Mathan Needs Our Help!

Mathan’s Story: 

In September, Mathan’s life changed in an instant.

Mathan had been diagnosed with an abnormal blood-vessel connection in his brain that doctors had been monitoring. He was scheduled to have it repaired in St. Louis in January. But on Tuesday morning, while at work, the abnormality ruptured and caused a major brain hemorrhage.

Thankfully, Mathan immediately recognized that something was wrong. He told his coworkers to call 911 and placed himself in the recovery position. We later learned that this may have saved his life.

He was rushed to the hospital and spent the next several days in the Neuro Trauma ICU. After multiple CT scans and an angiogram, doctors determined that what had previously been identified as an AVM was actually an AVF—a different type of abnormal blood-vessel connection that was responsible for the hemorrhage.

On Friday morning, doctors repaired the AVF through an endovascular procedure, accessing the blood vessels through his groin and using coils and embolization to stop the abnormal blood flow.

But later that night, the swelling in Mathan’s brain and the size of the blood clot from the hemorrhage became life-threatening. He was taken into surgery again, where doctors removed a portion of his skull to give his swollen brain room to expand and relieved the pressure by removing the blood clot.

The following days were filled with uncertainty as doctors slowly reduced his sedation and worked toward getting him off the breathing and feeding tubes. Thankfully, his scans continued to show encouraging results, and eventually he was able to leave the ICU and move to a regular hospital room.

While there, doctors discovered a blood clot in his leg. They also found a small nodule on his lung that will be monitored in the future. He demonstrates loss of vision in the left quadrant of each of his eyes which will likely be permanent.

After 17 days in the hospital, Mathan was finally transferred on September 24 to a rehabilitation facility. He is expected to spend up to 15 days there, working to relearn how to walk and regain the ability to perform everyday activities independently. 

There is still a long road ahead. At some point, Mathan will need another surgery to replace the piece of his skull—the bone flap—that was removed to relieve the pressure on his brain. His doctors anticipate that he will be unable to work for approximately four months, and when he does return, he will likely need to begin with half days as he continues to recover.

We are incredibly thankful that Mathan is alive and making progress. The road ahead will be long, and there will be significant medical, rehabilitation, and living expenses along the way.

We are deeply grateful for every prayer, encouragement, gift, and act of kindness that has carried our family through these past several weeks.

Thank you for standing with Mathan.