Hello everyone,

It has been a while since our last post.  Overall things have been going pretty well.  Life seemed to be getting back to normal.  Tim has been hard at work, and enjoying day to day life.  Then Tim had to go in for his six month check up post aneurysm and an MRI on November 7th to make sure everything was looking good.  Two days later, on November 9th, hoping for the best, we headed down to St. Paul to the John Nasseff Neuroscience Specialty Clinic to meet with his Neurology team for the results. They told us the coils in the aneurysm didn't look good as they have become impacted. The Doctors said it was much like a trash can that gets full and then is pushed down to add more room.  It got filled up too much and Tim's blood pressure came by and pushed it down so it got packed in and they needed to add more coils.  At that time it was concluded that having another surgery was possibly in the future. Obviously not the news we wanted with the Holiday's fast approaching. 

The next step was going in for a Cerebral Angiography which is a procedure that uses a special dye (contrast material) and x-rays to see how blood flows through the brain. December 1st was the day so we headed to Mercy Hospital for that procedure. It was an odd procedure where they went in through his femoral artery and ran a tube up to his neck into his brain where they release the dye. He was awake for the procedure and they told him he wouldn't remember anything, but he says he did.  He described it as an out of body experience with no pain. To lay there awake during a surgery where everyone in the room is working and talking about you is odd.  He recalls joking with them and making small talk at times while just trying to lay still for about 2 hours or so. After the procedure was done and all his Doctors got the chance to review the results they, as a team, determined that he would in fact need another surgery to fix the coils. They also said, while they were in there, they were going to try and go after the other aneurysm which is located in the front of his brain to see if they could put a few coils in there as well.  

Yesterday, December 26th, Tim went in for his now 3rd brain surgery of the year down at United Hospital where he stayed for those long 21 days. They went in and packed the aneurysm with more coils and then placed two stents in the artery to help the blood flow and protect the aneurysm. The surgery went well but they didn't get a chance to tackle the other anerysm due to it's small size and the risk of puncturing it which could lead to a stroke. Tim had to spend the night back in the Neuro ICU. It was pretty sureal to walk back into that unit after so long which brough back many emotions. The staff very quickly remembered him and welcomed him with open arms. He was having all the nurses and staff laughing within 30 minutes of being there. Classic Tim. 

Tim got to come home this afternoon and is very happy to put this behind him. He has been an absolute rockstar through all of this and continues to suprise me on how strong he is. He has gone through so much this past year and no matter what he always has a positive attitude and a smile on his face. 

Tim will spend the next handful of days recovering at home, resting and relaxing. We are very thankful that he is healthy again and the best news is that we have no rechecks for one whole year!! We will gladly take that break. We were planning on updating everyone along the way when this all started in November but every time we stared a draft plans seemed to change along the way and we just needed to focus on our privacy, our kids and the accuracy on the information shared.

Eventhough this overhsadowed our Christmas cheer we are very much looking forward to a Happy New Year.  Thank you to all of our friends and family who have been there for us and the kids every step of the way. We truly couldnt have done it without you all. Cheers to a New Year!

Love, 

Tim & Addy