As I have read about different board members, family or friends passing. And my deepest condolences to you. I thought it would be a good time for a story of great survival.
My youngest son, who was diagnosed with scoliosis a few years ago. Was going to have to have rods put in his back, beyond chiropractic help. And I grew up in a chiropractic family, a real kick to the knads.
They did the scans of his back and neck. Only to find a condition, called "Keary Malformation". Which is, when the opening of the skull is bigger, or smaller than it should be. If its bigger, it causes the brain to sit lower than it should, and block spinal fluid from flowing properly, which was his case. So before they would do the back surgery, they wanted to fix that. It was supposed to be a 3 out of 10 for what was considered brain surgery. Nothing major.
They did the surgery, all went fine. Until a couple of days after he was home. He woke up in such pain, he could barely function. My ex-wife took him back to Children's Hospital in St. Paul, where he had the surgery done.
He had spinal meningitis from the surgery. They pumped him with 3 different antibiotics at first, and cut it to 2 after a few hours. He was supposed to be on them for 14 days. 12 days into it, he woke up and told me, something isn't right dad, you need to get a Dr. I got a nurse to get a Dr. They took him down for a scan, and realized, the meningitis caused the scar from the surgery, to scar so bad that it was blocking the spinal fluid from flowing, which made it build up in his head. As your brain produces 300cc of spinal fluid a day. Which was now building pressure in his head. They had to drill two holes in his head and install drain tubes to drain the fluid when needed.
Our option was to have a permanent shunt put in, or redue the surgery to remove all the scar tissue, in hopes the spinal fluid would flow properly. We decided to have the scar tissue removed, as shunts can go bad and have to be replaced in time. They went back in, removed the scar tissue, and using a method of stitching him up, which reduces scaring. It all worked out, and he was fine. 30 some days of being in the hospital, and overcoming what very well could have ended not well, he was good to go.
A year later, he had to have rods put in his back. The surgeon he had was the top pediatric back surgeon in the country, at Rochester Mayo. Who we found out before the surgery. His brother lived in the small town, we lived in. My son went to school with the surgeons niece and nephew. How coincidental! I think there was someone looking out for him. His back surgery went flawless. Extra care was given because of the previous meningitis, as well as a personal connection with the surgeon. I thank God I still have my boy.
He has been through more than anyone I know, and still has a great attitude about everything. I don't really get into heroes, but I can say that he is one of mine. He is just fine, I even have to remind him sometimes to not do certain things because it might not be, a good thing just yet.
I am sorry for the book, but thought it might be a little bright light in these times of gloom. Glta!
My youngest son, who was diagnosed with scoliosis a few years ago. Was going to have to have rods put in his back, beyond chiropractic help. And I grew up in a chiropractic family, a real kick to the knads.
They did the scans of his back and neck. Only to find a condition, called "Keary Malformation". Which is, when the opening of the skull is bigger, or smaller than it should be. If its bigger, it causes the brain to sit lower than it should, and block spinal fluid from flowing properly, which was his case. So before they would do the back surgery, they wanted to fix that. It was supposed to be a 3 out of 10 for what was considered brain surgery. Nothing major.
They did the surgery, all went fine. Until a couple of days after he was home. He woke up in such pain, he could barely function. My ex-wife took him back to Children's Hospital in St. Paul, where he had the surgery done.
He had spinal meningitis from the surgery. They pumped him with 3 different antibiotics at first, and cut it to 2 after a few hours. He was supposed to be on them for 14 days. 12 days into it, he woke up and told me, something isn't right dad, you need to get a Dr. I got a nurse to get a Dr. They took him down for a scan, and realized, the meningitis caused the scar from the surgery, to scar so bad that it was blocking the spinal fluid from flowing, which made it build up in his head. As your brain produces 300cc of spinal fluid a day. Which was now building pressure in his head. They had to drill two holes in his head and install drain tubes to drain the fluid when needed.
Our option was to have a permanent shunt put in, or redue the surgery to remove all the scar tissue, in hopes the spinal fluid would flow properly. We decided to have the scar tissue removed, as shunts can go bad and have to be replaced in time. They went back in, removed the scar tissue, and using a method of stitching him up, which reduces scaring. It all worked out, and he was fine. 30 some days of being in the hospital, and overcoming what very well could have ended not well, he was good to go.
A year later, he had to have rods put in his back. The surgeon he had was the top pediatric back surgeon in the country, at Rochester Mayo. Who we found out before the surgery. His brother lived in the small town, we lived in. My son went to school with the surgeons niece and nephew. How coincidental! I think there was someone looking out for him. His back surgery went flawless. Extra care was given because of the previous meningitis, as well as a personal connection with the surgeon. I thank God I still have my boy.
He has been through more than anyone I know, and still has a great attitude about everything. I don't really get into heroes, but I can say that he is one of mine. He is just fine, I even have to remind him sometimes to not do certain things because it might not be, a good thing just yet.
I am sorry for the book, but thought it might be a little bright light in these times of gloom. Glta!
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