Letter: Ricky Arsenault updates supporters on surgery (July 17, 2008)

Letter: Ricky Arsenault updates supporters on surgery (July 17, 2008)

from...

Editor:
It has been an amazing journey since I announced that I was planning on having needed surgery on my birthmark. And the journey has just begun! On behalf of the Arsenault family, I would like to express my profound gratitude to the many individuals and organizations throughout our community that have rallied around us as we strive to prepare for my pending surgery. The compassion and service rendered to us in our time of need has truly been overwhelming! Not only have the fundraising efforts exceeded our estimated out-of-pocket expenses of $20,000 to 30,000, but the support from friends and strangers has been awe-inspiring. The fund that was started at TD Banknorth has received large monetary donations, but even more impressive to me has been the opportunity to be a witness of giving in the similitude of the “widow’s mite” as recorded in the New Testament. It is truly a very humbling experience to be the recipient of so much selfless giving of not only money, but of an often more precious commodity; time. As the process moves forward this summer, the adequacy of these funds will be determined as we are able to find out what will not be covered by our insurance. Nevertheless, I have been assured that the Lord would provide in His own way. I have seen, and felt, the hand of my Lord working through many Christ-like individuals.
I have stated that one of the greatest blessings that have flowed unto me throughout this past year has been the surfacing of past friends and the transformation of strangers into friends. When the first article hit the papers, my phone starting ringing with offers of support and help from many. The first call came from a woman that I had not previously known. She jumped into action and rallied others to help in my cause. The next call came from one of my old (not that we’re old by any means) high school classmates and football team members. To my recollection, his message went something like this: …don’t worry about the cost…whether its $20,000 or $30,000…it’ll be covered…I’ve been talking to…go ahead and schedule your surgery…we love you. Not exactly the kind of message one would expect from someone from the old football squad. But a portion of the Spirit of Christ dwelleth in his heart and in the hearts of many that I have had the pleasure of interacting with recently! If I were able to make just one request of all of you reading this, it would be this: Please don’t sink back into the woodwork! One of the ironies of life that I have come to loath is this scenario: Meeting an old friend or acquaintance and having a 20 to 30 second conversation. Either they or I say something like: “Hey how ya doin’… What’s new?” The other says “Not much, how about you?” “Na, same old thing.” We haven’t seen each other in years and nothing’s new? We speak for a few seconds and part ways, perhaps I with their phone number or them with mine with the real intent to get together someday, but no follow-up is made. I probably wouldn’t loath this situation so much if I were not just as guilty as most of you reading this are. In the past, I’ve even gone so far as to look at their phone number and have said to myself: “Self, I’d love to get together with ______ , but I’m too busy, maybe later. Unfortunately, later usually never comes. Next thing I know, another several years passes by before I talk with them for another 20 seconds or so, or even worse, the Lord calls them home and they pass away and I find myself attending their funeral (or worse yet, I’m even too busy to attend). My point in this particular paragraph is to illustrate one of the greatest blessings that the Lord has bestowed unto my soul. Friends are a very precious commodity. Don’t take them lightly! I hope to be able to strive with all my heart to treasure more fully than ever before the friendships that I have acquired here upon this earth and I have set a personal goal to nurture them with much greater care than I have in the past! So, my request is this: Please call me so we can get together and find out what’s new. I’ve heard a wise man state: “Everyone has a story.” I’d really like to hear yours!
Now after that commercial, I’ll get back to my upcoming surgery. After approximately a year of research, the two surgical groups that have surfaced which have the greatest potential of success in the realm of arterial venous malformations (AVMs) are right in our own backyard. My family has recently met again with Dr. John B. Mulliken of the Vascular Anomalies Program in Boston and Dr. Milton Waner of the Vascular and Birthmark Institute of New York. A year of research, pondering, and prayer to determine which of these extremely competent surgical groups would best serve my particular needs have finally come to a close. The exact procedures and inherent philosophies of the two groups differed somewhat, therefore I diligently sought the guidance of my Lord to have the wisdom to choose His will. I believe that He has plainly manifested to me that I should have the needed procedures performed by Dr. Waner’s group in New York.
The initial procedure will be done on Aug. 28 by Dr. Alex Berenstein. He is a pioneer in the field of Interventional Neuroradiology. His procedure will involve insertion of a catheter into my femoral artery and running it up into my facial network of jumbled arteries and veins. An arteriogram will be done to produce a map-work of my AVM. He will then perform a selective embolization procedure that shall restrict the blood flow into my AVM in an effort to devascularize the AVM. The goal is to cause a reduction in the swelling and decrease the amount of blood flow into my AVM. After a gestation period of several weeks, another embolization procedure shall be performed followed by the removal of the “nidus” (center of AVM) the following day. Additional procedures shall be performed as necessary to achieve stabilization and improve my quality of life. According to the experts, there is no “cure” for AVMs…only control. When asked how long everything would take, Dr. Waner estimated that we are looking at two to two-and-a-half years of multiple procedures and surgeries; however Dr. Berenstein stated that each AVM is very unique and he would not place any time frames on what needs to be done.
Your prayers are very much appreciated in this time of need to invoke the powers of heaven as my family undergoes this journey. I am being realistic; I’m expecting a miracle! I will do my best to update our Web site from time to time as this process unfolds. For those that have an interest, it is: www.rickyd.ws
Thanks again for all of you that have reached out to my family and who continue to bless the lives of those in our community and around the world with your Christ-like service. I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will pour upon each of you His choicest blessings as we prepare for His triumphant return to rule and reign here upon the earth.
Ricky D. Arsenault
Sanford

