Vacation

We just returned from vacation to Ohio. It was a good time and Matt was able to see his family who has not seen him since before the AVM bleed. Matt was able to build up some of his confidence by helping to drive to Ohio. I knew he could do it, but he needed to prove it to himself.

5 year anniversry

It has been a while since I updated Matt's blog.

Well it has been 5 years since this all happened.  Matt is doing well and we have had no further issues.  I am happy to report that one of the things that he wanted to do he has done.  Matt has always loved riding roller coasters, but was not able to do for a while after the AVM ruptured.  Well I am happy to report that he took our sons on a roller coaster last summer, ok not just one roller coaster, but many roller coasters.  I was a nervous wreck, but all went well and Matt was able to get that one little part of his life back and that is another one of those milestones that helps us to know that everything is going to be ok in the future.  He has been back to the doctors in San Antonio a couple more times and still there is no blood flow to AVM.  We are so thankful for the doctors in San Antonio and for the guiding hand of God.  What a blessing it has been to see this miracle unfold over the past 5 years.

We have watched out oldest son graduate from high school and make plans for college this year.  We have also watched our youngest son complete 8th grade and he is getting ready to go play in a state football championship tournament in College Station this weekend.  These are all things that some people take for granted, but these are the things that Matt would have missed had it not been for a miracle from God and all of the doctors and caregivers that he has placed in our lives.  We count each day as a blessing and we look at each milestone that our kids accomplish as a blessing and we are lucky to be experiencing them as a family.

Matt I love you more than you will ever know and I can't imagine life without you!!!  I am so blessed to still have you in my life and I am so blessed to have walked through this miracle in life holding your hand.  Looking back at the events over the past 5 years some people would not call them blessings, but seeing the big picture and seeing the little things that have made this all possible I call them blessings and I call you my miracle.  Thank you God for my miracle and for saving my husbands life and allowing him to watch his boys grow up and for allowing us to spend our lives together.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!! We are so thankful for all that GOD has done for our family. Thanksgiving will have a greater meaning for a very long time. Matt is doing wonderful!!! We are going to go for an MRI sometime the end of December, then over Spring Break we will have an angiogram to map out things and have one last look to make sure there is no blood flow to the AVM. Matt's doctor deploys in the summer, so this will be one of the last times that he gets to see Matt.

I see God in everything around us and I am always amazed at what blessings and miracles He does for all of us. I want to take this time to say a very special THANK YOU to all of our family and friends out there who have been through the most aweful and yet most wonderful time in our lives. Without you constant prayer and support we would not have made it through the past 2 1/2 years. We love you all and are most Thankful for all of you. We are especially Thankful for our Lord who has given us the most awesome miracle that we could have been given. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Love,
Matt and Donna

Coming Up on 2 Years

We are coming up on our 2 year Anniversary. I am happy to report that Matt is doing great. We went to the doctor over Spring Break for another MRI and we have the latest reports from our wonderful doctors.

I am happy to say that the Gamma Knife (radiation treatment) was a success!!! All of the small tiny blood vessels are gone and there does not appear to be any blood flow to the AVM anymore. The doctor went as far as to say that he thought that Matt looks to be pretty much cured. Those are the most wonderful words that I have ever heard in my life. We are still praising the Lord for all that He has done for us.

We want to also thank everyone that has prayed for Matt and our family over the past few years. God has shown us what a miracle worker He still is and we are so thankful that He has picked us to give a miracle to. We love you all and are looking forward to all that God has for us in the future.

