Update on Mikey – July 2025 

Mikey recently went to the hospital for an MRI and a procedure with ENT. It was a long and exhausting day, and afterward we met with both the plastics and neurosurgery teams to review his MRI results. 

Plastics gave us great news — everything looked good, and we don’t need to follow up again until next year. But our meeting with neurosurgery brought completely unexpected news that shocked both Mike and me. 

Mikey’s MRI showed no change from his last scan regarding his Chiari Malformation. He still has fluid around his spinal cord, but there hasn’t been any increase or decrease in size. Despite that, his neurosurgeon now recommends decompression brain surgery — possibly this summer or fall. 

We were totally caught off guard. Mikey has actually been improving developmentally — he’s been running, jumping, solving puzzles, talking more — showing real progress. 

After such a long and emotional day, we decided not to make any decisions immediately. We’re scheduling another appointment to speak with the neurosurgeon again after we've had time to fully process everything. 

The neurosurgery team told us the surgery would require us to stay in St. Pete for at least 2–4 weeks, which would be incredibly difficult for our family to manage. 

We're also considering getting a second opinion out of state, but unfortunately, that wouldn’t be covered by insurance. Still, before making any decisions, we want to meet again with his neurosurgeon to understand the urgency and why this recommendation is being made now. 

We truly appreciate your continued support, prayers, and love as we navigate these hard decisions for Mikey.