Dear Loveland Magazine Readers,
Next week Cole’s going to have the first of two major surgeries.
On Tuesday (Sept 20th), he’s having his skull repaired at the Cleveland Clinic to strengthen a number of weak spots that have developed over time. This procedure is required so that Cole’s skull will be strong enough to protect his brain. The bonus
for Cole is that it should allow him to safely play baseball again, which he hasn’t been able to do for three years. The procedure is straight-forward, and the biggest risk is potential infection. He’ll remain in the hospital for 3-5 days, but won’t be able to attend school for two weeks due to expected swelling and to reduce the risk of infection. Unfortunately, Cole’s going to get his head shaved and be pretty sore, but this is a small sacrifice in the whole scheme of things. Please say a prayer for Cole to get through this procedure safely and successfully!
Roughly three weeks later, on Monday, October 10th, Cole is going to have his second surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. As most of you know, Cole went through an extensive evaluation there last spring to determine the cause of his hemidystonia, the cruel, secondary condition that has caused him significant problems with his right-side neuromuscular coordination and speech. The good news is they were able to identify the area of his brain causing the problem. Better yet, Mayo selected him as a candidate for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). In layman’s terms, DBS is a procedure where they install a pacemaker in his brain, and if successful, will block the aberrant brain signals that are causing his involuntary muscle contractions and resulting rigidity. The folks at Mayo believe this procedure will go a long way in addressing the symptoms he’s experienced, but as with any medical procedure, there are no guarantees. Cole and our family believe the potential benefits outweigh the risks, and we’re unanimous that we want to move forward. We’ll likely have to make numerous trips back to Mayo over the next six months in order for them to “program” and adjust the DBS device to maximize it’s effectiveness.
We’re praying for a safe and successful outcome for both procedures. We’ve traveled a long road to get to this point, so it’s both exciting and nerve wracking to be in the home stretch. We’ll keep you posted on how things go from here, but Wendy and I want you to know how much we appreciate the continued support and prayers for Cole and our family!
Sincerely,
Wendy and Scott Schlesner
Editor's Note:
Cole was injured in 2009 when a baseball he had just pitched was line-drived from an aluminum, little league bat, back to him. He was air-lifted to Cincinnati Children's Hospital and immediately had surgery to relieve the increased pressure from his skull. He was then placed in a drug-induced coma until his brain healed.
Cole has since made steady and remarkable progress and fairly quickly resumed studies at Loveland High School.
Cole said last Friday on the sidelines of the Loveland vs. Kings football game that he is very excited to begin his rounds of surgery, and said, "I just want to get back to playing baseball."
Cole has become an integral part of the Loveland varsity football program since Head Coach Andrew Marlatt made him part of the team, even telling his players during last season's pre-season that they could choose any jersey number they wanted - except for #4, the number Cole wore as a member of the Cincinnati Stix baseball team he played with when he was injured. Cole wears the #4 jersey on the sidelines. In fact, Cole has almost become part of Marlatt's coaching staff - just two weeks ago giving the pre-game pep talk to the team. Marlatt often holds Cole up as an example of courage in the face of adversity.
Indeed, talking to Cole last Friday night at Kings Stadium, it is difficult to fathom anyone of any age being as excited and brave as Cole is, about heading to Cleveland today to begin the first round of two, up-coming surgeries.
David Miller, Editor
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