July 10th One Year Anniversary

Well it has been a whole year now. This time last year Matt was in the hospital and we were being told that he would not make it through the night. Boy, have we come a long way since then. I stand back in amazement at what God has done for my family. The only words that still come to mind are amazing, awesome, and miracle. I am so honored that God decided to do this miracle in my family and to show us how real and awesome he really is and always will be. There is not a day that goes by that I don't look at Matt and thank God for what he has done for me and my boys. This has shown God to us in a very real and personal way. Everyone who has prayed for Matt and our family, you are personally involved in this miracle as well. There are so many people that have prayed for Matt over the past year that we do not know, however, we wanted to take the time on this one year anniversary to say a great big thank you to all of you. If your church prayed for Matt please pass on out thank you to them and let them know how much we appreciate their pray and support. Without them we would not know the awesome power of prayer. It is amazing what happens when God's people come together for one cause. So many people came to visit us while Matt was in the hospital, and we wanted to say thank you for taking the time to come and visit with us. On that first night when Matt went into the hospital there was such an outpouring of love and support from the wonderful people at South Park Middle School and we wanted to thank you all for coming to the hospital that night. Matt was touched when I told him how many of you were there that night, but I want to personally thank you all for your support that night. It blessed my heart to hear you all talking and sharing your memories and experiences with Matt. I always knew what a wonderful man he is, but to hear others talk about him and to share what he meant to them personally touched me deeply and filled my heart with joy.

God has continued to put the right people in Matt's path at the right time. It amazes me how He continues to put the right doctor in contact with us at the right time when that doctor is needed. I do not believe that Dr. Chen was in Corpus by chance, it was a divine appointment. This doctor was able to get Matt's feeding tube in and was able to put us in touch with the doctor that glued and blocked off the AVM from about 25 cm to 1-2 cm. After the rupture the AVM was the size of a golf ball and now it is the size of a pencil eraser. The chances of it rupturing again have been greatly reduced.

All of this being said, please continue to pray that the radiation treatment that was just done will work and that the rest of the blood vessels will be blocked off with scar tissue. This is what the ideal outcome of this procedure will be and this is our prayer. God has continued to perform miracles and we faithfully believe that this is just one more step in the miracle that was started one year ago today. You all have a special place in our hearts and please feel free to let us know if there is anyway that we can pray for you or your family. Our God is still in the business of answering prayers and we believe that with all our hearts. We love you all and thank you again for all that you have done for our family over the past year. God is so good!!!!!

June 24th

Well we are back at home and all is well. Matt had the radiation surgery today. Poor baby, when they were trying to start the IV they had to stick him 5 or 6 times. Finally, they got the IV started and things got better. Matt was very nervous about having the halo put on this morning, of course who wouldn't be nervous having 4 screws put into your skull. Anyway, they got all of that done and he went in for a CT scan and to have an angiogram done. The neurosurgeon that has been working with Matt came out and told me that the AVM had grown a little bit, but that he expected it to do that. The AVM went from about 1cm to 2cm. He told me that it was very treatable and that the radiosurgey was a go for today.

Matt went to recovery and then back to the floor. We waited for the doctors to form their plan and then at 2:00 they took him to do the actual radiation treatment. They give the radiation in 5 doses, and it took about 30 minutes. After that they took the halo off and we were on our way back up to the floor for them to discharge him. The radiology oncologist came out and talked to me and said that all had gone well and that now we are in the waiting part of the treatment. It will take a year or so before they can tell if the radiation surgery worked or not. What they are hoping for is that the radiation will cause the blood vessels that are feeding the AVM will get scar tissue on them and that they will essentially die. They will keep an eye on him for the next couple of years to make sure that all is still going well and that the AVM is not growing anymore. The oncology doctor told me that the way that the AVM is positioned that it had actually moved the good brain tissue out of the way and gave them a much better line of fire for the radiation. By this happening there is less a chance for the radiation to damage the good brain tissue. Once again we are seeing how awesome our God is and that He is still in control of this situtation.

