Medical Bills and Assistance

In August of 2013, David Ulery, 35, was diagnosed with bladder cancer. After 6 weekly treatments, 6 monthly treatments and a handful of procedures, David is winning the war with cancer. However, on June 12th, 2014, our lives and the lives of others were changed forever. David suffered a sudden massive seizure while driving and got into a horrible accident. While in the ER, doctors found he has a rare blood vessel malformation called AVM. This is basically a birdsnest of blood vessels tangled in his brain, in his left temporal lobe. These vessels are malformed and do not have the needed capillaries to supply oxygen to the brain, forcing the blood vessels to pump harder to try to keep up. This can cause the veins to become weak and rupture. A blood vessel in David's AVM did rupture and caused a hemorrhagic stroke (bleed in brain) on July 29th, 2014. David will now be undergoing invasive brain surgery to remove the AVM tangle of malformed blood vessels before he has another bleed. Initially after finding the AVM, radiation was going to be his treatment, but after the stroke, there is an urgent need to go ahead with surgery. He was in and out of the ICU a lot due to complications from the stroke that caused his brain to swell and cause pressure in his skull and neck. David's heartrate was also dropping dangerously low, into the low 30's and at times down to 28. The surgery will consist of several steps throughout the week, starting on August 18th, 2014. First the doctors will perform a couple of  embolizations of the vessels within a couple of days, and then will perfrom the craniotomy to go in and remove the vessels. He will be in the Neuro ICU again during that time and for awhile after for recovery. This surgery can cause memory loss, vision loss, speech problems and other issues. We ask for prayers during this time for David and our family. We have 2 sons, ages 8 and 11. Their father is their world. Please pray God will carry David through this.
David's CaringBridge Updates Page