. These types of symptoms are often confused with those of a stroke therefore proper screening is very important!!

Treatment for AVM's vary and depend greatly upon several factors including the age of the patient, the location of the AVM, the size of the AVM, and whether or not the patient is at risk for an acute bleed. Treatments may include surgery, radiation, embolization, or a combination of these.

I found my information at www.brain-aneurysm.com

that one is from here...

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Okay I know that Led Zeppelin is a far throw from AVM definitions but hey it is my blog!
Here is one for you...

AVM Survivors Network

As many of you know, this past year was a very difficult one for me. I was in bad shape with my AVM, lots of pain, ugly wounds, crazy bleeding... And I can absolutely say that I am feeling so much better today. The difference between today and one year ago is like night and day.

While my treatment with Dr. Yakes has obviously played a huge part in my improvement, I also know that the community over at AVMsurvivors.org has been instrumental in my mental and emotional health. I will be eternally grateful to Ben Munoz for creating the site, and am so vey happy to be a part of this new family.

This morning as I logged into my iGoogle page, I saw that my new friend Scott Orn had posted a link from his blog about AVMSurvivors.org. Turns out that our AVM support network is featured as Site of the Month at Northeast Center for Special Care.

Our AVM family tells Ben all the time how grateful we are, and how he is the coolest kid around. But it is very nice to see him, and the site he created, recognized by others for the benefit it offers to people suffering from Arteriovenous Malformations.

Go Ben!!!

from...
You go girl!!
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Ben is something special... for all of us. Thank you Ben.

Ben gave me a place to vent... and to listen to others with AVMs let me see if I can find my page... hummm can't show it to ya... but I can offer you a look at the page.
go here http://www.avmsurvivors.org/
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some Led Zeppelin for you...
(okay fine it is for me!)

Led Zeppelin Black Dog 1973

Led Zepelin - Stairway to Heaven
and finally..

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
okay it would not be me if I did not give you something to buy...

and there ya' go... avm's and Led Zeppelin... ya just can't do better than that... can you.

I'm a gonna go... peace out... R

Monday, March 02, 2009

Wow we may have a record!

Again today... no avm story. Wow!! Is all I can say.
So what to do with you... I like the idea of posting old story's.

At least I thought I cold spell. Now I know better....
post number two... from 2005.

Testing the waters.. when good yoga goes bad

Okay so now I am here for post number two. And seeing if I read the “how to” properly.. there is a possibility that I have head-in-ass disease, or as we like to call it around here.. a case of BAD YOGA.

So what to write about that you the reader may enjoy.. better question, do I care if you enjoy it.. well not really.. but here goes anyway.

Lets talk about stupid people.. I am not saying that I am not a stupid person, but it seems to me, if you can spot them easily, you probably aren’t one.

Here are a few examples:
A man in a southern town, had to have his penis removed from a soda can, when after he placed it into the opening, it started to “swell”. He suffered circumferential lacerations and required stitches. We can only hope that it does not work any longer, so he may not proliferate! (With any of his cousins or other fine folk)
I am sure someone asked him “Why did you do a dern fool thing like that fer” and I am willing to bet, his response was , “To see if I could get it to fit in there.”

I heard about a young fella who to check to see if the power was connected to his spa, wet the tip of one of his fingers and touched the incoming hot wire.. I bet that left a mark! What I want to know is Did he really think he had to wet his finger to feel 50 amps of 240 volt current?

Have you ever done anything realllllly stupid? (Sure you have, we all have.. hell I married the same woman twice!)
Care to comment on your act of stupidity, you can do it here and be completely anonymous.. I dare you to open up to nearly a billion potential reader.. I dare ya!

