Matt has not been physically able to ride his motorcycle much but on September 24th he decided to take a 15 minute ride on his motorcycle. During that 15 minute ride he was in a wreck. He had some internal bleeding around his hemangioma. He broke his T2 vertebrae, his left shoulder, 4 ribs & had to have surgery on his ankle. Those issues are healing but he also has grade 3 Diffuse Axonal Brain Injury in his frontal lobe. He knows who he is & who we are but he will need to relearn a lot of simple things like making a pot of coffee or how to make a bed. He spent several days on a ventilator. He does has serious damage that could have left him in a vegetative state but he is fighting to get his mind & body under control. Unfortunately I have been in the hospital with him for almost 2 weeks. He isn’t allowed to make any medical Decisions on his own & he is very confused so I have needed to be here with him. However that means 2 weeks without a paycheck for us! Anything helps! 

Matt is still home & healing. He has had some infection issues but with some extra antibiotics the infection is being taken care of. He is sore & still had a lot of pancreas pain but that’s expected since they was not able to do everything they wanted in the surgery. 

Long update cuz ya know Matt always has to be complicated & it’s easier to explain it all at once. 

1st I want to thank God for having his hands on him during the surgery! I appreciate all the prayers! Without God he would not have made it this far! 

The doc came in this morning & talked to us again. He explained alittle better. He said basically what is left of his tail is damaged & stuck to everything around it. He said his enlarged veins that are caused by the portal vein thrombosis are wrapped up in the mess also. When they tried to work in one area it started messing up the others areas because its all fused together so they eventually had to stop. He said it was impossible to even tell what tissue was what because everything has been so inflamed & damaged for so long. After seeing where & how big the pseudocyst he said they are not even sure that the tail is the “main” area that is leaking. The tail is leaking but they think the head is also leaking more then they thought. He said there is no way he can safely do a whipple procedure (remove the head of the pancreas) because of the portal vein thrombosis & all the extremely enlarged veins that are everywhere. He also said he can not do anything with the portal vein thrombosis because of how severe it is & Dr Goss would be the one he would recommend for that but Dr Goss has already stated he feels it’s impossible for it to be safely removed. Goss said the surgery is so dangerous it is unethical to attempt it unless Matt’s life is in immediate danger. His recover is still going to be hard because of the laparotomy (where & how much they cut his abdomen open), gallbladder removal, pancreatic cystogastrostomy (procedure they done to attach part of the large pseudocyst to his stomach) to help it drain, omental pedicle flap, falciform pedicle flap (both standard after this procedure), liver biopsy (on some areas that was abnormal or fatty but not around his hemangioma) & the area they tried to remove/clean around his pancreas tail. Everything was already inflamed before they opened him up so it’s going to be more inflamed & aggravated for awhile. Infection is still a HUGE concern so he is on antibiotics. He has a wound vac & has external drain coming out of his stomach. He also has an NG tube (goes in your nose & down your throat to suck our stomach contents). He hates the NG tube but he needs this to help drain the pseudocysts they sewed to his stomach & to keep his stomach empty so his pancreas don’t try to make extra enzymes right now. It needs to rest. You can not eat or drink with an NG tube in so it’s miserable for the person especially when your throat hurts after surgery. He is on a pain pump & pain patch. They recently increased his dose to try to make him more comfortable. They had to give him more insulin because his sugar levels are rising more. His blood pressure is running high but not horrible considering. He has sinus tachycardia (elevated heart rate) but that’s sorta expected after a huge procedure like this that causes a lot of pain & stress on your body. 

Now the good news. Last night their goal was to get him to sit on the edge of the bed for 30 minutes. 

Of course he had to show his strength by insisting on walking halfway across the room to sit in the chair for an hour! He is the strongest man I know & no matter what he keeps fighting! I am so proud of him & so proud to be his wife!

Matt is having a huge surgery on August 31st. They are doing a distal pancreatectomy (remove tail of pancreas) splenectomy  (remove spleen) & possibly a cholecystectomy (remove gallbladder). He will be in the hospital about a week if all goes perfect but he is at high risk for complications so possibly longer. It’s not going to fix all of his issues but he has a 50/50 chance of it improving atleast some of the pain & hopefully stop the leaking of the disconnected pancreatic duct which has been causing more damage. This is a very risky surgery & with all of Matt’s other health issues it makes it more complicated. His immune system is already compromised & alot of the complications can happen days or even weeks after surgery. They still can not remove the original hemangioma because that surgeon said it is to risky to even attempt that surgery but the pancreas is causing more damage so they need to try to stop that. The splenic vein has an obstruction so they are removing the entire spleen. His bile duct is narrowing so removing the gallbladder is another defense move. It can also cause pancreatitis so removing it can help prevent with future flair ups but it will depend on what they find when they open him up & if they can safely remove it with all of his other complications. Please send us lots of prayers. Add us to any/every prayer chain you know about & share with anyone who will listen! Social security is still pending & status is at 50%. I need to take more unpaid time off work for his surgery & to help him during recovery since it is such a huge complicated risky surgery so anything helps! 

I am sorry I haven’t given an update for awhile. It’s been 6  months of hell however I am so thankful he is still here after 6 months! I’m running like a crazy chicken & chasing my own tail so it’s not easy to slow down enough to write anything. I am trying y’all but I’m a mess.

Matt is still not able to work. Still no decision on social security & they have only reviewed 11% of his medical reports so they are saying months before they get finished. 

The hemangioma is still on his liver but last check has not grown anymore. He does have some issues from it & lots of pressure that even effects his breathing. The liver surgeon says he will not do the surgery to remove the mass unless he is backed into a corner because it is very dangerous especially with his portal vein thrombosis. He said at this point the risks out way the benefits. However his pancreas is still a huge issue. He is always in pain. Some days he can’t eat. Some days he can’t stay awake. He is exhausted mentally & physically. He has some good days but unfortunately the bad days are more frequent then the good & they seem to stick around longer. He is to the point he wants his entire pancreas removed regardless of the risks. He says he can’t live the rest of his life like this. We have an appointment on Friday to see a new pancreatic surgeon to see if a pancreatectomy is even possible with his portal vein thrombosis. We will see if the new specialist agrees or if he has any other ideas on how to help. Removing the pancreas has lots of immediate risks & long term issues but he is suffering so I will support whatever decision he makes even if I am terrified of anyone touching him. 

Please keep praying for us all especially Matt! 

I have been maxing out every credit card either of us could get to pay our household & medical bills for the last 6 months since my paycheck is not enough to cover things. Now that we are so far in debt they won’t give us more cards so things are getting real scary. Anything help & is very appreciated