Only a few more days till surgery. I'm ready. I'm as prepared as I can be to increase all the odds of success. The video will tell you about the plan that is in place so far. My parents flew out to me by my side. We will leave for San Francisco on the 27th and have a hotel a few blocks from the hospital. We are scheduled to meet with Dr. Berven that night. Then I will be going to UCSF 6:00am on the 28th for surgery. It will take all of the day. I am going to try and have my mother post updates on Facebook. Thank you all so much for getting me here in such a positive place. I'll see you all on the other side STRAIGHT UP!
If you would like to make a donation you can go to:
www.gofundme.com/charvine or
www.paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation for 2016 you can donate here: www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s responsibly sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, pure, safe and beneficial products, Char will get a percentage of any sale from:
www.CharleneVine.arbonne.com
To donate direct, or if you want to donate product please email char@charvine.com
12.26.2016
12.10.2016
STRAIGHT-UP-DATE 12/10
I met with Dr. Berven again at UCSF this week. We went over a long
list of questions and concerns and both left feeling we had a lot to
think about. He has decided on 2 separate surgeries. The first will be
through my back where he will take out old and install new hardware
fusing my spine to my pelvis. Then we would wait till I’m feeling alive
again, about 6 months. Then the second surgery where he will take the
considerable risk of going thru my front to install a cage into the hole
left from the disintegrated bones. He will also clean out all of the
calcification that has grown in my hips and my spine from the hematomas
and loculated fluid pockets. And then he can also tweak the hardware
from the first surgery if he needs to. I guess separating the surgeries
will give my body a better chance of healing and growing bone when they
implant the cage. He didn’t believe my hips were of much concern and
felt that if they became an issue then it could be handled after the
back surgeries. He had not gathered his team yet for surgery so it’s
likely that the surgery date will change. Things are still a bit up in
the air. Super hard news to hear, as I’m really not looking forward to
getting cut up once let alone twice but I have to believe it’s for the
best outcome. In life, there is no real safety except for self-belief.
There was some bright light beaming through all this heavy! You all have raised over $20,000 to help me get upright! I’m so inspired to do all I can to make this work. It is so freaking amazing! It so relieving. It’s so humbling. Please keep it coming! We have increased the needed amount due to the added surgery. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the love in all the forms that is being sent my way. I can’t express how much it’s needed to get thru this and how deeply it’s appreciated. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com
There was some bright light beaming through all this heavy! You all have raised over $20,000 to help me get upright! I’m so inspired to do all I can to make this work. It is so freaking amazing! It so relieving. It’s so humbling. Please keep it coming! We have increased the needed amount due to the added surgery. I can’t thank everyone enough for all the love in all the forms that is being sent my way. I can’t express how much it’s needed to get thru this and how deeply it’s appreciated. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com
11.30.2016
STRAIGHT-UP-DATE 11/30
Hi it's Char, I wanted to update you all on the latest in my Fight for Upright.
First, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out and is giving support in every and anyway you can! The response has been so overwhelming and relieving! I can’t say thank you enough and I’m so grateful to have such generous people surrounding me. The money has been helpful! It has allowed me the freedom to research and visit different doctors and patients to make sure I’m am taking the best path I possibly can. I have been getting my nutrition and immunity system on point to up the odds of success with Arbonne. I purchased an adjustable bed frame to help with sitting up again and circulation after surgery. And I will no longer be able to twist to put my chair in my car so I will be swapping out the car for a van with a ramp which will be a sizable expense to come.