Dumb stuff I have done:

Married my high school sweetheart, while I was in high school.. during a lunch break.. of course consummating the marriage in the school parking lot when we got back was fun.. Then we divorced after 11 months.. (should have seen that one coming)
Forward the clock 12 years… I find here after a short search, have not talked with her in nearly 10 years.. we start to call each other regularly, as we are both going through a rough divorce from our subsequent spouses, we have lots to share.. mostly about how bad out choices of spouses had been, excepting present company. Then after a 3 month whirlwind 1500 mile phone relationship, my dumb ass hops a jet flys to where she is and PROPOSES! WTF WAS I THINKING???!!!???. We were wed 4 days after my arrival in her home town… we separated 11 days later, the divorce took another 60 days to be finalized.. we were nuts.. I think she was nuts she swears I was… Moral: Two people in dire emotional distress, should avoid each other like the plague, outside of perhaps group therapy.

Okay, I have been married a few times.. I am real good at courtship and shit as a spouse. I know it, I warned my current wife.. she didn’t listen and begged me to marry her for 7 years! Any bets on how long the marriage lasts.. I am banking on 2 years tops.. It’s been 7 months of hell now.. I think I can take another 17?

Maybe I have a problem with commitment? I am not sure, but it seems like you need to be committed (to an institution) if you want to marry me..
I should know never to sink so low as to marry anyone that would sink so low as to date me.

OOH OOH! I forgot about this one.. I was in High school, I was dating affine young lady, and I went to meet her parents. The meeting went well, I was nervous, cause I wanted to be able to see her at least long enough to get in her drawers. (what can I say, I’m a dude!) SO we meet, we have dinner, (her mom’s cooking sucks) after the meal we watch some television, her dad gives me the third degree, and I lie and pass the questioning.
The evening draws to a close, she walks me to the door, we kiss goodnight. I hope into my car .. put it in reverse.. and back SMACK into her dad’s new car! Panicking, I hit the gas rather than the break and push the little Toyota’s bumper full up into the grill! I panic further, put the car into Drive rather than park, hop out and my car rolls forward into their house! (pushing my bumper full up into my grill) This by the way takes some force to do in a 1969 Chevy Malibu! The crash(es) bring the family a running… needless to say after my ass chewing from her, her mother and her father, I left with my tail between my legs.. and I really mean that literally. She was forbidden to see me… (well that’s what she said the next day we were in school together) I never did get to get her naked… and I met my first wife a few months later..
See now if I had only had a few drinks during dinner I would not have been so nervous, and would be telling a different story of divorce today… of if she would have just boinked me before hand, we could have avoided the whole meet the parents thing.. talk about a life changing event.. funny how one little thing causes so many other little things isn’t it? Well I guess that is a topic for another entry.. now it is time to post this and see if I did read the “how to” section correctly.
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Wow what a story teller I was... If you did not get this far... I don't blame you...
if you did here is a pat on the back.
Here have some stuff... you can buy...

Led Zeppelin

one more?

Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
Did I tell you I was once mistaken for Robert Plant... really.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

No avms to report! YAAAAAA!

That was my go news... now the rest...

I don't feel like typing... I have a child over, she is my oldest granddaughter.

And she is out of control. He parents are getting a divorce. And she in only 5 years old... Her father lives with us... he has no job... you all know what my income is like... it is a joke.
His mom dose not let me charge him...

oy vey!

Well have a good one... peace.
R

okay I had to do it...
Led Zep...

and thats it... really I mean it... I do...

Monday, December 15, 2008

One... Plus Duke L. post.

Jake's Surgery

Thursday night, Jake didn't get much sleep. He was very anxious for the coming day's activities. Michael stayed up with him until he was ready to sleep...around 12:30 am.

Friday morning came quickly. The family was up and around at 5:45, and since Jake wasn't able to eat anything, he was VERY hungry! We left for the hospital around 6:30ish, dropped Chris off at our neighbors house (thanks Fosters!), and started the half hour drive. All the while, Jake was dealing with an empty stomach and nerves. His tummy wasn't very comfortable.