So last we left off.....I had an AVM

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Double Entry Post

So I know you've been waiting for it.....today is the day....a comment on this post is worth 2 entries in the contest for a $25 gift certificate to The Loopy Ewe! We are 1/2 way done with the contest, so keep the comments coming!!!

My Story:

So last we left off.....I had an AVM.....and was off to see the brain surgeon (oh....maybe I forgot that part last time!) There are 2 ways to treat an AVM....surgery or radiation....my AVM was about the size of a half dollar....it looked like brain surgery was in my future (YIKES!!!) We had a final test to do on July 25th to see if surgery was safe and scheduled surgery for the 26th. While waiting for the 25th I got hives from my seizure medicine.....went off seizure meds....fought through a lot of fear about having another seizure....needless to say I learned to depend on God as never before!!! He was definitely at work and never left me. Monday I will share some of the verses I really depended on at this time, but today is your day to share!!!

What is your favorite Bible verse and why???

So what has been on my needles? Here is a sneak peak!

Surprise, surprise....it's a sock! One down, one to go! This is a pic of the lace that runs down the top! It's gray, so....wonder who it could be for.....oh yeah.....mom!!!! (I'm not sure this gray photographs very accurately....we'll see if I can get some daylight pictures later) The second sock will have to wait a couple of days to start....I had started a hat with this yarn....it was too small....had to frog it last night.....after it had sat for a year....the yarn needs a bath....must wait for it to dry. In the mean time I'm going to work on my Secret Prayer Swap Sock and my spinning! (Might even cast on for DH's socks...we'll see)

Have a super weekend and be sure to leave a comment.....favorite verse and why.....or any other comment will do too...remember it is worth double!

Hello... yall

How is your day?
Mine is alright...
so lets do some youtube...

ok fu#king comp... it lost its link to youtube.
one more chance..


It is Howard... Hey i GOT AN IDEA...I could be one of his Retards!
ok one more...



Unbelievable.

amazon...

or try it on your own...

Here are a few of my farvoite avm post...

if your here for something different please thy the search box...


and

and...


warning! A bit bloody...


Not bloody...


Thats enough... for you who I love, Have a grate night... all you others, Peace!

Brain Scientist Jill Bolte Taylor Talks About Her Stroke

Brain Scientist Jill Bolte Taylor Talks About Her Stroke

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And the "euphoria" and "nirvana" she experienced when her left brain went offline.

From her bio:

"Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist. She specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain.

On December 10, 1996, Dr. Taylor woke up to discover that she was experiencing a rare form of stroke, an arterio-venous malformation (AVM)."

The account she gives in this video of losing her sense of self - the boundaries of where her skin stops and the background emerges - is extraordinary. Her unique training in brain science coupled with an ability to articulate this experience is rare. I was riveted.

An excerpt:

"It was as though my consciousness had shifted away from my normal perception of reality where I'm the person on the machine (she was on a cardio-glider exercise machine) having the experience to some esoteric space where I'm witnessing myself having this experience."

"I'm standing in my bathroom getting ready to get into the shower ... I lost my balance and I'm propped up against the wall and I looked down at my arm and I realized I could no loner define the boundaries of my body. I can't define where I begin, and where I end, because the atoms and the molecules of my arm blended with the atoms and molecules of the wall."