I ended up doing more research on severe deformity spine surgeons and found a different surgeon at UCSF that has more experience with Spinal Cord Injury and Charcot spines. His approach to the surgery is a bit different and riskier but overall I felt more at ease with him at the wheel. So I have rescheduled the surgery with Dr. Berven on December 29th. I also visited my SCI doctor in San Jose that has followed me the last 16 years. She believes that my spine doesn’t have a chance of sitting straight because of bone growth in my hips that occurred after my initial injury in 2000. The growth makes my pelvis sit unsquare so anything put on top of a crooked foundation will naturally be leaning to one side. She thinks a hip surgery is necessary in addition to the spine surgery so I will be meeting with Dr. Berven on Dec. 5th to discuss what that means and will look like. So for the time being things are a bit up in the air but they are moving forward. I feel the path to success is lighting it’s way for me, even though it might be longer and more complicated than first thought. Trying to keep the faith that it will work out this time and I will end up STRAIGHT UP! I will keep everyone posted as things progress.
Much love and hugs to you all!
If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com
11.07.2016
Can You Help?
Asking for help is not something that comes easy for me, but I am facing
one of the largest challenges of my life and there is no way I'm
getting through this one alone. My spine is no longer stable so I am in
need of emergency spine surgery to reconstruct it from the bottom up.
It's going to be a very long slow process of recovery that will
hopefully leave me more stable but with less mobility. So if you have
any extra to give and feel compelled to help it would be greatly
appreciated. Love and gratitude!
https://www.gofundme.com/charvine
If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com
https://www.gofundme.com/charvine
If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com
11.03.2016
I'm Drained!
After a week in the hospital and a lot of poking, the fluid pockets have finally been aspirated as much as they can! They just found blood mixed with fluid. No infection. Great news, I feel so much better! Started this quest for relief a month ago so it's good to finally cross it off my list. Now onto preparing for the surgery in Dec. UCSF has been taking good care of me. The staff is kind, and their food is bomb! The Drs are not bad to look at either. Can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support! It means so much. #ucsf #straightup #charsfightforupright
10.28.2016
STRAIGHT UP 10/28
Char is facing the largest challenge of her life aside from her initial
Spinal Cord Injury in 2000. Her spine needs to be rebuilt and she needs
our help.
The last several years Char has been battling endless complications from an unsuccessful rod extension surgery she received in 2010. Hardware that was installed from the failed surgery has accelerated the deterioration her lower vertebra (L-4, L-5) causing severe scoliosis and the pelvis to act detached from the spine. Recently, the misplaced hardware that was installed has been rubbing against her pelvis bone causing irreversible damage and creating large pockets of fluid. These pockets of fluid have migrated up around her back and into her lower spine. They are extremely large and uncomfortable causing severe complications that are restricting Char to mostly bed rest. The doctors tried draining out the fluid from Char's hip to provide some relief until the surgery. Much of the fluid could not be removed because of the placement and some of the fluid has come back since it was drained.
UCSF has scheduled Char for the first of two emergency spinal reconstructive surgeries on December 28th with Dr. Sig Berven. The second surgery will be about 6 months after the first. Both surgeries will be a brutal, long complicated surgeries with extensive hospital stays spanning at least two years of recovery and rehabilitation. In the first surgery, they will go in through the back and will take out the old hardware (T-4 to L-3), then remove pieces of her spine in order to get it to align straight again and then reinstall all new hardware that will fuse her spine to her pelvis. Then the second surgery, they will go in through the front. They will install a cage into the hole left from the disintegrated bones, clean out the calcification in Char's hips and spine from the hematomas and loculated fluid pockets. And also tweak the hardware from the first surgery if need be. A successful surgery will allow Char’s health to eventually stabilize but it also comes with a great cost. The doctors are predicting she will lose more mobility and independence due to the fusion, and it will have an impact on her day to day life as she knows it. Her family members will be flying out during and after the surgery in shifts to provide support for as long as they can.
The financial burden this has had and will have on Char and her family is quite significant. Being mostly bound to her bed right now, Char is not able to work much at this time. She has a person coming to her apartment to help her. With limited income, she is in need of our love and support to get her through. Please chip in as you can. Let's all help Char to rise and conquer this enormous challenge she is facing! Let's get her up-right!