We have been so blessed by having great doctors, but we also know that our Lord is the one that is giving those doctors the skills and know how to do what they are doing. I am so happy to be writing this and so happy to be telling you about how wonderful Matt is doing. We came home and Matt helped unload the car and carry stuff in and he was back to doing his normal stuff as soon as we got home. He told me that he was not going to let a little bit of pain from the screws in his head stop him from carrying on with his life. Matt just got finished eating a big bowl of chili, so we know all is well!!! Please continue to pray for Matt and that over the next year that God will continue to do the good work that He started. We are looking forward to the day when they look at us and tell us that the AVM is dead and not drawing blood to it anymore. Thank you for all your prayers, love and support it has been a long year and we are so hopeful about what the future holds for us and all the glory and thanks go to the wonderful God that we love and serve.

June 19th

Well today is Matt's birthday. It has been almost a year since the AVM rupture. It is so amazing how far God has brought us in a year.

Matt will be having a procedure done on the 24th of June. He is having what they call "Radiosurgery". What they are going to do is put a halo type structure on his head and then they will do a CAT scan and an angiogram. Once that is done the neurosurgeon will map out exactly where the blood vessels are that are still there and then with about 250 lasers of rediation they will go in and shoot the area. There is a year waiting period before we know how well this worked, but by having this is greatly reduces the chances of the AVM rupturing again. The chances have already been reduced with the other procedures, but this will also reduce it more. If after that year time period they go back in and look at what is left all they should see is that the veins are all scarred up with scar tissue and that should be the end of it and we will not have to worry about this anymore. There is a chance that they will have to do it again, but we are praying for God to continue doing a great work and let it work the first time around.

Life is so much different now. The little things in life don't seem to bother us and we live everyday with a greater appreciation for each other and our family. If I can give one piece of agvice that I have gained from all of this it would be to take the time to pray and to tell the people in your life how much you love them, because you never know what is going to happen.

Thanks for all your love and prayers in this past year God is so amazing and I can't wait to see what wonderful things He still has instore for Matt and our family. Please continue to pray that all goes well and I will keep you posted. We love you all and are so thankful for everyone who has been a part of this past year in our life.

New Update

Well I know that it has been a long time since I have updated the blog, but things have been very busy. The boys are both playing baseball and I am finishing up my last 2 classes before graduation in May. There is barely time to stop and think much less time to sit at the computer.

Matt is doing very well. We made a trip to San Antonio to visit with the doctor up there and we also had the chance to meet the doctor that will be doing the Gamma Knife (radiation treatment) on Matt. As for now Matt is scheduled to have this procedure done on June 24th. We are excited to get this done and get on with life. The procedure itself is not bad, but the leading up to it is kind of bad. Matt has to have a halo type thing put in place, this will help them map out where to shoot the radiation. He will have to have a MRI and Dr. Koebbe said that he may want to do another angiogram to check things out one more time before the radiation treatment. He said that if any of the AVM had grown or gotten bigger then he would just put some more glue in and not do the radiation. He does not think that this will be the case. Once Matt has the radiation done it is suppose to kill the rest of the AVM and should not have to worry about this anymore. There is a one year wait before they know for sure that the radiation worked, but after whay we have been through a year spent waiting is worth while. Matt's eyes are getting so much better. He is now able to use his up gaze, which he couldn't do before. Most of the time he is not even wearing his glasses. So Praise God that he is continuing to heal Matt's eyes.

I will try and keep this updated a little more often. Please continue to pray for Matt that all will go well this summer and that God will continue to heal him. We are still in awe of the wonders that God has shown us so far and are looking forward to seeing him continue to work on Matt. Thanks for all your support and prays, please keep them coming.

Been a while

Well, I know that it has been awhile, but I wanted to post a quick update. Matt is doing very very well. His eyes are improving and he has just recently gotten new glasses with less prisms in them. The eye doctor was very impressed with the progress of his eyes. He has regain some of the ability to look up, as he had lost that when this all first happened. Things at school for him are going ok, not as well as he wants but that is to be understood. For him it is like starting the year all over again, but the only problem is , is that the kids have been there for the whole year and they are pretty set in the way that they want to do things. Matt sometimes forgets that he is starting from the beginning, but things are improving. This has been a good experience for him and he is very happy to be able to work even in the rough times. We still have not heard about the next procedure, but will keep you posted. We are going to try and have it done sometime this summer, and try to avoid Spring Break. We have decided that we need a time when we are off school and there not to be a doctors appt. or a procedure to do. We want to just relax and spend some time at home together. It is hard to believe that 7 months ago I was writing and telling you about Matt in the hospital and now I am talking about spending Spring Break together as a family. Boy, have we come a long long way!!!! Thanks for your continued prayer and support. We love you all and thank you for everything.