We got to the hospital just in time to see the sunrise and for his procedure to get underway. We were greeted

by a less than friendly receptionist, and were escorted to a room with 5 full beds. The curtain around Jake's bed was pulled closed so he could put on his hospital gown. After he got his gown on, we had to meet with the anesthesiologists and sign consent forms.

They then wheeled Jake back to the

operation room, and Michael went with him until he fell asleep. Jake took a few minutes to fall asleep, and then he was off to surgery.

The surgery was supposed to last 3-4 hours, so Michael, Mom (Grandma Deeter), and myself went down to the cafeteria to grab some yummy (ick) hospital breakfast. We were given a pager, so they could contact us if needed. We spent a couple hours in the cafeteria, and around the 3 hour mark, I headed back upstairs to the waiting room in hopes that he'd be done soon. An hour went by, and no word, and another half hour went by, and Michael and Mom came up to see if there was any word. Nothing yet. Michael asked the receptionist if she knew anything, and she made a phone call. A few minutes later, a nurse came out to tell us that they were just finishing up, and he'd be done in about 20-30 minutes.

About a half hour went by, and one of Jake's doctors came out to talk to us. He greeted us with a "Good news, bad news" info. He informed us that they were able to get a lot of work done on Jake, and were able to block 75% of the blood flow to his AVM. The bad news of that is they found that instead of just one artery feeding the AVM, he actually has 3 of the 6 arteries in his head feeding the AVM. Since the condition was 3 times worse than they were expecting, the surgery took longer than expected (it lasted a total of 5 hrs). This would also require an additional 1 or 2 surgeries to correct, and there was a chance that his birthmark might actually get bigger in the coming weeks. (very disappointing to find out!) He told us that Jake was going to be taken upstairs to the "Post Anesthesia Recovery" area, and we can meet them up there.

We all got in the elevator, and went up the 2 floors to the recovery area. They called us in, and we were taken into the Pediatric Post Anesthesia Recovery Room. It took Jake about a full hour to be released to his room. During that hour, he intermittently said things and tried to sit up. Unfortunately, because of his procedure, he was required to lay flat for 6 hours. When he first started to wake up (before Michael and I were in the room) he sat straight up. The nurse told us that "he's surprisingly strong!" She said it took 3 nurses to lay him back down, and another nurse to hold his leg straight. The first thing he said when he woke up, was to tell the nurse that his birthmark hurt, and his throat hurt (he had a breathing tube during the surgery). About a half hour later, he was starting to be a little more lucid, and I made a comment about how big his hands are getting, he said "I'm a tough guy". Once Jake was able to answer a few questions about what his name and birthday is, and what month we're in, they moved him down to the 2nd floor to the pediatric unit.

Once in his room, Mom and I went to grab some food at Subway to bring back to eat. (It was 3:00 by that time, and the last we had eaten was 8:00 that morning). Jake slept most of the day, which was actually a blessing for him. Since he had to lay flat, being asleep helped. The few times he woke up, he was pretty groggy and went back to sleep quickly. Mom went home to spend the afternoon/evening with Christopher around 4:00, and Michael and I hung out in Jake's room for a bit, watching him sleep. Around 5:30 or so, Jake's doctors came in to talk to us about the procedure. Thankfully, this second talk with the doctor was filled with a lot more information, and was a lot more encouraging.

He said that they were able to get 75% of the blood flow blocked, which was a lot considering that it was being fed by 3 arteries. He said that the AVM will swell a bit for a week, but after that, we shouldn't be too surprised to see some shrinkage occur (yay!) and there should be a lot less bleeding (double yay!). He said that after the first of the year, he'll have to do another embolization angiogram, but at the same time they'll also attack it from the outside doing the direct puncture procedure. He's very confident that this upcoming surgery will be the final one. Since they've already taken care of 75% of the problem, this next one will be a lot less to deal with. Jake will still have to lay flat for 6 hours following the procedure, but he won't be under anesthesia as long, so hopefully he won't be out of it as long following the procedure. He also said that they would have gone longer and tried to attack the AVM more during this surgery, but 5 hours exposure to x-rays and contrast material was all that Jake would be able to handle without getting sick. Another bit of unfortunate news was that the doctor wouldn't clear Jake for skiing this month, so we're having to postpone our trip to Denver to go skiing.