The money that is raised will go towards medical expenses including: keeping Char's head above water, assistance in the home, medical bills, a new custom cushion and back for Char’s wheelchair, large durable medical equipment that will be needed, travel, lodging and all the other things that will pop up along the way.
Thank You,
Nancy Page, Friends, Family & Char
The last several years Char has been battling endless complications from an unsuccessful rod extension surgery she received in 2010. Hardware that was installed from the failed surgery has accelerated the deterioration her lower vertebra (L-4, L-5) causing severe scoliosis and the pelvis to act detached from the spine. Recently, the misplaced hardware that was installed has been rubbing against her pelvis bone causing irreversible damage and creating large pockets of fluid. These pockets of fluid have migrated up around her back and into her lower spine. They are extremely large and uncomfortable causing severe complications that are restricting Char to mostly bed rest. The doctors tried draining out the fluid from Char's hip to provide some relief until the surgery. Much of the fluid could not be removed because of the placement and some of the fluid has come back since it was drained.
UCSF has scheduled Char for the first of two emergency spinal reconstructive surgeries on December 28th with Dr. Sig Berven. The second surgery will be about 6 months after the first. Both surgeries will be a brutal, long complicated surgeries with extensive hospital stays spanning at least two years of recovery and rehabilitation. In the first surgery, they will go in through the back and will take out the old hardware (T-4 to L-3), then remove pieces of her spine in order to get it to align straight again and then reinstall all new hardware that will fuse her spine to her pelvis. Then the second surgery, they will go in through the front. They will install a cage into the hole left from the disintegrated bones, clean out the calcification in Char's hips and spine from the hematomas and loculated fluid pockets. And also tweak the hardware from the first surgery if need be. A successful surgery will allow Char’s health to eventually stabilize but it also comes with a great cost. The doctors are predicting she will lose more mobility and independence due to the fusion, and it will have an impact on her day to day life as she knows it. Her family members will be flying out during and after the surgery in shifts to provide support for as long as they can.
The financial burden this has had and will have on Char and her family is quite significant. Being mostly bound to her bed right now, Char is not able to work much at this time. She has a person coming to her apartment to help her. With limited income, she is in need of our love and support to get her through. Please chip in as you can. Let's all help Char to rise and conquer this enormous challenge she is facing! Let's get her up-right!
The money that is raised will go towards medical expenses including: keeping Char's head above water, assistance in the home, medical bills, a new custom cushion and back for Char’s wheelchair, large durable medical equipment that will be needed, travel, lodging and all the other things that will pop up along the way.
Thank You,
Nancy Page, Friends, Family & Char
10.21.2016
Celebrating With Tea
Celebratory tea!! Spinal column is perfectly in tact, no fluid is leaking out!! So relieved!! I'm so grateful for all the positive energy that is being sent my way. It's such an important part of me getting thru this huge challenge in front of me. So now I'm back to waiting for the doctors to come up with a plan to hopefully drain out the fluid pocket next week since it's possible now! Then surgery on Dec 15th.
10.17.2016
Change of Pace
Well, my upswing has changed its pace along with its face. I guess the hardware from Dr. Grant’s bad surgery mixed with my active lifestyle has deteriorated my lower spine so much in the last 5 years that my pelvis has detached from my spine. My pelvis bone has been rubbing on the hardware when I sit and move around causing bone damage and my body reacted by creating a large pocket of fluid that has migrated all the way up around my back and into my lower spine. The doctors are concerned that the dura that holds the spinal fluid potentially burst so they are refusing to drain the fluid because if burst, it could suck out the rest of the spinal fluid. I’m going to UCSF on Wednesday for a CT scan with dye injected into the dura in the spine to check to see if it’s whole. Then they can determine if they can drain the fluid for relief and what the next steps will be. Thoughts, visions and prayers for an intact spinal column would be greatly appreciated! Spine reconstruction surgery scheduled for December 15th at UCSF.
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