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I was looking at my profile and noticed how bland it really is. It really doesn't come close to the energetic and warm person that I am. I love my husband, my family, my kids ** there are 5 total... my boys-Patrick 18 and Keith 22,and my husband's lovely daughters-which I also include as my kids -Alisha 18, Nikki almost 14 and Samantha 10... mine, his, all equal OURS! I am so proud of each of you and love each of you very very much! You all make me very proud. I thank God everyday for each memory I have of all of you! You are all very much loved by me!!!!! ............................................................
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We had alot going on this year with my eldest son having two major brain surgeries. Lots of stress but we endured it all. Thank you friends and family for being there! Keith, my oldest son was diagnosed after 2 weeks in the hospital with moyamoya... Our adventure started at Banes Jones Army hospital and ended up in Houton's St Lukes.....he was in 2 different ICUs ( Byrd Reginal, St Frances Cabrini) and the Cardiac Floor ( St Frances Cabrini) and Neurology Floor at St Luke's in Houston... he was in 4 different hospitals before finally being diagnoses with having a rare vascular disorder of the brain called Moyamoya Disease.... ............................................... He had 3 complete occlusions to the brain (right internal carotid,and the two spinal arteries) and the left internal carotid was 80% stenosis (blocked)which were confirmed on Feb 6,2006............................................... One might be thinking, wow.. how did we not know??? Well since birth... Keith he had been looked at for his heart... I was told that he had a small opening in his heart (false), had aoertic stenosis- an underdeveloped valve leading from him left ventricle- also false) and high bloodpressure started off and on but played baseball in school! No one ever suggested or even told us there might be something wrong with the vascular system of the brain! It took him giving blood in November for weird things to start going on!He started then having like small episodes of memory loss, slurred speech, some numbness.. but not all at the same time! In January, he gave blood again and *poof* he passed out at work, came home from college for "feeling weird". After this blood donation, things really escalated at this point, he was acting drunk and walking and talking in circles, droopy one side of the face and body.. immediately went to the ER with him and they sent us home saying it was a sinus infection after the CT scan showed nothing but polyps in the sinus cavity. We were sent home!!!!!!......... I knew something wasn't right as we had alot of ER visits because of dizzyness, headaches and chest pain and always sent home. This time, there were serious warning signs and didn't accept what that ER doctor said............so I toke Keith back the next day to Internal Meds at Banes Jones Army Hospital....... The doctor there saved Keith's life.. because we were told he was having mini stroke's or TIAs and NOT sinus infection! I was told to take him to the ER out in town this time if there was a problem since there wasn't a neurologist on staff at BJACH........... It was not even a week later, back in a different ER, and not only was Keith having another stroke(the first one showed up at this point because it takes atleast 6 hours to show up as bright white in the white matter of the brain, but was having a heart attack as well! Of course, because at this point, they didn't know what was going on, he was looked at more thoroughly! Suddenly they noticed in the ICU that there was a strange noise in the carotid arteries of his neck. So for the first time, he had a ultrasound of his neck... and immediately follow that and the MRI.. off we went to another hospital an hour and a half away! He spent a week there in their ICU while a team of doctors argued amoungst themselves on what was going on... the neurologist who was from Nigeria, thought that it was either MELAS Syndrome or Moyamoya! MELAS is untreatable, and Moyamoya was something that can be fixed however can have devestating effects if left to "see what happens" and hope that another stroke doesn't happen... but required bypass brain surgery! So off to Houston Texas we went for further testing and an angiogram (the radiologist refused to do this because he had already determined that Keith had Large Caranial Vasculitis (something thatnormally only 70 year old people get!)I followed behind Keith in the ambulance in my car! Then six days after we got there... it was confirmed.. Moyamoya Disease.....................................................
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Moyamoya disease is extremely rare, only 1 in 2 million people get this,, mostly found in asian descent and 2:1 women/girls. It was first discovered in 1959 in Japan. There is Primary Moyamoya ( genetic and only 7-10% of the moyamoya patients have it genetically ) and secondary resulting from another disease and random......In the genetic form..... it is a result of a mutated #6 chormosone. Keith has it not only genetically, but has a rarest mutation or form of moyamoya and never seen before in a living breathing patient. The mutation of this that not only effects the internal carotids, but the back of the brain as well...He was caught in the final stages of this, and is extremely lucky that not only is he alive, but he isn't a veggie!!!!!!!! He is walking, talking and doing everything normal......... However, his MRA and Celerbral Angiogram looked like he had thousands of yards of tangled fishing line.. resembling a "puff of smoke"in the four quardrons of the brain.
