Brian's Road to Recovery
Donazione protetta
I am writing this on behalf of the McKenna family, Brian's Servpro family and all of Brian's friends.
I am Kevin McKenna, Brian's twin brother. It breaks my heart to tell you that Brian has recently undergone some serious medical issues. He's had four surgeries in the past three weeks and will undergo a major surgery this morning at 11:30am. I will take you through this chronologically. The picture on the left was taken on February 7th, the day before his first surgery. The other pictures were taken 48 hours later. On February 8th, Brian went in for outpatient Mohs surgery to remove a basal cell cancer near his right ear. Unfortunately, their were complications and Brian sustained severe nerve damage and partial paralysis on the right side of his face. Brian has blurred vision in his right eye and hasn't blinked or been able to close that eye since February 8th. He cannot raise his right eyebrow and the salivary gland on the right side of his face is not functioning. He cannot smile on the right side or open his mouth very wide either. Brian has lost 18lbs because he can only eat soup/yogurt and hasn't been able to lift weights. He told me the other day that he is so skinny his eyes are actually single file. LOL. On February 10th, a new team of surgeons from Washington University called Brian in for an emergency exploratory surgery that took three hours. On February 20th, Brian had eye surgery to help assist him in closing his right eye. The Doctor made an incision on his right eyelid and placed a weight in there to force the lid down. On Feb 22nd, he had another two hour surgery to check/clean the wound, examine facial tissue and take biopsies. At 11:30am this morning, Brian will have another surgery that will last at least four hours. This one is extremely complex: they will take a nerve out of his leg and attach it to the non-working nerves on the right side of his face that control blinking/closing of the eye and smiling. The hope is that the nerves will regenerate and help him blink and smile again. Then they will perform a facial reconstruction on the right side of his face. That surgery involves an incision down the right side of his nose and an incision under his right eye. They will then pull the right side of his face over the hole where the basal cell cancer was and stitch him up. There are many risk involved with this type of surgery and nothing is guaranteed but Brian has full confidence in his gifted team of surgeons from Washington University. It will take 6 months to a year to find out if the nerves regenerate. The good news is that it appears that the margins are clear and the cancer is gone. Since the basal cell was such an aggressive cancer, the likelihood of it coming back is enough that Brian will start radiation treatments in four weeks. They also found a nodule on his thyroid which he will start dealing with next week. This is going to be an extremely lengthy and arduous recovery process for Brian. He will need therapy and several more surgeries.
If you know Brian, then I don't have to tell you that his true passion in life is serving his community. Nobody in St. Louis has been more generous about donating their time and resources or or passionate about helping promote local charities over the past 24 years than Brian McKenna. For the record, Brian has NEVER charged an appearance fee to emcee any charity event or trivia night unless you count beer as pay. That is almost unheard of in the tv/radio/ media industry. Here are just a few of the local charities that Brian has worked with or helped promote:
BackStoppers, NextStep for Life, Missouri School for the Blind, Susan G. Kommen, The Kidney Foundation, Ranken Jordan, OHF, Nurses for Newborns, Our Little Haven, American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Leukemia Society, and St. Vincent Home for Children. He currently volunteers at Nottingham High School CAJT which helps developmentally disabled inner-city kids prepare for work after high school. Brian was recently named Man of the Year by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in St. Louis for his charitable contributions to the St. Louis community over the past 24 years.
St. Louis, the McKenna family, the Servpro family and all of Brian's friends are asking you to help Brian during this difficult time. He has given so much to our community and now is our opportunity to give back. Isn't that what we do in St. Louis? Though he has medical insurance, the medical bills are astronomical and are piling up. He is still trying to pay off big medical bills from the 2013-2016 basal cell/ malignant melanoma surgeries. He is not going to be able to work for quite some time which means he will not be able to earn commissions. His bosses and owners at Servpro, Kevin Thole & Kyle Lang, have gone above and beyond supporting Brian and will continue to do so. His friends have also been wonderful. We can't thank all of them enough.
.
Brian recently wrote this to his family and friends:
Don't feel sorry for me. God made this a part of my journey because he knows I can handle it and that something bigger and better lies ahead. If I had to guess, I'll bet it involves taking this situation and somehow being able to serve the community and helping others. How cool would that be? I have been blessed with a wonderful family and terrific friends throughout my life. I am so grateful. I got this. I love you all."
Well Brian, it's our time to show you how much we love and care for you. We have established a GoFundMe page to assist Brian financially with his medical bills and living expenses.
Any donation amount will be greatly appreciated.
