John and Carolyn Perkins

Update:  August 6, 2020


A few weeks ago, Grandmother was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure.  She entered Hospice at home on July 31, 2020.  




July 2016: 
Grandmother and Granddad asked us to create this site to keep everyone updated on both of their health issues.  

A little background on Granddad:
In February 2014, a neurologist found a small spot on granddad's brain.  It was determined to not be of any concern as he had no health issues at that point.  For the next year, Granddad had multiple repeat MRI's every few months to see if their was any change in the size or shape of the spot.  Everything was good to go.  Granddad checked in with the neurologist in May of 2016 again, and everything was still looking good.  

Then a few weeks ago, Granddad had a couple of minor seizures that occurred on the left side of his mouth.  These seizures combined with some numbness in his left arm had him schedule an appointment with his neurologist again.  They did an MRI on July 19th and discovered two concerning things: 
1.  The original spot on his brain had grown larger 
2. There was a second spot located near the original spot.  

The neurologist sent him to see a neurosurgeon, Dr. Culicchia, in New Orleans on Wednesday (July 27th).  The neurosurgeon met with us and shared that he is not 100% sure what the spots are, but felt that it was beneficial to move forward with surgery.     

The plan of action: 
On Tuesday, August 2nd, Granddad will have surgery to do a biopsy for sure, and a possible removal of the tumor if  Dr. Culicchia feels comfortable doing so.  Granddad will spend a few nights in ICU and then move to a regular room for a night or two and return home.  

We will hopefully have the results from the pathology report next week, and then a new plan of action will be made based on the information we gain next week.  

In addition, due to the seizures, granddad cannot drive for six months, which is the worst news for him in all of this.  

A little background and update on Grandmother: 

In June, grandmother went in for a routine Pulmonologist check-up, and he heard something that sounded funny. He had her go do a CT scan, and they discovered she had an aortic aneurysm.  

On July 12, she had surgery to attempt to repair it.  The surgery went well, but due to the close location of the aneurysm near the kidney arteries and the slant of her aneurysm they were not able to completely seal the leak.  

Grandmother has an appointment this week with her Vascular surgeon to determine next steps, which will most likely mean a second surgery for her in the near future.  We will update youafter her appointment this week! 

Prayers and Updates: 
Our entire family asks that you keep both my grandparents in your prayers.  We will use this site to keep people updated on the day of the surgery and in the days ahead.  We know my grandparents have a wide circle of support, and many people who love them and are praying for them.  We feel your prayers, and please keep doing so!