A Man's Best Friend

Wesley loves dogs. We have had a lot of dogs in our 13 years of being together. Some have died, some we have sold or given away because they just did not fit in with our family.
Well, we have finally found one that has. We had a dog, Boomer, that got ran over right before this past Christmas. It was horrible! The kids were so upset, we were all so upset.
Anyhow, back to the point.. I found a dog through an adoption agency. Wesley has always wanted a German Shephed. Of course, he has always wanted one for a police drug dog, but now he has one as a pet. We have had her for a couple of weeks. Gabby is her name and she is just perfect. She does not jump, she is not hyper, loves the kids. She is not a police dog, but she has became Wesley's best friend. She is lazy!

Wesley would be lost without her!


Another rough day for Wesley. I could go on and on, but something was said to the effect that if he was really as sick as we say he would not be working. I am not going to dull on this to much. But, just let me say. If anyone would like to come stay 24 hours with us, you will see. Wesley is working, he has too. He has no sick days, no vacation, nothing. We already know he is going to have to be off when we go to New York, so he can not afford to miss now. If he does not work, we live in a cardboard box. But, really I do not have to explain myself to anyone. Wesley is sick. He can put on a good show. But, the fact of the matter is; his head was hurting so bad tonight that he pulled over threw up and went on. Happened twice. Now he is home and taking drugs, trying to ease the pain somewhat. So noone tell me that he is not sick. Come walk a day in his shoes!! Amen! Enough on that, I just wanted to get that off my chest!
Friday is the MRI. Before we know it, it will be next Wednesday and hopefully we have a date and can start planning.

I Feel Comfort..

Today has been a much better day emotionally for me. Wesley has been a little better today. We will take it!
This morning I had a lady from church call me. Bless her heart, she made my day. She has been in my shoes before. It was so nice to talk to someone that I felt like understood. She did not think we are crazy. Not that everyone does, but at times like his you just feel alone. You sometimes feel like no one cares, when in reality a lot of people care.
Today I got more paper work squared away. Wesley has an MRI set up for Friday at 1:00. After that we go right to the post office and send everything to New York. They should have it by Tuesday and the nurse is going to present to the Dr.'s on Wednesday. We should know on Wednesday an appt. date. There should be no reason why the Dr.'s will not accept him. I have to say though, thats my fear!
So until then we have patience and we wait.

Tough Day

Today has been tough! Wesley has had a bad headache since Saturday night. It just has not let up. But, to top it off he has a cold with a bad cough. He is such a trooper. As sick as he was, he went to work. He came home at dinner break and slept and then went back to work. He is so strong, even know he is so weak. Does that make sense.
Today was tough on me. Today I was overwelmed with "why"? Why, Wesley? Why, us? Why, does this continue? Why, Why, Why!! Today it was hard to have the faith that I usually have. I know it is ok to have days like that.
I spent all morning talking to the nurse at the Chiari Hospital. I had to obtain MRI's, progress notes, etc. I still do not have it all. Ugh.. Patience. You would think I would have some by now, but I do not. She was shocked by everything Wesley has been though. She presents her findings to the neurosurgeons every Wednesday morning. So it will probably be next Wednesday, since we are still getting paper work. He may even have to go get a new MRI done. We will find that out tomorrow. So another week before we get an appt. This is if the Dr.'s will even see him. Ugh.. Patience.
I am disappoined with some people in my life. At times like this you just feel alone, even know you have so many people praying for you. But, I can not dwell on things like that right now.
For now, I will say my prayers, go to bed and get back up and start a new day.