We ask that you share this on all of your social media. If you can't afford a donation, that is okay. A prayer will do. Brian's family, his Servpro family and all of his friends thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
I am Kevin McKenna, Brian's twin brother. It breaks my heart to tell you that Brian has recently undergone some serious medical issues. He's had four surgeries in the past three weeks and will undergo a major surgery this morning at 11:30am. I will take you through this chronologically. The picture on the left was taken on February 7th, the day before his first surgery. The other pictures were taken 48 hours later. On February 8th, Brian went in for outpatient Mohs surgery to remove a basal cell cancer near his right ear. Unfortunately, their were complications and Brian sustained severe nerve damage and partial paralysis on the right side of his face. Brian has blurred vision in his right eye and hasn't blinked or been able to close that eye since February 8th. He cannot raise his right eyebrow and the salivary gland on the right side of his face is not functioning. He cannot smile on the right side or open his mouth very wide either. Brian has lost 18lbs because he can only eat soup/yogurt and hasn't been able to lift weights. He told me the other day that he is so skinny his eyes are actually single file. LOL. On February 10th, a new team of surgeons from Washington University called Brian in for an emergency exploratory surgery that took three hours. On February 20th, Brian had eye surgery to help assist him in closing his right eye. The Doctor made an incision on his right eyelid and placed a weight in there to force the lid down. On Feb 22nd, he had another two hour surgery to check/clean the wound, examine facial tissue and take biopsies. At 11:30am this morning, Brian will have another surgery that will last at least four hours. This one is extremely complex: they will take a nerve out of his leg and attach it to the non-working nerves on the right side of his face that control blinking/closing of the eye and smiling. The hope is that the nerves will regenerate and help him blink and smile again. Then they will perform a facial reconstruction on the right side of his face. That surgery involves an incision down the right side of his nose and an incision under his right eye. They will then pull the right side of his face over the hole where the basal cell cancer was and stitch him up. There are many risk involved with this type of surgery and nothing is guaranteed but Brian has full confidence in his gifted team of surgeons from Washington University. It will take 6 months to a year to find out if the nerves regenerate. The good news is that it appears that the margins are clear and the cancer is gone. Since the basal cell was such an aggressive cancer, the likelihood of it coming back is enough that Brian will start radiation treatments in four weeks. They also found a nodule on his thyroid which he will start dealing with next week. This is going to be an extremely lengthy and arduous recovery process for Brian. He will need therapy and several more surgeries.
If you know Brian, then I don't have to tell you that his true passion in life is serving his community. Nobody in St. Louis has been more generous about donating their time and resources or or passionate about helping promote local charities over the past 24 years than Brian McKenna. For the record, Brian has NEVER charged an appearance fee to emcee any charity event or trivia night unless you count beer as pay. That is almost unheard of in the tv/radio/ media industry. Here are just a few of the local charities that Brian has worked with or helped promote:
BackStoppers, NextStep for Life, Missouri School for the Blind, Susan G. Kommen, The Kidney Foundation, Ranken Jordan, OHF, Nurses for Newborns, Our Little Haven, American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Leukemia Society, and St. Vincent Home for Children. He currently volunteers at Nottingham High School CAJT which helps developmentally disabled inner-city kids prepare for work after high school. Brian was recently named Man of the Year by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in St. Louis for his charitable contributions to the St. Louis community over the past 24 years.
St. Louis, the McKenna family, the Servpro family and all of Brian's friends are asking you to help Brian during this difficult time. He has given so much to our community and now is our opportunity to give back. Isn't that what we do in St. Louis? Though he has medical insurance, the medical bills are astronomical and are piling up. He is still trying to pay off big medical bills from the 2013-2016 basal cell/ malignant melanoma surgeries. He is not going to be able to work for quite some time which means he will not be able to earn commissions. His bosses and owners at Servpro, Kevin Thole & Kyle Lang, have gone above and beyond supporting Brian and will continue to do so. His friends have also been wonderful. We can't thank all of them enough.
.
Brian recently wrote this to his family and friends:
Don't feel sorry for me. God made this a part of my journey because he knows I can handle it and that something bigger and better lies ahead. If I had to guess, I'll bet it involves taking this situation and somehow being able to serve the community and helping others. How cool would that be? I have been blessed with a wonderful family and terrific friends throughout my life. I am so grateful. I got this. I love you all."
Well Brian, it's our time to show you how much we love and care for you. We have established a GoFundMe page to assist Brian financially with his medical bills and living expenses.
Any donation amount will be greatly appreciated.
We ask that you share this on all of your social media. If you can't afford a donation, that is okay. A prayer will do. Brian's family, his Servpro family and all of his friends thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Organizzatore
Brian McKenna
Organizzatore
St Louis, MO
