The AVM is quite large. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being low risk and 5 being high risk, he is between a 3 and a 4. But because of his age and health, the fact that this has already hemorraged once, and that the AVM is tightly wound together, they think surgery is the best plan. The AVM is cone shaped and it starts on the outside of his brain and goes into his brain pretty deep. This is the language center of his brain and there are risks of having language/speech difficulty after the surgery. He reassured us that even though it is a very trying, long surgery, he has never had anyone die 🙌 Praise the Lord! 

 

So what's next? Nic will be going home in the next few days where he will need to take it easy. Over this month they will prepare all of us for the surgery, getting in the right mindset, understanding everything, etc...Within the next month he will have an Embolization which is kind of like an Angiogram, but goes up into his brain to glue vessels in the deepest part of the AVM. This will help when they do the surgery because they do not want that part of the AVM to bleed onto his brain stem. After the Embolization, his surgery will be about 2 days later. This will be a LONG 12 hour surgery.

 

Please keep your prayers coming, dear family and friends. They have been so incredibly powerful in turning a very intense situation into a calm atmosphere to process this big change in our lives. God's hands are so intertwined in every part of this. Everywhere we look we see His work. GOD IS SO FREAKIN AMAZING, PEOPLE!!!