Wow!!! What a difference a couple of days makes!! Mom was moved to the "regular" floor yesterday...the therapists helped (pretty much did all the work) get mom into a chair!!! She was able to sit on the side of the bed for awhile with little help...they had her reach for a bottle of lotion to help get her range of motion back and assess how much she can do. She washed her face and was able to swab her mouth out. It took a lot out of her and I am sure she slept the rest of the day...and she was still worn out today!!!

Mom had some visitors today that we haven't seen in a long time...we appreciate all the friends and family that we have been blessed with in our lives...they make experiences like these a little more tolerable...to know that we have people we can count on!!!! We love everyone and want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

We hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas!!! Here is an update....mom was moved to the IMCU yesterday, it is an intermediate unit. The patients there don't need icu anymore but they need more care than the regular floor. She is making more progress now, it is still slow but at least it is something!! She doesn't need oxygen anymore, so no more SCARY masks!!! She can't cough on her own so that thing in her nose is what they put the suction tube in. We asked her today if she knew what happened to her and she nodded that she did. She makes frowning faces which I think means she is still trying to put everything together....it is a lot to comprehend I am sure! I am sure it is also frustrating to tell your body to do something and it doesn't respond!!! Well that is the update for today hopefully more progress to come!!!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!! WE TRULY BELIEVE THEY HAVE HELPED US MAKE IT THIS FAR!!!!

We love you all and wish everyone has a Happy New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!!! We hope all is merry and bright....mom had a good day yesterday, she was able to stand with the help of 2 therapists and John. She went without the bi-pap machine for about two hours...john said she can keep the mask off while she is sitting up but when she lays down she doesn't breathe deep enough. She was quite awake yesterday while I was there in the evening.

Still no ET tube and plans for a tracheotomy are on hold.....
I went to see mom today, not much has changed. She had a weird contraption on her face, though. It is called a bi-pap machine. She had it on yesterday but it just covered her nose and mouth, the one today was a full-on mask that made a seal around her eyes too!! It was weird to see, but the nurse said it was better for people with claustrophobia. The nurse asked mom if she liked it better and she shook her head "yes"!!!
Mom now has a bladder infection and bronchitis. Not good, but she is on medication for both and she is getting breathing treatments. They also do percussive treatments. It is a little contraption that "pounds" on her chest to loosen the stuff in her lungs so that, hopefully, she doesn't get pneumonia!! She opened her eyes a little easier and kept them open for a longer time. They were going to try a new medication to help wake her up. I am not sure if it worked. We hope everyone has a great Christmas and we will keep you all updated!! Thanks for all the prayers!!!

So, just a little update, as of 7:00pm, mom did NOT have the ET tube back in. The nurse said that they are watching her blood gas levels closely and if they get out of whack then they will put the tube back in. So let's all pray that she is able to get her breathing under control so they don't have to put it back in!!!!

I am so sorry I haven't been updating the blog as much as I would like....I am sure everyone understands!!! Well not much progress has been made...we know it takes time but it is very frustrating for us to see our mom like this. It seems to be one step forward and two steps back!!
Mom had the ET tube (breathing tube) taken out yesterday afternoon....and today is breathing very fast and heavy, again! It looks like it takes a lot of energy to breathe that fast and hard! I am sure it wears her out! She is opening her eyes a lot easier it seems. It looked like she was concentrating really hard the first couple of times she opened her eyes but today she opened them pretty easy. They are talking about putting a tracheotomy in on Monday which would be better than putting the ET tube in and out! We will keep everyone informed!!
We love you all and want to thank you for your prayers, kind thoughts and best wishes!!!

