My Head is Getting Hacked Open on the 19th of April...

Hello Family and Friends,

Did I get your attention with my captivating headline?  I have always had a secret desire to be a headline writer for the Rocky Mountain News… wait, that can't happen…

In all seriousness, yes, I am having brain surgery on my big old noggin ten days from now.

Most of you do NOT know what is going on, so I will quickly bring you up to snuff as to what is going on in the Morin household.

Ten years ago I started experiencing severe pain (pins and needles, sharp and dull pain, etc) in both of my arms and hands.

After several years of misdiagnosis and one misguided Carpal Tunnel surgery, my symptoms started to get a LOT worse this past December.

Neck pain ensued.  This led me to believe that my Crack-I-Phone (same thing as a Crackberry) was causing me great neck strain.

I started walking into walls randomly.  I started falling out of my car and out of my bed.  I couldn't stand up and go potty without tipping over (that's what fathers of four children say).

The walls of the racquetball court started spinning and my neck became more excruciating painful (now I know why my racquetball game has been so bad!)

I'd sneeze or cough or LAUGH and my head would literally explode like the 4th of July.  There's nothing more than I love than laughing at my brother-in-law's joke,s and I've been avoiding getting him riled up for some time now as I have had a real fear of a deep belly laugh causing a sudden death by head explosion.

The feelings of constant saliva on my face has driven me to think I've been losing my mind!!!  Couple that with the fact that I haven't been able to eat hot soup off of a spoon without choking to death, and I finally have had ENOUGH!!!  What is life in this world without a good cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup?

Well, God works in mysterious ways.  I was out visiting a life-long friend of mine, Jeremy Clayton, for a random client visit to say hello and to bring one of my famous "pop-by" gifts- tin foil.

Jeremy mentioned to me that his dad had just had back surgery and his mom had just had neck surgery, both at the same practice.

So I called his dad Tom to pass on my thoughts and condolences.  Tom has always been one of my favorite people in my life- someone who I knew back in elementary school and someone I bonded with deeply at church as a kid- and I trust him and his opinion.  When he told me about his surgeon, I knew it was time to go get my neck checked out.

Well, I took the plunge and met with Dr. Woosik Chung three weeks ago to find out what the heck was wrong with me.  (Google him- amazing story as he had his hands cut off as a child while living in Korea and his dad sewed them back on with no doctors even remotely close to them- true modern day miracle of God working in our world).

Well, the MRI results were stunning.

My brain is literally jammed in my neck like a cork in a wine bottle.  Yes, my brain is TOO big for my little head!!!

All of a sudden, my thoughts and feelings of being a hypochondriac and a lifelong loon have been justified.

I found out that I have had a congenital (birth) defect called Chiari Malformation my whole life.

The part of our brain that controls motor skills, the cerebellum, is literally being pinched and bruised inside of my neck along with my spinal cord.

As you know, brains don't belong in necks!

To make matters worse, the spinal fluid which flows throughout our head and body is plugged up and literally stuck inside of my cranium, with nowhere to flow freely.  This is not normal.

In turn, this has caused the spinal fluid to build up inside of my spinal cord and cause several syrinxes to occur.  Syrinxes are like little cavities that can and will cause paralysis throughout my body if I don't eventually don't have surgery.

So, my wife Monica and I have met with two very well known neurosurgeons, including one yesterday who is the nationally known expert on this Chiari Malformation.

After discussions with him yesterday, we are moving forward with surgery on the 19th.

The neurosurgeon will literally be cutting open my cranium and my brain's outer lining to help relieve the pressure in my head.  Dr. Oro will cut out a decent sized piece of my skull, and then installing a titanium plate to allow my brain and spinal fluid more room to move around.

I have been told there is an 85% that my symptoms will go away for good, and that there is a 95% chance the syrinxes will dissipate and go away.

I am supposed to be better than new, especially since this condition causes anxiety, depression, stress, and all of the above weirdness I've been dealing with for so long.

This may be too much information for some of you.  For that, I apologize.  I am writing you selfishly as a kind of catharsis exercise.  That, and many of you know something is going on and I wanted to fill you in on what the status of my health is.

I want to close this long-winded email to tell you two things.  One, please do NOT worry about me.  I am strong and will be fine.  I have told you this because I care about you and want you to be in the loop as to what we as a family are going through.

More importantly, I ask that you keep my wife, my children, and our family in  your prayers as they are the ones who will need it!!! 

Am I scared?  A little.  However, it has been the love and support of a great many of you who have reached out to me over the past several weeks that have relaxed me and led me to believe that as always, simply putting trust in God and all good things will come to those who ask.

Seriously, I have found that when you pray and ask God for things, He has a weird way of giving you what you need.  I've been praying a lot for good health and He is going to give it to me!!!

As for my business, I have been told I'll be out of commission and in the hospital for up to five days.  However, that does NOT mean that I can't talk on the phone or have Monica chaperone me around if and when the need arises- AFTER I get home.

We love each and every one of you and appreciate your prayers and support.

I'll be in touch soon.

Sincerely,

Joel Morin