John Gagliano's Medical Fund
Donation protected
At 15 years old John developed stroke symptoms. It was discovered that his internal carotid artery was stenosed and a clot had developed there. He spent several days in ICU on IV heparin to dissolve it then discharged home on Coumadin. Eventually John was able to stop Coumadin and only take an aspirin a day to prevent further clots. No diagnosis was really made for his condition. Doctors felt he was just born that way. No diagnosis was really made.
John was on the football team at St Pauls School in Covington. But that had to be stopped. John later graduated from highschool then graduated from Southeastern University. Found an average job and moved out of his parents house. He lives in a double owned by his great aunt so he can help keep an eye on her.
John is now 29 years old and there has never been another problem until now. 6 months ago, John was Diagnosed with Bell's Palsy (Paralysis of facial nerve). He feared it was happening again. Because of his history, a CT/MRI was done. It came back abnormal and he needed to see a neurosurgeon right away. Maybe this was God's way of telling us that something else was happening. John had developed a 1mm Aneurysm in the internal carotid artery of his good side! The neurosurgeon felt that he only needed to watch the area and told John to come back in 6 months. At the 6 months check up, the aneurysm grew from 1mm to 5mm. Something had to be done. A Cerebral Angiogram was done in hopes to coil the aneurysm from the inside the artery.
However, once the surgeon was in and got a better view of the artery, he realized it was much larger than he thought. Coiling from the inside the artery would block the artery entirely. He would have immediate stroke symptoms and could possibly die from lack of blood flow to the brain. The only other safe but still really risky option is to actually have surgery to clip the aneurysm. This can only be done by removing a piece of the skull. Retracting the frontal lobe of the brain back to get to the artery. Place the clips at the aneurysm site. Then gently place the brain back.
The surgery was Friday, May 15th. While the surgeon was performing the surgery the aneurysm ruptured. The vessel was very weak. John lost a lot of blood and required several blood transfusions. Because of this his brain started to swell as well. Part of his skull is being saved for placing back later. He will stay in ICU sedated till the swelling goes down. Once he starts to wake up we will see how he is. We can only wait!!
We originally thought John would have a 5 day stay in the hospital. Part of that stay would include ICU to watch for signs of stroke. We will also need to watch for signs of complications from retracting the brain. John may have slurred speech or cognitive problems. Hopefully this will resolve easily but may not. He will need Physical, Occupational and possible Speech Therapy as well. John is so worried about his job and how he will pay for this. His neurosurgeon has told John that he could possibly need to be off work for 3 months. We are hoping that everything goes well in his healing and he will only need to be out of work for a month. However, things have changed.......
John has private medical insurance but he has to pay for 30% of the bills. He is not on any disability or Medicaid. He has 2 weeks of saved vacation time that he plans to use to continue to pay for his regular bills in addition to the medical bills. Family can only do so much to help pay.
Please pray everything goes well!!!!
There is a Donation Account set up at Capital One Bank. You can go to any Capital One bank to donate there under John's name if you would rather donate that way.
John's sister....
Gina Rader
John was on the football team at St Pauls School in Covington. But that had to be stopped. John later graduated from highschool then graduated from Southeastern University. Found an average job and moved out of his parents house. He lives in a double owned by his great aunt so he can help keep an eye on her.
John is now 29 years old and there has never been another problem until now. 6 months ago, John was Diagnosed with Bell's Palsy (Paralysis of facial nerve). He feared it was happening again. Because of his history, a CT/MRI was done. It came back abnormal and he needed to see a neurosurgeon right away. Maybe this was God's way of telling us that something else was happening. John had developed a 1mm Aneurysm in the internal carotid artery of his good side! The neurosurgeon felt that he only needed to watch the area and told John to come back in 6 months. At the 6 months check up, the aneurysm grew from 1mm to 5mm. Something had to be done. A Cerebral Angiogram was done in hopes to coil the aneurysm from the inside the artery.
However, once the surgeon was in and got a better view of the artery, he realized it was much larger than he thought. Coiling from the inside the artery would block the artery entirely. He would have immediate stroke symptoms and could possibly die from lack of blood flow to the brain. The only other safe but still really risky option is to actually have surgery to clip the aneurysm. This can only be done by removing a piece of the skull. Retracting the frontal lobe of the brain back to get to the artery. Place the clips at the aneurysm site. Then gently place the brain back.
The surgery was Friday, May 15th. While the surgeon was performing the surgery the aneurysm ruptured. The vessel was very weak. John lost a lot of blood and required several blood transfusions. Because of this his brain started to swell as well. Part of his skull is being saved for placing back later. He will stay in ICU sedated till the swelling goes down. Once he starts to wake up we will see how he is. We can only wait!!
We originally thought John would have a 5 day stay in the hospital. Part of that stay would include ICU to watch for signs of stroke. We will also need to watch for signs of complications from retracting the brain. John may have slurred speech or cognitive problems. Hopefully this will resolve easily but may not. He will need Physical, Occupational and possible Speech Therapy as well. John is so worried about his job and how he will pay for this. His neurosurgeon has told John that he could possibly need to be off work for 3 months. We are hoping that everything goes well in his healing and he will only need to be out of work for a month. However, things have changed.......
John has private medical insurance but he has to pay for 30% of the bills. He is not on any disability or Medicaid. He has 2 weeks of saved vacation time that he plans to use to continue to pay for his regular bills in addition to the medical bills. Family can only do so much to help pay.
Please pray everything goes well!!!!
There is a Donation Account set up at Capital One Bank. You can go to any Capital One bank to donate there under John's name if you would rather donate that way.
John's sister....
Gina Rader
Organizer
Gina Gagliano Rader
Organizer
Covington, LA