"Running Out Of Tim"

Mother’s Day started out just as any other morning when suddenly, Tim Smith, 37 years young, awoke and could not feel his left side. He checked his blood sugar, thinking it could be his diabetes. It was not. An ambulance was called and Tim was sent to Conway Hospital. After 3 days, the doctor’s suspected that Tim had had a stroke but did not confirm this. Tim thought it was a minor setback and he would be able to resume his life. Fate did not play him that hand. A second stroke had hit him. Now he was paralyzed in his left hand and on the left side of his face. This rendered Tim unable to work at his job installing home security systems. The hits just kept coming, he lost his job, was evicted from his home and had his vehicle repossessed. The waves of disaster just kept coming since Tim had no medical insurance. Moya Moya Syndrome, was the diagnosis. Basically unheard of in US men, the prognosis was grim. Tim could either undergo evasive brain surgery or live his life wondering when the fatal stroke would strike. Explaining this to his 12 year old son, Devin, was painful. Being that this was a God sized problem, we all placed this in God’s hands. Medical bills began piling up rapidly. Medication bills adding up every day, yet there was no way to pay for this desperately needed care. Due to the paralysis, Tim is supposed to be in physical therapy to help regain use of the left hand. That cannot happen. With no insurance and no income to pay the doctor’s, he is left on his own for therapy.By the grace of God, Tim was admitted to a non-profit hospital. They could not turn him away. A team of doctor’s was put in place and a plan developed. The surgery is similar to heart by-pass. The frontal portion of Tim’s skull will be removed, a stint will be put in place to by-pass the clogged Coradit Artery and he will be sewn back up. While the surgeons are hopeful and optimistic, there are no guarantees. The surgeons said the surgery could take as little as 1 hour or up to 6 hours. No one will know until the brain is open and the extent of the damage determined. Everyone of us knows someone that has hit hard times. When they hit someone so young and the condition so rare, it becomes very real and very scary. It just as easily could have been one of us. That is why I, Michael Kahn am running in the Myrtle Beach Marathon. My cause is Tim Smith. The vibrant, young, father that has been struck down in a very life threatening way. Not only will I be raising funds for Tim’s medical care, I will be raising awareness of Moya-moya Syndrome. Had Tim been diagnosed with this disease when he was hit with the first stroke, the other 2 may have been avoided. I invite you to visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyamoya_disease. This site can give you more information on this life threatening and life altering disease. My goal is to get the message to everyone out there that life is short and can throw us out of our comfort zones in just a brief second.I am looking for sponsors and you can do so at this website. http://www.active.com/donate/tsmithstrokefund
If you cannot make a financial contribution, you can do the next best thing. Invite everyone you know. Let’s get information on Tim Smith and Moya-Moya Syndrome to the world.