Early Thursday morning, February 22, Mack experienced debilitating headaches, nausea and numbness in his arms. After being admitted to the ER in Athens and having a CAT scan, he was Medivaced to the ER at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. He was diagnosed with a Blister Aneurysm on his brain as well as a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. He was admitted into the neurological ICU where they conducted more tests and determined that he would need a surgery referred to as a "pipeline” procedure where a wire mesh sheath called a pipeline embolization device, or PED, is inserted into the artery next to the aneurysm. This blocks the flow of blood to the aneurysm so that within a period of 6 weeks to 6 months, it shrinks and disappears as the artery heals. This is the hope. The 3 hour surgery took place on Friday February 23 and was successful. Mack pulled through well and is in recovery. They did, however, find a few more aneurysms and are planning to do the same procedure on those next Wednesday or Thursday, depending on Mack's recovery in the coming days. We will update the journal as we have more information.
We appreciate your amazing support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you all!
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