"Because I could no longer identify the boundaries of my body I felt enormous, and expansive. I felt at one with all the energy that was, and it was beautiful there. And all of a sudden my left hemisphere comes back on line and it says to me "Hey! We got a problem. We got a problem. We've got to get some help."

Becca Update!

Most of you know that my sister Becca has been going through some serious medical stuff this month. It all started over a month ago while she was subbing. She texted me saying that she was having trouble writing--weird! My parents wound up taking her to the hospital later that day. She was having a hard time using her hands at all, and her speech was very slow. In fact, at one point, she couldn't talk at all. That weekend was a series of tests: CAT scans and MRI's. She was discharged that Monday. We were told that these was a lesion on her brain, and that it was most likely a non-cancerous brain tumor. The other likely possibility was that she had had a stroke. They needed to wait a month to determine which it was. So, the past month has been spent waiting, praying, and TRYING not to worry. This week we found out that she does not have a brain tumor. After two more tests, they have determined that she either had a brain aneurysm or an AVM.( This is a kind of stroke caused by a defect in veins formed during infancy. They can, but don't always, rupture eventually.) So, either way, something ruptured and caused bleeding in her brain, which caused swelling, which caused the symptoms that sent her to the hospital. We were actually relieved to get this news. Obviously these are both serious things, but the fact that it already happened, and Becca is ok and suffered no permanent damage is really amazing. It is crazy to think what could have happened. It is also a relief to know more of what is going on after battling the"what if''s" every night when I went to sleep this past month. It's hard not to think about worst case scenarios when you don't know anything for certain. She is having another test tomorrow which will hopefully determine exactly what happened,and what they need to do about it. She may need to have some kind of surgery to clean up or repair the damage. She really hopes that she won't. I will definitely write another update when we know more. Thank you so much for the prayers that you have said for Becca, me, and my family this past month. I truly appreciate it. It has been hard, but I am thankful to know that so many people care and are there for us.

from...

I have come to a conclusion...

conclusion...
My life in general SUCKS! I mean it really SUCKS! If you could not get out to a bar, hell you can't get out to do anything... you would think your life sucked as well.

ahwell!
F#uk it!

oh well time to get some youtube...


90s Grung!
So what!


Frogs?
WTF!


ok it is a little big newer... (newer ???)


ok that was 2000 production...

1 2 3 and to the ...

now buy something...

Now come back and see it my life still sucks!
Good buy....

Happy What Ever Day!

I woke up with Shoulder pain.
The shoulder is out of joint, so you'd think it would be chronically painful, it is not.

Right now my head is not in pain, this is a plus!
I can not stop thinking about her... I hope she is well.

As of right now there is no news on the AVM front!

Last night I won money! At PartyPoker! Came in 6 th place! Not Bad!

No info of my Calender, that means I do not have anybodys Birthday. Damn!
oF WELL, IF YOU GAVE me your Birthday and I missed it, forgive me,,, please.

Here some youtube for you.

Dr. Dre & sNOOP dOGG!


SnOOp!


Snoop Doggy on the Snoop doggdog shit!

amazon...

Lost Boys ~ The Tribe!

This is COOL!!

About Lost Boys: The Tribe

Lost Boys The Tribe takes place in Luna Bay , where vampire surfers quickly dispatch anyone who crosses their path. Into this dark world arrive moody Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrinck) and his shy sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser). Having lost their parents in a car accident, the siblings move in with their eccentric Aunt Jillian and become new prey for the local surfers. When Nicole unwittingly drinks the blood of a vampire, Chris must locate and destroy the gang's Head Vampire, Shane (Angus Sutherland), before his sister's transformation is complete.



WARNER PREMIERE'S
LOST BOYS THE TRIBE
EXPLODES ONTO BLU-RAY AND DVD JULY 29 TH FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO

All-new chapter of the cult classic stars
Tad Hilginbrinck, Angus Sutherland, Autumn Reeser, with appearances by Jamison Newlander , Corey Haim and Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog

Burbank, CA, June 2, 2008– Prepare to sink your teeth into the long-awaited and highly-anticipated next chapter of the cult phenomenon started by the 1987 cult classic The Lost Boys when Warner Premiere's Lost Boys The Tribe arrives on Blu-ray and DVD July 29th from Warner Home Video.

