Alex’s Road to Recovery

As many of you are aware, early Thursday morning (March 24th), Alex was found unconscious as a result of a significant brain bleed in the left side of his brain. He was taken by squad to Wilson and then transported to Miami Valley Hospital. Shortly after arrival, they did a life-saving surgery to remove a portion of his skull due to the swelling and shifting of his brain. After numerous tests and scans done at MVH, the doctors have determined it to be a result of Arteriovenous malformation (AVM). A rare condition (fewer than 200,000 US cases per year) that occurs by an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, usually in the brain or spine. The arteries and veins in an arteriovenous malformation can rupture, causing bleeding into the brain or spinal cord. It is typically something you are born with but can rupture at any time - some people may go their whole life without issues.

With the bleed, it is affecting the movement in his right side and will likely have an impact on his speech. We have seen small improvements each day - he is moving his left side quite a bit now and is able to follow commands with that side. We get some movement from his right side - it is not often and it is hit and miss. He has started to open his eyes and be more alert.

Alex does have quite a bit of swelling in his tongue - they suspect it is resulting from him biting it during his seizure. So our main focus right now is to get the swelling down so that they will be able to take the ventilator out. As you can only be on a ventilator for 2 weeks before needing to put a trach in. He is doing a great job breathing on his own with CPAP through the day but they have continued to turn the vent back on at night.

His care team had a conference call on Wednesday (March 30) with several other doctors from across the nation to discuss the best course of action for Alex moving forward. The AVM spot is still too far back in his brain to operate on - however, the risk of re-bleed is slim provided his blood pressure stays stable. With that being said, the plan moving forward is: Alex will remain at MVH for the next 4-6 weeks. They will do another angiogram of his brain after that time is up. At that point if the swelling has gone down and they are able to get to the spot, they will burn the spot. If they are still unable to get to the spot, they will likely keep him on blood pressure medicine to help keep that in check.

We are getting used to MVH being our home away from home. The road to recovery will be a long one, it will have ups and downs, but we are happy to take this road with Alex.

Mom has decided to take time off of work to be there by Alex’s side during this process. Dad will go back to work and physically be there to support Alex in the evenings and weekends. As you can imagine, the medical bills will start piling up soon enough and with the loss of an income it can be scary - something that shouldn’t be a worry of theirs right now.

We have had several people ask how they can help - if you feel compelled to help beyond sending continuous prayers - you are welcome to donate towards Alex’s medical expenses via this page or you can visit any Osgood Bank location to contribute.

Thank you all for the love, support, and prayers we have already received. We are taking this journey one day at a time.