Something Interesting

Our church just had their Grand Opening a few weeks ago and they did a special service. The pastor used memebers of the church to tell stories of how awesome our God is and what He is capable of doing in our lives. It was called "Cardboard Testimonies". Matt was one of the testimonies that was shared that day and we wanted to share that with you. If you go to http://www.youtube.com/ and then type in Real Life Grand Opening. Matt and I thought you would like to see this it is very moving and will allow you to see what God can do if we just ask and believe. We hope that you enjoy it. Thanks and we love you all.

Home from San Antonio

Well we are back at home after having the last treatment done. The doctor was not sure if he was going to do any more gluing or if he was just going to look around. Well when he got into Matt's head and started looking at everything he discovered that the AVM had collected some more blood vessels since the last treatment. He told me that he expected this to happen. So he went ahead and put some more glue in there and tried to block off more of the AVM. He stated that when he first started this back in October that the AVM was about the size of a golf ball and that when he went in this time it was only the size of a quarter. After he was done with the gluing this time the AVM was about the size of a pencil eraser or smaller. As far as he is conserned he is done and is not going to do any more to Matt. He wants Matt to undergo what they call radiosurgery. They use what is called a gamma knife to focus the readiation onto the AVM and blast it, this is suppose to kill what is left of the AVM. The doctor says that he was able to block off about 99% of the blood flow and that this other treatment should take care of the rest of it. We are so thankful that God lead the doctors in what they were doing and that Matt is at home and in great condition. He did much better this time than the last time. He got very sick and was throwing up after the last procedure, but had no problems this time and has only taken tylenol for the pain. I am so glad that the Lord led us to the right person to take care of Matt and that this doctor is one of the best that there is when it comes to neurosurgery. Thank you all for praying for Matt and your continued support. Please continue to pray for Matt as he recovers from this last procedure. We also want you to feel free to share any part of this story, we want to be sure that God gets all the credit for what has happened with Matt. If you know someone that needs hope, or needs to know that God does answer prayers please feel free to share Matt's story with them or have them contact us and we will be glad to talk to them. Thank you again for everything and we will keep you posted on how things are going and when Matt is to undergo this next procedure. We love you all and thank you again for all your prayers. We hope you all have a great New Year, we are going to have a great New Year thanks to our Lord and Savior.

Going to San Antonio

We are going to San Antonio in the morning and they will be looking at Matt's brain on Tuesday. We are hoping and praying that this will be the last trip that we have to make and that this will also be the last procedure that he will have to get done. THey are going to do an angiogram on Tuesday and like I posted before if they are able to block the rest of the AVM off, if there is just low flow they may not do anything. We are trusting that God will guide their hands and decision making. God has been so wonderful and merciful to us so far we are absolutely sure that He will continue to keep His hand on Matt through this next procedure. Please continue to pray for Matt and the doctors. Matt and I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I will tell you that this Christmas had a special feel to it for us, not only were we celebrating the birth of our Savior, but we were able to celebrate Matt still being here with us. What an awesome and wonderful God we serve. THank you for keeping us in your prayers and for your faithfulness in your reading of the blog. We love you all and I will post again when we get back home from San Antonio.

