Life After Brain Surgery

Hello!

My name is Kristin! I've finally decided to reach out to the world to see if we could get some help for my family.

Backstory:

My husband, Bobby, had presented stroke-like symptoms in August 2020, two weeks after our 2nd child was born. After making a trip to the local ER and running a panel of tests and CT scans, he was rushed to Houston, TX to be examined by a Neurosurgeon due to the spot they discovered close to his brainstem. His diagnosis would eventually be a Cavernous Malformation in the left pons region of his brain.

(For more information on this diagnosis, visit this link.

This diagnosis is more common than not, but what is rare in patients with a "cavernoma" is those that bleed. The stroke-like symptoms and other related symptoms and deficits to come would be the result of his cavermona bleeding. To avoid getting into the weeds of how this malformation effects everyone differently, I will say that the symptoms that result in patients can vary drastically.

Bobby's symptoms started with numbness and tingling in his entire left side of his body, a few days later moved into having a hard time walking, double vision, tremors of his head and limbs, speech impediments, issues with swallowing, and the list goes on.

As a result, Bobby had to eventually go onto long term disability until he was able to figure out how much he'd recover from his bleed. (Fun fact: there is no timeline of when you'll recover, nor how much you'll recover, depending on your symptoms, placement of the malformation and whether it bled or not).

Luckily after 11 months, Bobby was able to fully recover at what I'd say is 100% recovery, and go back to work. It was only a month and a half until Bobby experienced new symptoms, caused him to goto the ER to get checked out again and start the whole process over that he experienced the year prior. This time, his cavermona bled for about the third time, this time resulting in the malformation growing about 3x its size.

After numerous "No's" from different doctors and left with, "it is inoperable, and you'll have to just live life," we coincidentally ran across an article of a Neurosurgeon and Neurologist duo that would eventually become Bobby's answer! (Read article here)

On September 10, 2021, Bobby underwent brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN with a successful removal of the cavernous malformation! Yesterday, January 10th, 2022, was the 4 month mark since his surgery, and he is flourishing in his rehab and recovering very well! We are very hopeful that he'll make a near 100% recovery and will be back in the workforce in the near future.

Our Situation:

During Aug 2020 to present day, we've been fortunate enough to keep our heads above water with help from family members, both financially and on a daily basis, however, this support may not be enough starting next month.

Fortunately, medical bills were nearly paid off by insurance and help through family. Bobby had great insurance and a great job, but since he's been out of work for the better part of a year, he was administratively terminated, thus losing the family insurance benefits, and our head of household income.

We also lost our help through the state with paying for childcare while I worked. (To qualify for state help, both parents must be working, or full-time student, along with being within the total household income amount to qualify.) Next month we will also lose long term disability benefits, thus relying entirely on my income to live off of.

To make sure Bobby was able to continue rehab, which is imperative to his recovery, we elected COBRA to cover him for insurance. Lastly, my job fortunately added benefits at a 50/50 employer/employee pay rate, and securing a somewhat above average salary.

Though I've secured a job with a good salary to keep my family stable for the most part, it does not offset the new bills that are beginning to add up, which is about a $2,778 monthly increase in expenses that are necessary for our family. (breakdown below).

New family insurance: $1080/mnth

COBRA for Bobby only: $618/mnth

New childcare rate: $1080 ($800 increase after state help was revoked)

All of our monthly bill and expenses have been paid without issue, but our main stressor is being able to pay for childcare. If we didn't have childcare, it would be nearly impossible for me to work, take care of Bobby when he needs help, and take care of our two small children. (Bobby is still limited on normal functionality, so taking care of the kids is very tough for him and he's unable to be the caretaker at this time.)

Our Ask:

Though we do not know a deadline or a timeframe from when Bobby will be strong enough to go back into the workforce, we are optimistic that within 6 months he'll regain strength enough to work again. Once he is back at work and able to add additional income to our household, we will be fine.

In the meantime, we are asking for help on paying our childcare cost to cover the next 6 months (from Feb 2022-Oct 2022) so that I can continue to work, and Bobby can continue to focus on his recovery and continue attending rehab at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, TX until he's cleared to go back to work.