A Beautiful Day that the Lord Made

Wow, today was a very pretty day. But, it was a bit hot. I am so ready for Fall. Oh, wait it is Fall, but I am ready for those cooler temps.
Me and the kids went to Sunday school and church this morning. Wesley had a rough night and morning, so he did not make it. He is working tonight, but in a lot of pain.
On a positive note. Tomorrow is Monday, meaning it is a business day and Wesley's papers will start getting processed. I plan to touch base with them and see if they have everything and if there is anything else I can do to get the ball rolling. I hope we get a appt. date by the end of the week. But, patience is what we have to have right now.
In the meantime, I am keeping this house going. Staying very busy with the kids. I have somethings on my mind I hope to get done this week. We will see!
Please pass our blog along.
I hope I can be a strength for someone else out there. And, I would love to talk to anyone else with this horrible disease.

A New Day

A New Day! We almost have the paper work finished. Our goal is to fax it all tomorrow. The lady said we should get in within 3-4 weeks. This is great. If we can get the appt., I know everything will fall into place. Our insurance is going to pay 50%, so thats better then nothing. We have to have $550.00 down. I have no clue what we will be out total. God will provide. I just want Wesley well. I do not care anymore about pride, credit, nothing. I want Wesley to be well. I can not even explain what this all has done to him physically and mentally.
We can use any help we can get. If you would like to donate we have an account set up at American Bank. Wesley Bounds Medical Account. If you are not local, e-mail me at krazykorner6@aol.com. I will give you our address. Most of all keep praying. And pass this on. Over the next week I really want to fix the blog to where others can get information on Chiari Malformation.

Prayers

I have gotten so many questions, I do not have time to get back with everyone. Just so everyone understands, I want to provide this information and a update.
Wesley has Chiari Malformation. A rare brain disease. This is something we will have to watch with the kids and that scares me everyday. You can read more about it here, if you would like:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/detail_chiari.htm
This has been going on for 18 months and if he would had went to a Chiari Dr. to begin with he probably would not had 4 surgeries and countless other tests. But we can not look back on that now.

Somedays Wesley can function. Other days he can not. (most days). He told me this morning he can not take this anymore.It breaks my heart and this is ripping me apart. I am getting to where I just can not handle anything anymore. I feel like I am failing at being a mother, because I am so overwhelmed with Wesley. We have decided we have got to try and get him into a specialist. He is never going to be able to live a normal life unless we get him the right help. His Dr.'s now are trying to chalk everything off as migraines now. They have him on medicine that is not doing nothing and they have even moved up the dose. There are two different Chiari Institute's. The one in NY I think is going to be the best for what Wesley has. Because he has the Pseudo Tumor(to much fluid on the brain) (also caused by Chiari). I am doing research and looking into both. I am also looking into our insurance to see what they will pay.
http://www.chiariinstitute.com/
http://www.chiaricare.com/Welcome.html
Of course CO is closer, but I am looking at both.

I never thought we would ever be in a situation like this. We know everyone is praying around the clock for Wesley, we really appreciate it. Right now he is on 6 medicines a day. Yes he is working. He has too. He makes himself. I honestly do not know how he makes it somedays. Somedays he ends up back at home.At home he can take pain pills and they help some. But, at work he can not take them. We are very worried about his job and how much longer they will put up with the situation. He loves his job. We need big things to happen. Please pray that we can get him into an institute. If we can get him in we will need great financial help. Please be praying about that as well. We are barely surviving. I will update as anything changes.
If anyone has any information or know anything on these Dr.'s ,please let me know. Pass the word and get everyone praying.

Update

Update on Wesley
We are back from Dallas. Long tough morning for Wesley. The Dr. ended up having to do a tap on his shunt to drain fluid. The shunt was draining, but very slow. This can mean many things. The Dr. is sending him to a new neurologist that works at Southwestern University. He should be seeing her soon. The Dr. wants to try more medicine first. The only other option is surgery to revise that shunt. With the shunt draining slower, he may get worse, pretty quick. But, we pray that medicine will work. So, now we wait. If he gets worse, he will go for surgery quick. If he stays about the same, new medicine is going to be used to see what happens. Thank you all for your continuous prayers. This is so tough on Wesley. He is so young and just feels like he will never be better, that it just seems to be one problem after another. Please continue to have him in your prayers. I will update with any changes. Kristy