Dec. 11th

Well, Matt has been back to work for almost 2 weeks and he is doing great. He is tired, but it is tired in a good way. I know that when I first start back to work after having the summer off I am tired for a couple of weeks. We have to work next week and then get a couple of weeks off. We are looking forward to Christmas and sharing a special holiday with our family. We are so thankful that Matt is here with us and I don't think that I will every look at holidays in the same way, they will always have a more special meaning. We had a wonderful time at church this weekend. Our church did what they called "Cardboard Testimonies". Matt was asked to be one of the people that were involved in this. What a blessing it was to see him on the stage and share what he has been through. His cardboard sign sayed, "Major brain bleed, terminal by morning." On the other side that showed the blessing that God had given us read, "Survived the night and now teaching public school and working with the youth." I dont' think there was a dry eye in the worship center, between Matt and all of the other wonderful stories that were shared that day. Well it is getting late and I need to get to bed, but I wanted to update the blog before I went to bed. THank you all for being faithful in your prayers for Matt. God has revealed himself to us in a very real way and we are looking forward to seeing what else He has in story for us. Also, Matt is going to the surgeon in San ANtonio on the 30th of Dec. they are going to put him under and do an angiogram (spelling?). After he gets in there the doctor is going to try to block off the rest of the 5% of the AVM, and if not them he will just close things up and Matt will be on his way home. The doctor said that if there is still very low blood flow to the AVM he may not do anything, but I told him that if he can block the rest of it off then that is what we want him to do. If he can block it off then we do not have to worry about this anymore. I know that God is in control of this situation, and that his will is going to be done. Please pray that God will guide the doctors hand and allow him to do what is needed. We are so thankful for this doctor and what he has done for Matt. Thank you all once again for all of your support and your prayers. We love you all and keep those prayers coming.

Hello everyone,

This is Matt. I thought I would type this update. I went to my Physical Medicine doctor today, and he released me to go back to work with basically no restrictions. Praise our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for all He has done. Please keep me in your prayers that my strength will continue to increase as I return to work, and more importantly that God's Will will continue to be accomplished in my life and that I will not get in the way. Thank you all for your prayers for me and my family over the past months.

To the glory of God the Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ, Forever!

Matt Kesselring

Nov. 23rd

We are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for this year. Matt is doing great and I see the improvements daily. He did not get to go back to work before Thanksgiving, but he will be able to go back to work right after the Thanksgiving holiday. I am so proud of him and so thankful to God for all that he has done. While we were at church today, one of our friends who stayed with us through the whole ordeal told me that I needed to quit smiling. I told him that I did not think that this would happen for a very long time. I can't imagine anything that would make me stop smiling and rejoicing in what God has done and is doing.

We went to San Antonio this week and the doctor there was impressed with how well Matt is doing. He wants to put Matt under general and do an angiogram sometime the end of December. When he gets in there he will look and see if he can block off the last 5% of the AVM and if not he will check to see how the blood flow to it is. If there is only a low, slow blood flow then he will not do anything else. His words were we will call it done and Matt will not have to go for any more treatments with him. We were so excited to hear what he had to say. Who would have thought that 4 months ago we would be talking about not ever having to worry about the rupture again. I cannot stop thinking about how far we have come and how many blessings God has given us. I don't know what we did to deserve all of these blessings and this wonderful miracle, but I am glad that he decided to give them to us.

Please continue to pray that the doctors will continue to allow God to lead them as they finish up with Matt and that when he goes in later in December that the doctors will not have to do anything else, or if he does have to do more work that he will be able to block off the rest of the AVM, this is what I am praying for, so that we don't have to worry about it anymore. We are still thanking God for all of you that continue to pray for Matt and for everyone involved in his care. What a wonderful Thanksgiving we all should have knowing that God is still in the miracle business and that he is willing to bless those who need him. Please take time this Thanksgiving to remember all of those who are serving our country and their families. Also, remember to thank God for all that he has done and all that he is still doing with Matt. We love you all and hope that you will have a great Thanksgiving, give someone that you love a big hug and tell them how much they mean to you. Love you all!!!