Jake was still pretty out of it when the doctors came in to talk to us, so he didn't get to hear a lot of what was said. He was in and out of sleep most of the evening. He'd wake up enough to tell us that he wanted some water or ice chips, and wanted to watch a movie. We'd get the laptop out and ready to play a movie, turn around to ask Jake a question, and he'd be asleep. He finally woke up fully around 6:30...a half hour before he was able to sit up and move his leg. The nurse was nice enough to raise the bed a little for him, and help him flex his ankles periodically, so that when he was able to move, it would be a shock to his system. He was able to keep down a few bites of apple slices, and a few spoonfuls of spaghetti-o's. The nurse gave him some medicine to help with his nausea, and by then Jake was able to move about (slowly) and keep more food down. Grandpa & Grandma Thornton and Great-Grandma Jensen came to visit him shortly after, and he still wasn't 100%, so he wasn't feeling up to chatting for too long. After Grandpa & Grandma left, he slept a bit, woke up a bit, and slept a bit more. He finally rolled over to his side to call it a night around 10:00.

Michael and I stayed with him that night, and endured the most uncomfortable night of sleep we've had in a long time. I slept on a chair that folded out into a VERY SMALL bed, and Michael slept in a recliner (not a lay-z-boy by any stretch of the imagination). Jake was being monitored throughout the night, so we were greeted with bright lights periodically through the night. Around 6:30 Saturday morning, Jake said he had to use the bathroom, so Michael helped him with his IV pump into the bathroom. We were up for the day at that point.

Jake was still somewhat groggy, but he was a little hungry, which I saw as a good sign! He had half of a pancake for breakfast, but that was a bit much for his tummy to handle. Michael made him some toast, and he downed that pretty quickly. It was just right! We all waited around the room, waiting for the doctor to come and give us the okay to go home. The doctor came in around 10:00 and talked to us a bit more, telling us what to expect during his recovery. We got our discharge papers around 10:30, and headed home. Jake was still a bit out of it Saturday, spending most of his time in bed. He got up periodically, and walked around the house some, but most of the afternoon was spent in his bedroom. He wanted soup for dinner, and that seemed to be just what he needed. After dinner, he was a lot more himself. He was able to be downstairs in the family room and we all watched a movie together.

Today, Jake is even better. He's gone 48 hrs without his birthmark bleeding (WOW!!!), and he's joking and being silly with his brother. We went out to eat lunch today at his favorite restaurant, and he had a really great time! It's still up in the air whether he'll go to school tomorrow or not, but it's nice to see him getting back to being himself. My parents brought him a sketch pad and pencils while he was at the hospital, and he's just now getting to be himself enough to pull those out and start using them - that's a great sign that he's slowly getting back to normal.

We'll find out in the coming weeks when his next surgery will be. He has mixed feelings about having to go through this again. He's looking forward to being done, but not looking forward to the recovery, and especially the having to lay flat for 6 hours! His birthmark is still quite painful for him, and we're told it will be that way for about a week.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers! We really appreciate them. Please continue to pray, as he's not out of this yet. Once again, I'm amazed at how he's handling the situation. What an awesome gift he is to this family, he's taught us so much! I'm excited to see how God's going to use him further! :)

from...
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Go get them... Jake!

It's funny, I could have like him, youthful, when I got treatment.
The first time, I had my headache I was 19!
I don't know that it was caused by my AVM but it should did feel that way.
That explains my depression kina...

I hope Jake does not suffer that.

Okay, it is tie to wright some Duke Lacrosse ... on another blog.
(It is adult... if you get my drift)
Peace,
R