Kevin BeVier's Brain Surgery
Donation protected
*Help Kevin BeVier and his family battle a rare brain disease.*
After recovering from what he thought was a bad cold, my cousin Kevin BeVier woke up with flu-like symptoms three days after Christmas. After hours of vomitting, his wife Tara took him to the Emergency Room. He was discharged and sent home with Tamiflu. But things only worsened. He began slurring his words, his left side stiffened, and he eventually collapsed, prompting a second ER visit. After an MRI, the doctors at Riddle found a mass in his brain and air-lifted him to Jefferson. Though I only saw my cousin after he got there, I could see the fear in his eyes. He had completely lost feeling in the left side of his body. I began to babble to calm him, and tell him I couldn't wait for him to tell us what it was like to ride in a helicopter. He tried to smile and laugh, and he just kept looking at me and thanking my dad and me for being there. In that moment, I finally understood what it meant to fight for your life. He was truly fighting.
Over the next few days, his condition worsened even more. They moved him to the ICU. They told his wife that he might be hemorrhaging from his brain, and for five hours the world-class doctors tested feverishly to see if their prediction was accurate. Thankfully, it wasn't.
In the days afterward, the doctors began to think it was ADEM (Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis) , a severe and rare disease similar to MS which only attacks once. His wife, an MS survivor, is all too familiar with MS and its attacks. It usually starts after someone is ill, with something like a bad cough. We all felt better that there was a diagnosis.
But then, on Sunday morning (the first day of 2017), Tara received a call that Kevin would have to go into emergency brain surgery immediately. His brain was swelling so badly that it could be fatal. The remarkable doctors at Jefferson went to work again and removed a piece of Kevin's skull, which will stay out of his head for 3-6 months. While they were performing surgery, they took a biopsy to confirm that Kevin does, in fact, have ADEM. We are still waiting on those results, but the doctors are working under the presumption that that is the disease Kevin has been afflicted with.
Though Kevin is expected to make a full recovery in 3-6 months, his family is struggling right now, and will likely struggle with the financial repercussions of this in the future. As the father of three children and the guardian of his sister-in-law's two children (Ariannah, 8; Jacob, 7; Laila, 6; Ciannah, 5; Hunter, 4) and as the part care taker for his mother who has Parkinson's, Kevin is no stranger to fighting the good fight. In fact, many people think Kevin's last name is "The Saint," since in every story people tell, he is referred to as "Kevin the Saint." He and my cousin Tara have been together for more than 10 years now, and because of them I know what soul mates are. Tara has been so strong throughout this whole ordeal. She has made every decision for his best interests and has kept her kids safe and healthy while balancing their questions and reactions with her own. His love for his older brother Ryan and younger sister Ashley is unrivaled.
Kevin knows how to do two things particularly well: fight and love. And right now, he needs us to love and fight for him.
Please help his five young children and his amazing wife in this treacherous time, and maybe Kevin will buy you a beer when he comes out on the other side :) Keep Kevin and his family in your prayers.
After recovering from what he thought was a bad cold, my cousin Kevin BeVier woke up with flu-like symptoms three days after Christmas. After hours of vomitting, his wife Tara took him to the Emergency Room. He was discharged and sent home with Tamiflu. But things only worsened. He began slurring his words, his left side stiffened, and he eventually collapsed, prompting a second ER visit. After an MRI, the doctors at Riddle found a mass in his brain and air-lifted him to Jefferson. Though I only saw my cousin after he got there, I could see the fear in his eyes. He had completely lost feeling in the left side of his body. I began to babble to calm him, and tell him I couldn't wait for him to tell us what it was like to ride in a helicopter. He tried to smile and laugh, and he just kept looking at me and thanking my dad and me for being there. In that moment, I finally understood what it meant to fight for your life. He was truly fighting.
Over the next few days, his condition worsened even more. They moved him to the ICU. They told his wife that he might be hemorrhaging from his brain, and for five hours the world-class doctors tested feverishly to see if their prediction was accurate. Thankfully, it wasn't.
In the days afterward, the doctors began to think it was ADEM (Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis) , a severe and rare disease similar to MS which only attacks once. His wife, an MS survivor, is all too familiar with MS and its attacks. It usually starts after someone is ill, with something like a bad cough. We all felt better that there was a diagnosis.
But then, on Sunday morning (the first day of 2017), Tara received a call that Kevin would have to go into emergency brain surgery immediately. His brain was swelling so badly that it could be fatal. The remarkable doctors at Jefferson went to work again and removed a piece of Kevin's skull, which will stay out of his head for 3-6 months. While they were performing surgery, they took a biopsy to confirm that Kevin does, in fact, have ADEM. We are still waiting on those results, but the doctors are working under the presumption that that is the disease Kevin has been afflicted with.
Though Kevin is expected to make a full recovery in 3-6 months, his family is struggling right now, and will likely struggle with the financial repercussions of this in the future. As the father of three children and the guardian of his sister-in-law's two children (Ariannah, 8; Jacob, 7; Laila, 6; Ciannah, 5; Hunter, 4) and as the part care taker for his mother who has Parkinson's, Kevin is no stranger to fighting the good fight. In fact, many people think Kevin's last name is "The Saint," since in every story people tell, he is referred to as "Kevin the Saint." He and my cousin Tara have been together for more than 10 years now, and because of them I know what soul mates are. Tara has been so strong throughout this whole ordeal. She has made every decision for his best interests and has kept her kids safe and healthy while balancing their questions and reactions with her own. His love for his older brother Ryan and younger sister Ashley is unrivaled.
Kevin knows how to do two things particularly well: fight and love. And right now, he needs us to love and fight for him.
Please help his five young children and his amazing wife in this treacherous time, and maybe Kevin will buy you a beer when he comes out on the other side :) Keep Kevin and his family in your prayers.
Organizer and beneficiary
Kelly Lyons
Organizer
West Chester, PA
Tara BeVier
Beneficiary