Lost Boys The Tribe is directed by P.J. Pesce from a script by Hans Rodionoff and stars Tad Hilgenbrinck ( American Pie: Band Camp ) as Chris Emerson, Angus Sutherland ( Passing Strangers ) as Shane, Autumn Reeser ( The O.C. ) as Nicole Emerson, and Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog, the original vampire hunter with appearances by Jamison Newlander and Corey Haim from The Lost Boys.

An homage to the 1987 cult hit The Lost Boys , Lost Boys The Tribe tells the story of a brother and sister who move to a sleepy surf town in California , only to get mixed up with a gang of surfers and extreme sports junkies that are more than they appear to be.

Lost Boys The Tribe also features a remake of the iconic The Lost Boys song “Cry Little Sister” by G Tom Mac. The updated version of the classic song is performed by the up-and-coming band Aiden.

Lost Boys The Tribe will be available in two versions: a single disc rated edition with both widescreen and full screen formats and a single disc Uncut edition with widescreen and full screen formats for $27.95 SRP. The uncut edition will also be available on Blu-ray for $35.99 SRP.

In conjunction with Warner Premiere's direct-to-DVD launch of Lost Boys The Tribe , the 1987 original comedy-horror cult film The Lost Boys will make its Hi-Def debut also on July 29th. The Lost Boys Blu-ray Hi-Def will be available for $28.99 SRP and contain the same content as the DVD version of The Lost Boys Two-Disc Special Edition, including commentary by Director Joel Schumacher, interviews, featurettes, The Vampire's Photo Gallery, deleted scenes and more.

SYNOPSIS

Lost Boys The Tribe takes place in Luna Bay , where vampire surfers quickly dispatch anyone who crosses their path. Into this dark world arrive moody Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrinck) and his shy sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser). Having lost their parents in a car accident, the siblings move in with their eccentric Aunt Jillian and become new prey for the local surfers. When Nicole unwittingly drinks the blood of a vampire, Chris must locate and destroy the gang's Head Vampire, Shane (Angus Sutherland), before his sister's transformation is complete.

DVD ELEMENTS

• Lost Boys The Tribe contains the following special features:

* Lost Boys: The Tribe: Action Junkies —A piece showcasing the various extreme sports stunt choreography throughout the film.
* Edgar Frog's Guide to Coming Back Alive — A “How To Kill” doc showcasing various weapons and methods for disposing of vampires. Hosted by Corey Feldman in character as Edgar Frog.
* Alternate Endings: -- Two alternate endings featuring a familiar face from the 1987 Original.
* Blu-ray disc includes a bonus Digital Copy of the film.
* Music Videos:
o Featuring all-new remix music video of "CRY LITTLE SISTER" by original THE LOST BOYS artist G Tom Mac.
o Three music videos by Yeah Whatever

+ Downfall
+ Hell is Full
+ It's Over Now

Standard/Blu-ray Street Date: July 29 th , 2008
Languages: English 5.1 audio
Subtitles: ESDH, Latin Spanish, French (feature only)
Running Time – Rated: 92 minutes
Running Time – UNCUT: 94 minutes
Rating: R / Uncut

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WORLD PREMIERE OF WARNER PREMIERE'S
LOST BOYS THE TRIBE
TO BE AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL IN SAN DIEGO ON THURSDAY, JULY 24TH



The next chapter to the 1987 cult classic feature stars
Tad Hilgenbrinck, Angus Sutherland, Autumn Reeser, with appearances by Jamison Newlander, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog

Burbank , CA , June 24, 2008– Comic-Con International in San Diego will host the official world premiere of the highly-anticipated Lost Boys The Tribe on Thursday, July 24 th in Ballroom 20 of the San Diego Convention Center , it was announced today. The 10:00PM screening of the film gives Comic-Con attendees the chance to see the film five days before its official Blu-ray and DVD release date on July 29th.

The direct-to-DVD feature is directed by P.J. Pesce from a script by Hans Rodionoff and stars Tad Hilgenbrinck ( American Pie: Band Camp ) as Chris Emerson, Angus Sutherland ( Passing Strangers ) as Shane, Autumn Reeser ( The O.C. ) as Nicole Emerson, with appearances by Jamison Newlander and Corey Haim from the original Lost Boys film as well as Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog, the original vampire hunter.

The premiere will feature appearances by cast members Corey Feldman, Tad Hilgenbrinck, Angus Sutherland and Autumn Reeser, director PJ Pesce , writer Hans Rodionoff and other exciting special guests to be named later, who will participate in a question and answer session following the screening.