These pictures were taken yesterday....December 16,one in the morning, with the tube and one in the afternoon without the tube. The therapist was working with mom to sit up and to try and wash her face. She wasn't quite able to get her right hand up to her face but she tried really hard...she is a trooper!! Last night when we went to see her she was able to say "I love you," to me. She was breathing really fast. Grandpa and Brian gave her a blessing and they said it seemed to calm her down and she was able to slow down her breathing. But, this morning the nurses said she was just working to hard to breathe so they decided to put the breathing tube back in, again! She is still able to nod to answer questions and squeeze our hands. Her left arm and leg are moving still which is good!! They had her sit on the side of the bed today, even with the breathing tube!! Grandma and grandpa were there and said the therapist was crouching on the floor and asked mom to "kick" her in the butt, so mom did!! They also said the therapist asked her to move her left arm so mom reached over with her right arm and lifted her left arm up!!! It's good to see she still has a sense of humor!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!

Monday December 15
I went to the hospital this morning. The Dr. showed John and I the before and after scans as well as the scan they took this morning. The blood clot was 69 mm or 7 cm which is 2.8 inches...nearly 50% of the right side of her brain! Most of the minimal amount of blood that was left after surgery had been absorbed, which is good. There is a "dark area" that wasn't there before that may have an effect her recovery. We won't know for sure until she is more awake. The nurses said that she flexed and pointed her left foot and SLIGHTLY flexed her left bicep. Grandpa and Grandma went up later in the afternoon and said that she opened her eyes WIDE and looked around. When I went back up in the afternoon they were taking her for yet another scan. (this one was an angiogram of her brain, they put dye in the arteries in her groin and take pictures with flouroscopy at the same time. They were checking for narrowing of the vessels in her brain and for any defects)
When I walked in the room the nurse had to point out the fact that they had removed the ventilator....I have no idea how I missed that!!! She opened her eyes for me and then yawned and then they wheeled her away to the scan....
The scan went well, it showed some artherosclerosis and no defects. The final report wasn't available yet though. She was still pretty groggy from the medicine they gave her and she was supposed to lay still for 2 hours so we weren't able to talk to her much.
Well that was it for today...I will update again tomorrow!
Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers! We are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives that love us!!

Here are a few pictures of mom...these were taken yesterday afternoon 12/13/2008.

This is the story, on Thursday, the 11th, mom went to work at Abravanel Hall. She complained that her left hand wasn't working and she felt dizzy. She must have collapsed and the EMT's that are there started working on her. They took her to the hospital at about 7:30. John and I got there right after and then they explained that they thought she had a stroke. She had a bleed in her head which caused the symptoms she was feeling. The neurosurgeons decided she needed surgery to remove the blood clot, which was the size of a kiwi or bigger. If she didn't have the surgery quickly it would be life threatening. Her left side was unable to move and her face was drooping on the left as well. She could talk and answer questions but she was mumbled and slurred. Grandpa Ted and one of the doctors gave her a blessing before she went to surgery. They took her to surgery a little before 9 and she was out at midnight. We were able to see her at about 2 am.

On Friday, she was pretty sedated because she had the breathing tube in. Later she was able to nod her head and squeeze your hand with her right hand. Her left arm and leg were still unable to move.

On Saturday, mom was more alert, she was able to follow commands and nod her answers. They decided to pull the breathing tube out....she was able to answer some questions. Her mouth was very dry!!!! She was breathing through her mouth which made it worse. I asked if she wanted the nurse to swab her mouth and she said she wanted a drink!!! It was mumbled but I could understand her. Since there were no beds on the neuro ICU she had to go to the burn ICU....but today a bed opened up and she was transfered to the neuro critical care unit. That was about 6pm. She had a hard time breathing and they thought it was best to put the breathing tube back in to help expand her lungs. she was breathing way to fast to get enough oxygen into her lungs. They also put a feeding tube in. That was at about 10pm. They kicked John, grandpa Ted and grandma Ola May out at about 11pm because they had mom sedated and she was stable at that point.

Today we were able to see mom in the morning and she was still sedated. They were trying to wean her sedation and get her awake enough to follow commands. When we left at about 3pm she was able to squeeze my hand with her right hand and move her left leg. She still had the breathing tube and the Dr's said they might be able to remove the breathing tube tomorrow.

We will try and keep everyone updated!!! Thank you everyone for your prayers and thoughts at this difficult time....we love every one of you!!!