Originally posted on December 11, 2011

Medanta Hospital, December 6, 2011
Seth had a PFO Closure completed on Tuesday. It was discovered during a Migraine research study in 2007 that he in fact had a Patent Foramen Ovale, a hole between the chambers of his heart.  The relationship is said to exist if the blood that has not been filtered is able to get through the hole and then travel to places only filtered should go.  The research study was called the Escape Migraine study and in order to qualify you had to have been placed on many kinds of medications to treat migraine and they all needed to have been found less than completely effective.  For Seth, he had been to 5 neurologist, including a few headache clinics over the last 15 years, acupuncturist, chiropractors, physical therapists, and even tried all manner of minerals, vitamins and homeopathic treatments.. Over the course of that time, one medication after another would work for a while, but then would stop working, some relief might be experienced for a short time with a new therapy or the migraines would get worse.  Engaging in strenuous physical activities lead to migraine.  Over the years, one food after another was eliminated from his diet in the search for the complicated factors that seem to be causing his migraines.
This research study seemed to hold a key element that hadn't been approached before, and possibly even a glimmer of hope for some relief.  As it turned out, Seth was part of the control group, so he didn't get the hole fixed.  Over the last few years in the States, we talked with different doctors about the possibility of the surgery being completed, based on the correlation of PFO and stroke.  With a history of stroke in the family, we thought there would be a chance of having the surgery done, in spite of the fact that the FDA has yet to confirm a link to migraine.  In the end in took leaving the country to find a neurologist/cardiologist team that understood the benefit of the closure, from a stroke standpoint, but possibly also for migraine treatment.
Thursday of the previous week, things were set in motion to fix the PFO as doctors in South Asia perform this closure often to prevent stroke.  Seth was admitted Monday, had surgery Tuesday morning and on Wednesday came home.  He has yet to have a migraine.  He waited a few days and today tested his luck.  After only a few hours of sleep last night (one trigger), we headed off for a soccer game (extended sun light was a trigger), he ran (another trigger), the came home and had a Twix (another major trigger), we watched a movie before dark (trigger), wore cologne for a date (trigger) and now after being awake almost 17 hours, he is still headache free. 
We are not sure how long this will last, but how fun to get to try things again and see some success.  We know that in all things there is a plan. This pain has been very helpful in counseling others.  This pain has been used time and again as part of the Master plan, but oh how great it would be to see Seth become all that he might be.  Over time, he has been less and less faithful in many of the disciplines, including fasting, as missing meals were triggers.  Many said there was a spiritual element, and there may very well have been and may be even now. The hope is that freedom from fear would great growth in his desire and obedience.  Thanks a ton for your prayers over the last week and years.  Many have invested much time in us, which is why this long blog is here.  So, may He get praise, may He be honored even more in our lives as we strive for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.