Oct. 4, 2008

I want to share with you the most wonderful news. Matt and I traveled to San Antonio along with the boys and my mom. On Friday the doctors performed the embolization procedure. I was a mess, and could do nothing but cry. I was very worried and could not get the past out of my mind. I knew that God was in control, but all of those feelings were still so raw. But anyway, to the wonderful news!!! Matt went into surgery and we were told that they would continue as long as they felt safe working in his brain. They told us that it could be anywhere from 2-6 hours. The longer they were able to stay and work the better it would be and the more they would be able to close off. Well they were only able to work about 3 hours or so. When the nurse came out and told us they were done and that Matt was doing great, I was releaved and on the other hand I was a little bummed out because they were not in there working for the 6 hours. I then got to talk to the doctors and once again God has showed us that he is so in control of our lives, the doctors were able to close off 95% of the AVM blood supply. What an awesome moment that was for us, Matt and I had prayed that they would be able to close off all of it or at least a large number of it. I knew that God could allow this to happen, but I had some doubts. What was I thinking!!!! We have to go back to the doctors in 6 weeks to discuss what is next. He told us that he wants to go in again in 3 months to do another embolization and try to get the last 5 % blocked off, he also said that there is a chance that some more blood vessels will show up and that they will need to be blocked as well. The doctor was so pleased with his results and said that the chances of the AVM rerupturing was decreased with the success of this surgery. Another added benefit seems to be that Matt's eyesight is a little better. His double vision is not as bad and when he focuses his eyes do not seem to shift as much. He was having problems focusing and his eyes would shift back and forth until they got focused. He is still seeing some double, but hopefully as the brain heals that will go away. Please continue to pray for him and that he will heal and his eyes will be healed as well. Please also ask God to bless the doctors and nurse that took care of Matt during the surgery, they were so kind and so helpful. Please feel free to contact us and take to Matt, he would love to hear from some of you. Thank you all once again for all of your support and for all of your prayers.

Sept. 29

I want to say I am sorry for not keeping up with the blog. I was not sure if anyone was still reading since Matt was at home now. I was told tonight that I was in trouble for not keeping it up to date by a friend of mine. So I will try and do better. Matt is doing great and I am so impressed with how well his therapy is going. He is sweeping, cooking, weeding, picking up garbage outside to name a few things. His balance is so much better and he is not using the walker or wheel chair anymore. He has been grocery shopping with me and is pushing the cart and loading the stuff in the cart. In fact, we just got home from Walmart. Matt is working hard with the therapist and wants to get back to work by November. At the rate he is going, I don't see why he can't go back around then or soon after. We are preparing for the first procedure on Friday. It is scarry, but I know that God is going to take care of him, He has brought him this far and I believe that God is going to see him through this. I had to put Matt in God's hands a few months ago and I am going to continue to trust that God is in control of all that is going on and will see Matt through it. We are leaving to go to San Antonio on Thursday and he will check in that night and the surgery will be on Friday. The surgery could last anywhere from 2 to 6 hours. The longer it goes, the more they will be able to embolize, which in the long run will be better. However, for those of us sitting in the waiting room it may not be so good. I know that I am already a nervous wreck about this whole thing, I can't imagine on Friday waiting for 6 hours. Please pray for Matt as he goes through the surgery and that they will be able to get a lot of the AVM blocked off and that it will not take to many of these procedures to get it shrunk. My Mom, Matt's Mom and John and the boys are going to be there with us and I know that they will be a great help to me. Please pray for safe travel for all of us and that God will once again deliver Matt from all of this. Thank you all for your prayers and for your friendships. Please continue to pray for us and for the doctors that will be working on Matt the end of this week.