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My husband and I immediately went online to find more information on this, and contacted moyamoya.com and found the leading expert in the world,,, Dr Gary Steinberg who is the Chairman of Neurosurgeries and Neurosciences at Stanford University in California....Within a week after returning to Fort Polk, we had gotten all his reports, copies of his angiogram and everything we could get and had them forwarded to Dr Steinberg.... we heard immediately from him and then awaited approval from the insurance for the direct bypass brain surgeries! He has had the first two surgeries on the left and right internal carotids... very successful!!( March 15th and March 23rd) He got 10x the amount of blood flow to the brain that he didn't have before and 15x on the left! The direct bypasses that was performed was done threw a small opening in the brain saved his life!! We still have 2 more to go........... our next visit to Stanford University Medical Center in California to see Dr Gary Steinberg in October will determine if surgery will help at this time, or if we will wait a whole year to let the brain recover. This surgery around the spinal cord has never been performed so this is going into uncharted territory for the leading expert in Moyamoya!
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....................................................Dr Steinberg has requested since my youngest brother, Jimmy, who had a stroke atdevasting stroke 25, (((((((( UPDATE,,,, I found my brother again and it is confirmed genetic... he has moyamoya as well!!!!!)))))))))))that both myself and my youngest son be tested as well as my sisters kids and expecially my nephew Jason........ Unfortunately because of the move, we had to wait until after we got to Miami. Neither one of us have had any stroke like symtoms, and fortunately, Keith has only lost his map reading abilities, the right side has complete function now. I have had and suffered from Migraines that even my adoptive mother couldn't explain to me why or what caused them... the techonlogy back they wasn't there.......................................................
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I was adopted, so I had no medical information while I was growing up, no names, no nothing......... but in the recent years, I have found the rest of my biological family. My mother passed away from a heart attack and perivascular disease of the brain... this was possibly moyamoya. My grandmother also died of vascular disorder of the brain.. also could have been moyamoya... so making any diagnosis was difficult since no one seemed to know what to look for. I thank God everyday that we still have Keith with us...never thought that by "giving the gift of life" twice threw the local blood bank would have such and impact on our lives! What a rollercoaster ride that January 2006 would bring in! Everything is back to normal though... well,, giggles as normal as one can get! LOL.........................................................
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Thoughts on being adopted.............. Although my own adoption was very tainted by lies and deceit from them and them not telling me about my 3 sisters until I was 17 years old! I was adopted at 5, my adoptive parents had been taking me for visits to see my sisters up to that point however,the moment I was adopted, was the moment I was no longer allowed to even think about them....until the nightmares started about the house fire! Funny thing.. Josphine's mother still knows my adoptive mother and my adoptive mother and her's go to the same church.. and my adoptive father approached Jo at her stepfather's funneral service thinking it was ME!!! ..my mother and her used to ride together to take her and I to visit Liz and Linda at the Sarah Fisher Home! Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm... Kinda gives one the impression,,that they didn't want us to find each other.. even though both of us were searching since we were 18! Still seams extremely odd to have a close relationship with someone all these years,, from Redford Twsp to Bloomfield and still go to the same churches!!! You honestly can't tell me that they didn't know who each other were!!! Guess my adoptive mother thought that I was dumb! NOT!!!!!
There is one thing I honestly regret is ever trusting my sister and my mother from the family I was adopted by with something that is very precious to me.. I learned at the age of 24.. blood runs a whole lot thicker then a piece of paper. One day.. the truth will set my heart free once again and the pain of what they have done will be known.... Until that day... I wait patiently with love and understanding. ............................................................
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I am a reunited adoptee with my birthfamily who loves me and accepts me and knows that I have beautiful heart and soul. ( unlike my adoptive family that rejected me because of my search for my birthfamily)My birthsister (Josie) and brother (Billy) along with my father and his wife Rosemary are extremely close and have a very loving relationship. My two oldest sisters, Liz and Linda, well, both have their issues,,, but I love them just the same. I did meet my mother a few years before she passed,,, she was a beautiful woman and the best way to discribe her is that she was a "broken sparrow" Loosing us after the house fire was extremely damaging to her and she never recovered from the pain. It wasn't her fault that they were dirt poor........................................................
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Lets see.. as far as my furry little friends go.. I have a balinese named George, a siamese mix named Petie.... an irish setter named Jake and english bulldog named Tank. Petie rules the house.. George is my shy and sweethearted love sponge and Jake.. well.. he is an irishman through and through LOL...his playful games and silliness just makes me laugh! Tank.. well.. he is a 75lb roley-poley tank hehehehe.... he is my fat little buddy that is forever at my side.. he doesn't have a tail to wag.. so he uses his whole body!!! His snoring keeps me company while my husband is in the field or away somewhere in the world. Having all of them in the bed when hubby is gone doesn't leave much room for me.. but hey... they steal the covers and take up his side of the bed !!! ROFL!!!
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********************************************************* I am very much in love with my husband...I wouldn't trade one breath of our time together for all the gold in the world! Please don't disrespect me or you will be ignored. *********************************************************
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