Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
Hi everyone- I'm Maria, and I have created this site in support of my dear friend, Jessica Sellman and her family. On July 7th, Jess will be undergoing surgery at the Cleveland Clinic for a rare condition called Chiari Malformation -- essentially, brain tissue extends into the spinal canal, and part of the skull presses on the brain and forces it downward, compressing the brain stem and cerebellum and "plugging" the hole of the foramen magnum. Her symptoms have substantially increased over the past year, and surgery is the only option at this point; unfortunately, the surgeon stated that her level of herniation is one of the worst he's ever seen. She has very little cerebral spinal fluid flow around the limited space around her cerebellum/brain stem, and this causes severe migraines, head pressure, intense neck pain, and a host of other neurological symptoms such as numbness and tingling, balance issues, memory loss, and vision and hearing loss. The surgeon is expecting recovery from this brain surgery to take 8 full weeks. This would be difficult for anyone to manage, let alone a full-time working mom of 4 young kids (ages 6-13). She works at our alma mater, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School as the Director of Admission and Enrollment.
Many of you reading this probably know Jess (or at least remember her by her beautiful singing voice at our wedding!), but for those of you who don't know her, she is a loving wife, supermom of 4 beautiful children, a devout Catholic who volunteers her very little spare time to help anyone in need, give back to the community, and share her talents- she is also the most loyal friend you can possibly imagine. I have been blessed to know Jess for 23 years, and her strength and faith continue to grow and inspire everyone around her. For these reasons and so many more, she is Godmom to my Mia. I could go on and on about how special she is and how many lives she's touched, but I trust you know what a special soul she is. I also wouldn't be surprised if many people weren't aware of what Jess has been through, as she doesn't complain about her hardships.
First and foremost, Jess and her family are asking for your prayers during this difficult time. If you would like to help in other ways, there is also a meal train website set up for her and her family.
https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/d17l3lThank you all for visiting and for keeping the Sellman family in your thoughts and prayers. We will be updating this website as news on her surgery and recovery filter in. We appreciate all of you!
