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.
Family and Friends: In October of 2021, my wife Melissa suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) also referred to as a mini-stroke. It presented itself by a very temporary loss of vision in one eye, which fully recovered with no permanent or other lasting effects. Stroke protocol testing at our local hospital as well as getting a 2nd opinion at the Mayo Clinic led to the discovery that Melissa has a very rare brain disease called ‘Moyamoya’. This is a progressive disease with no cure that deals with arteries in the brain becoming blocked, and thus preventing blood flow to the brain. The only option for Moyamoya patients is to bypass the impacted areas of the brain using one’s own arterial network to provide for adequate blood flow to the brain. Fortunately for us, the world’s leading surgeon for this disease is in California at Stanford University. Dr. Gary Steinberg will be performing Melissa’s bypass surgery on March 22nd. After speaking with him recently and reviewing Melissa’s charts, we are confident that Dr. Steinberg will be able to provide Melissa with a successful outcome. We also learned that it was likely Melissa’s blood clotting disorder (Factor V Leiden) that caused the TIA and not the Moyamoya. Just turns out that the TIA was a blessing in disguise of sorts, uncovering the Moyamoya before anything serious happened. In any case, I will be using this CaringBridge site to provide you, her family and close friends, with updates throughout this process.
To learn more about Moyamoya and Dr. Steinberg please visit the following link:
https://med.stanford.edu/neurosurgery/divisions/moyamoya.htmlI would like to thank everyone in advance for your caring and support during this time. Please keep those positive vibes going for Melissa. It truly means the world to us.
With sincere gratitude,
Joe Hipp
