Continuing our Prayers for Mom

Very Graffic and Detailed, be Advised!!!

For some of you this is a recap and for some this is the first you have heard....11 days ago (Thursday) my Mom had a cerebral aneurysm. For those who might not know what that is, its when you have a weak spot on a brain artery or vein that ruptures. It occurred in the lower left lobe on the back side of the brain. Thankfully it was what they call a "small bleed" which means that the rupture wasn't very large and thankfully didn't bleed too much. Once the doctor found the aneurysm, she was transferred from Good Samaritan in Puyallup to Tacoma General. On Friday morning she began to retain extra spinal fluid because her brain stopped telling her body to absorb it. They put a small drain in the top, front of her head and once some of the fluid came out and she became more oriented a Neurologist and Brain Surgeon did a procedure called a Coil. During this procedure they entered in through the pelvic artery and ran a coil up and into the brain where they found the aneurysm and stopped the bleeding. The small coil put in place is permanent and should prevent any future bleeding in that one location.

From surgery, Mom was sent directly to ICU for a recovery estimated at 2 weeks. Since then it has been a continuous roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The doctor told us that at first she would get better, and that somewhere around day 4 to day 7 she would most likely get worse, hopefully temporarily. With this type of injury the brain gets very confused. Apparently the brain likes the nutrients that are "in" our blood, but it doesnt like the blood to touch it. So since in this case there is a lot of blood in the fluid surrounding the brain, it makes it very cranky, but strangely it doesnt react to this until a few days later.

So just like the doctor said, Mom seemed to recover very quickly and was talking and sitting up and by Saturday she was reading and getting assistance to get out of bed for physical therapy. Then on Monday they tried to wean her off the drain that was allowing the extra fluid to be released. This process basically forces the body to re-absorb the fluid on its own. When they did this the pressure buildup caused her to have intense headaches and she increasingly became more disoriented. By late afternoon they decided that she wasnt ready and stopped the weaning process. Unfortunately this is when she really started to spiral downwards. Sometime either Monday or Tuesday she had a very small, non-clinical stroke. It didnt cause any permanent damage but it did cause her to become very sick with nausea and weakness. This lasted for nearly three days. Wednesday she again started to have terrible confusion and drowsiness and over the next 2 days it got increasingly worse, to the point where at times she didnt know who I was or that she was even in the hospital.

Saturday they tried to wean her off again, hoping she would be ready this time....and at first it appeared that way, but as the day went on she became so disoriented and drowsy that she was barely speaking or waking. Thankfully they noticed what was happening and stopped again. Last night she was finally passing her neuro tests again and new her full name. This morning she was doing even better and is sitting up in bed again.

The next step will be to try and wean her 1 more time to see if by chance her body can do it on its own, if not then she will have an operation for a "shunt" which is a permanent drain that will go under the scalp and drain the extra fluid into her abdomen. They are trying to avoid another operation though because she is at increased risk for Stroke and Seizure since her brain is already so aggitated.

I ask all of you to please keep her in your prayers....please pray for her recovery and her overall health, there are still many risks along the way. As far as the estimated 2 week recovery goes, it appears that it will be a bit longer. My Moms dear friend Dennis and I spent the first week in Tacoma with her, and now we are home again and my Grandparents are there with her. Please also pray for them, because what they are going through is very difficult and they need God's strength.
Thank you!

if you want to know more about what an aneurysm is, i have attached a link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_aneurysm