The miracle that is our oldest brother, Karl, happened when he was 15 years old, after a car accident that almost killed him. A fourth of his skull was shattered and due to the injuries he sustained, 20% of the left frontal lobe of his brain had to be removed. Doctors predicted that either he wouldn't make it or he would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. But God intervened and Kar
l was released from the hospital in 20 days. The crushed part of the skull was replaced with a methyl methacrylate material and he has been doing great, far better than anyone expected. However, in December of 2009, some 20 years later, we started to notice a protrusion in the area of the injury. A CT scan showed that the implant was being pushed out by some tissue growth. His neurosurgeon, Dr. Lopez, has suggested it may be a rejection of the aluminum mesh that is lining the implant. The protrusion is very prominent today as you will see in the pictures. Karl will be scheduled for a surgery in February to remove the aluminum mesh/methyl methacrylate implant, find out precisely what is happening inside and maybe replace it with one that can instead be titanium mesh lined. There is some indication of another miracle that we are praying for: his skull may likely be growing back! The tissue or cellular formation may just be a step in the direction of the denser bone formation growing back the absent skull. Karl's medical condition cannot be well defined until his head is opened and tests are done, which in turn does not allow for a precise medical strategy. The financials of this are a challenge to our family. While a rough estimate of Php280K to 300k for the initial surgery is already a figure to consider, this can easily grow to a significantly higher figure if the findings indicate more involved medical procedures or the need for more tests, aside from other hospital, lab and maintenance expenses. We are therefore organizing some fund raising activities which we would humbly request you to watch out for. Also by way of this page, with humility and gratefulness, we are reaching out to those who may have the desire and resources to share. We are praying, with God’s leading and blessings, to reach the level of funding required to reasonably cover Karl’s surgery and any subsequent and associated medical procedures that may be necessary. We will be posting updates on the progress as things unfold. Most importantly of all, however, we need your prayers. God has been faithful to Karl and to our family all these years, and we continue to entrust Karl to Him in all the trials in his life. Karl is a reminder to our family of all God's goodness, grace and love. Thank you for your time and support! Tintin, Tanya, Kathleen & Kristiaan