Nov 15th

Matt is still doing GREAT!! We were hoping to have him back at work before Thanksgiving, but that does not look like it is going to happen. He has to take one more test some kind of Neuro-Psch. test before his doctor will let him go back to work. He has an appointment on Tuesday to take this test. We went to see the Psychologist last week and she could not understand why Matt was even in her office for testing. We decided that I needed to be on the couch more than Matt did, just kidding, but somewhat true. She is going to rush the test scoring so that he can get back to work ASAP. He got released from OT/PT last week and there is no more therapy for him. Yeah!!! That is a mile stone in and of itself. He is moving around and doing the same things as he was before. He also went and took the driving test last week and passed with no problem. He is driving again, look out world!! I was glad to see that some of you were still reading the blog and I will keep you up to date with any changes. Thank you all for staying with us and praying for Matt through all of this, your prayers have been answered. God has been so wonderful to us and we continue to see what he is doing with Matt and we watch in amazement. Keep praying for him and we love you all.

Nov. 6th

I am not sure how many people are still reading this, but I wanted to let anyone that is know that Matt is doing absolutly wonderful. He is being dismissed from occupational and physical therapy as of today. We are in the process of getting some tests done in order for Matt to go back to work. Please join us in praying that the tests will be able to be done quickly and that he will be able to return to work ASAP. We would like to see him return to work the week before Thanksgiving. This is a great time for him to go back, because it allows for some built in breaks in order to allow him to build back up to working. He is going stir crazy sitting here at the house and now without therapy he is really going to go crazy. There is a person in San Antonio that can do the tests, all we need to do is get the consult from the doctors here. It was a big mess trying to find a doctor here in Corpus that did the test and took our insurance. Anyway, God has once again provided a way for this to be done and hopefully we can get it done quickly. Thank you all for your continued support, I feel as if we are almost to that light at the end of the tunnel and when Matt is finally able to go back to work it will be the icing on the cake. Please leave us a message and let us know if anyone is still reading this blog. Thank you again for your continued prayers and support through this whole thing.

Oct. 11

Thesee are 2 pictures of the AVM in Matt's brain just after the rupture in July. Notice the enlarged size of the blood vessels. The large lines that you see at the bottom of the 2nd image are the enlarged blood vessels, these should be the size of the little ones at the top of the same image. All of the dark that you see is the blood supply that is flowing through the vessels to the AVM and this amount of blood flow is what caused the AVM to rupture.

These are the 2 pictures of Matt's brain after the glue procedure. All of the dark spots that you see now is the glue. This causes the blood supply to redistribute to the other parts of the brain and not to feed the AVM. This decreases the chances of it rupturing again. The top image looks like a jellyfish. Matt had not seen these pictures until about a week ago and I had asked the doctor to send them to us so that he could see what was going on in his head. I thought these were some pretty amazing pictures. It is amazing what modern medicine can do and what an awesome God we serve, that he would bring Matt through all of this.

Oct. 11

Well, Matt is back to doing his therapy. He had a day when he felt like he had gone backward instead of forwards as far as his abilities go. I talked to him and we talked about how far he had come and that he had nothing to feel bad about and that he had not lost any of the abilities that he had regained. The next day the therapists came out and they did a reassessment and told him how far he had come and that made him feel so much better. Both of the therapists have talked to him about setting long tem goals and their long term goal is for Matt to go back to work sometime in November. This is a goal that makes Matt very happy. He is mentally ready to go back to work, and is almost ready physically. I think that staying home is beginning to drive him crazy. I wish I could stay at home for a while, but that is not going to happen any time soon. But, overall he is getting much better and doing it faster than people thought he would, he is a star student!!! Please continue to pray for him as he works to get back to normal life very soon. We have an appointment with the eye doctor on the 20th and we are going to insist on getting some glasses that will help with his vision. Thank you all for keeping Matt in your prayers, I can see it daily that he is getting better and better. Matt is truly a miracle and proof that our God is in the healing business.

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.