Wow, blessed and much to be thankful for!!!

[marvymelvin]

Hello net54ers. I have been messing around a bit on here for a few months, but haven’t really introduced myself officially. I am Brad. I have a lovely wife and three children, 2 boys 10 and 12, and a beautiful girl who is 7. I am employed as a Child and Family Therapist here in St. George Utah.

I have had a health set back recently that is requiring major surgery. I have informed those close to me such as my family, and a few friends... While I was contemplating if there were any others to share with, I thought of you guys, as I have been treated very kindly here and also need your help a bit.

Due to upcoming surgery I am in need of selling a lot of things. I am keeping just a few of my favorite cards and selling the rest to help pay for expenses. I also have a previous item I have been saving for and committed to buying from a fellow net54er, prior to my accident, that I intend to follow through on. Thanks for helping me out. I have set my prices pretty close to fair market value, but if they are a bit too high please feel free to make a reasonable offer.

I have posted a collection of things I have collected over the years, and put it all in the Pre WWII section of the BST. There are a few items from pre-war such as 1915 cracker jacks, up to the 1950’s.

It is not my intention to pull on your heart strings for charity. As such I will let you know what is going on for me.

I had a serious accident recently where a full sandbag fell on my head while doing some landscaping. The resulting spinal compression caused initial pain that has only grown with the passing days. Also numbness and gradual loss of muscle in my left arm and leg. We were able to quickly obtain an MRI and an appointment with a top neurosurgeon so we are very lucky.

The MRI shows crushed vertebrae, and disc, which are providing significant pressure on the surrounding nerves, but more problematic is that it has also compacted my spinal cord over 50% at the C6-C7 location. As you know spinal cord injuries are very dangerous and I am very lucky that the offending bone and tissue has not yet severed the outer layer. Also discovered was a stroke in my right cerebellum. (remember undergrad neuro-psychology class, it is at the base of the back of the brain.) No-one is really sure if the stroke was existing from before or happened as a result of the recent trauma. But it is also implicated in the loss of muscle strength and shaky movement in my arm and leg.

I have been able to secure emergency surgery for the 22nd of the month. Wow, another blessing!!! I am resting at home and even going in to the office for some therapy sessions with clients, but I am not allowed to move very quickly, do anything that requires a lot of movement, and hopefully not get hit by a vehicle while traveling.

We laughingly discussed that maybe I should wrap myself in bubble wrap as to not risk additional damage to my spinal cord.

So, we are lucky/blessed to have a great surgeon and to have a speedy surgery time. But I am a bit anxious about the risks and am hoping all will be well in the end. Looking at that MRI on the big screen, and how precariously close the offending bones and tissue are to severing my spinal cord was a bit unnerving. At the time of the accident I basically yelped a bit and then laughed it off. But it began rather quickly to be more serious with time.

I am so thankful for my family and blessings thus far. I have added a picture of my two most favorite ladies in the world, my lovely wife and daughter.
I really don't know why I am telling you all this but I had wanted to introduce myself for a while now, and this seemed to be a good excuse. So, I hope all is well with you. I will let you know how things work out. Please check out my listing in the Pre-WWII BST and feel free to make offers.
Sincerely,
Brad