“I am very much looking forward to the release of Lost Boys The Tribe ,” said Corey Feldman. “I enjoyed stepping back into the shoes of Edgar Frog and I believe fans will enjoy this one as much as the original, but in its own way. I am especially excited that we are premiering the movie at Comic-Con, where the true horror fans can see it first”

An homage to the 1987 cult hit The Lost Boys , Lost Boys The Tribe tells the story of a brother and sister who move to a sleepy surf town in California , only to get mixed up with a gang of surfers and extreme sports junkies that are more than they appear to be.

Lost Boys The Tribe also features a remake of the iconic The Lost Boys song Cry Little Sister by G Tom Mac . The updated version of the classic song is performed by the up-and-coming band Aiden.

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I say you need this one!

If your real nice I may show you some pics this week... well see.

I don't have a date....

well i don't have a date... for head surgery or any thing else.
My head hurts today... I gonna take some pills and try to get some sleep.
but before that I will give you todays youtube stuff... ok?


and then...

and lastly...


Yea! Baby!

Well that did not help my headache... but it was fun to look up old Devo tunes.

Good nite ya all.....

I Have a Date

from...
I have a date!
I finally got a surgery date!
I check into Kaiser in Hollywood on August 11 at 6:30am, and 8am they'll be going in to fix both the AVM and the aneurysm.

if you want the graphic (and i think cool) details here they are (if you don't want them skip down to the prayer requests):

They-and by they, I mean Dr. Lei Feng, Director of Interventional Neuroradiology at Kaiser-are (is) going to go up through my femoral artery, first to the aneurysm (which has not burst, but they found while looking at the AVM that did) and put what has been described to me both as a "clip" and a "coil" (that will not go off in metal detectors-i asked) into the blood vessel. Whichever description is more accurate, I think the general idea is to stop blood flow to prevent any bursting of weak wall of that vessel. It's great that they can go in through the artery, because he showed me where it was on the plastic brain, and if they had to go through my skull, they'd have to essentially shove aside a lobe to get to it. It's like dead center. Thank the Lord I live now when they can shove little poky things and cameras in my blood vessels to do things like that.

Once the aneurysm is fixed, they are going to make a U-turn and go back to the AVM and block the 2 vessels feeding into it. It makes a lot more sense when you've seen the angiogram, but try and track with me. Again, the goal is to stop the blood flow, so they are putting this glueish stuff in there to do that. All in all it's about a 4 hour surgery.

The risks are lower because they aren't hacking through the skull and removing a chunk of tangled blood vessel (which would immediately solve the problem, but they could grab some brain tissue in the process), but there are always risks when you're poking around up there, even when your getting to the blood vessels from inside the blood vessels and not getting at them through the skull and brain tissue. Should the Embolization (this type of procedure with glue stuff thru my leg) fail, it'll do little damage, which is great. Int hat situation they will just have to try another option (probably radiation before cutting my head open-but it's a longer process).

As was pointed out in an episode of Scrubs (a great resource for the most accurate medical information (c: ), statistics vary, and there have been cancer patients who according to the stats, should have died, but lived, and appendicitis patients who should have lived, but died. I don't remember what Dr. Cox attributed that to, but I happen to know the One who not only knows what's going to happen to each patient, but the One who controls who beats the stats and who doesn't, and why. That's pretty comforting, eh.



Prayer requests:
-the time up until the surgery: The doctors cleared me to do anything except drive and be in a remote place, but I'd really like to not rebleed before the surgery, not that that is likely, but you know.
-the success of the surgery itself: The Neurologist (Dr. Freidlich) was very optimistic about it, saying I was a great candidate for this type of surgery/cure because of the nature of the AVM. Dr. Feng was, while optimistic, cautious-i'm sure because he's the one actually doing the surgery, and doesn't want to say anything that might bite him in the legal butt later. So pray that there are no complications. There are always risks when you are dealing with brains.
-post-op and recovery: my mom starts school the day after the surgery. If everything goes as planned I should be in the hospital for only 2 days so it shouldn't really be a problem, but it'd be great if she didn't have to miss any school-especially the first week.
-you can also thank God that I got a date that lets me go to camp cause i'm really excited about that!

thanks again for all the prayer and support over the last month or so, it's been a real encouragement, and I know it's why everything has gone so smoothly.

Beth