Prayer Request - Second Generation FReeper To Have Brain Surgery

Self | 12/8/03 | John Dillon

[NerdDad]

Mrs. NerdDad and I request your prayers for our son, Matt, (FReeper Clarinet_King) as we prepare for his brain surgery on Tuesday Morning.

Matt is a freshman Computer Science student and band member at the University of Southern Miss. He has experienced increasingly difficult headaches for about two years. He assumed he had picked up my migraines mixed with the stresses of his high school senior year and scholarship hunt. Instead, he was diagnosed in October with an arachnoid cyst in the left frontal lobe of his brain. The arachnoid is the spider-web-like first lining surrounding the brain. The cyst is a 6 by 10 centimeter (about the size of a man's fist) pocket filled with the same cerebral-spinal fluid that the brain produces and uses for padding inside the skull.

Doctors tell us that it has probably been present and growing all or most of his life. We've also been told that even if diagnosed early, these cysts are not treated until they start causing problems.

Matt will be admitted this morning to University Medical Center in Jackson Ms. He will have surgery Tuesday morning. The surgeon will make a 4-5 mm incision in the scalp and drill a small hole through the skull. A fiber optic scope will be inserted and guided with a computer into and through the cyst. A shunt will be inserted in the back of the cyst to allow the fluid to flow through the cyst.

Matt will spend 2 nites in the hospital and a week of recovery time at home. He will attend and participate in the Liberty Bowl with the band and return to USM in January for the next semester. His activities will be limited to avoid impacts to the head for 3 months and then he will be released to full activity. Because the internal pressure from the cyst significantly thinned the skull in the front, he will have to be careful about blows to the head for the rest of his life. But then, I guess we all need to be careful about that.

We feel confident that he is in good hands hands with this Dr and staff. He is in the prayers of many folks and I would appreciate the prayers of our friends here on FR. I've seen the power of prayer work many miracles and this lump-head needs all the help he can get. (Yeah, Dad is keeping his sense of humor.)

[NerdDad]

Mississippi Ping. Yall keep my knot head son in your prayers this week.

[NerdDad]

We're talking about you over here. Come read about yourself when you get well.

[MinuteGal]

You DO have the support of our freeper family, Dad. We'll be praying hard for successful surgery Tuesday and a quick recovery for Matt.

Leni

[BlessedBeGod]

Prayers that your son be healed quickly and completely on the way!

[Miss Marple]

Prayers for Matt's quick recovery.

[AAABEST]

OH d00d, I was upset when I first read the title, but I'm very happy that this operation will actually be a good thing (although it is still quite a lot to deal with).

God bless your son.

[WKB]

Mississippi call to prayer ping

[glock rocks]

Prayers going up for a speedy recovery Matt.

[mysterio]

Prayers and best wishes for your son and family.

[SC DOC]

Prayers on the way.

[milan]

Your son will be in my prayers.

I have also linked on the Georgia area:

link to Georgia area

[billbears]

Prayers lifted up for your son and for your family for strength. That the doctors hands would be guided by God and for a strong recovery

[Peach]

Prayers lifted for a full recovery for your son.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Prayers sent

[FrogMom]

Prayers going up that the doctors will have wisdom and steady hands, and that Matt will recover fully and quickly.

[AngrySpud]

Prayers for a speedy recovery, Matt.

[stainlessbanner]

Clarinet_King, prayers for you brother. You'll be back for the halftime show in no time!

"Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you."
--- 1 Peter 5:7

[Vigilantcitizen]

Prayers sent for a quick recovery.

[AnAmericanMother]

From the wife of an old marching band clarinetist (Douglas Southall Freeman High School, Richmond VA, class of 1969), all our family's prayers for a successful surgery and an uneventful recovery!