I am your doctor!

What a wonderful gift yesterday! I am singing praises today with the news of her responses to Dr. Anyanwu...who by the way was high fiving people in the ICU after communicating with Mom.

I spent the morning with Mommom and then made a B line for the hospital after Nick, Mom's nurse, called with the exciting news. Once we got there, Nick stayed a large amount of time with us talking about the exam from earlier in the day. Unfortunatly, that morning was when Mom spent most of her awake time. So, by the time we all arrived, she was worn out from the day. We got a few moments with her while her eyes were open. Chuck used the opportunity to write open your mouth...she tried but didn't quite get there. He shared the words I love you on the white board before she drifted off back to sleep.

So what does all this mean???

Apparently two huge pieces of information about Mom and her recovery:

1. She comprehends. We know she can read and comprehend. We are also pretty sure she can hear and comprehend but, that connection in her brain might not be as strong to allow her to respond.

2. The connection between a command (what she read) and her ability to respond is present. She may not physically be able to do what is asked, but she does try.

We are still waiting to hear from insurance...they notoriously take a long time for this step. Once we hear from them, Mom can be moved to "Select Care". There she will begin receiving physical and occupational therapy while she continues to heal.

Continue to pray for healing. God has been so good thus far! We would love to see more breakthroughs like yesterday.

New Good News for Lynne!!!!

So, Chuck received a phone call from Dr. Anyanwoo this morning, and this is basically how it went:

When he was in examining Lynne this morning, he was trying to talk to her and even though her eyes were open, she wasn't responding to him. So, he thought he would try something different.

He grabbed a piece of paper, and on it wrote, "Blink your eyes." He held it up to Lynne, she read it, and blinked her eyes.

He took it again, wrote, "Raise your eyebrows." Lynne read it, and raised her eyebrows.

"Blink twice." She blinked twice.

They told Chuck to pick up a white board on his way to the hospital today, because they have discovered a way to communicate with his wife! This is such encouraging news for all of us! It's felt pretty gloomy, tiring and desperate lately. All I know right now is here on the post. I'm sure Leigh will do a more lengthy one later tonight with more details.

Praise the Lord! Lynne is still in the fight!

Day 32

I did not post yesterday because it seems that more and more the days stay pretty much the same. This is not bad, just that Mom's improvements are slow. I will update as new and important things happen...like she smiled today! Ok so, it wasn't a "normal" Mom smile (with teeth and all) but it was a smile.

Chuck, John, and I were back visiting Mom today, and we were shouting and squeezing her hands, trying to get any sort of a response from her. She opened and closed her eyes a few times before "really" opening them to look at us. It is hard for her to keep them open for too long. Well, I could see the corners of her mouth twitching. She has been twitching her nose as well. I made a comment about her smiling to me and then she actually did...it was like one of those smiles you get from her when she is just humoring you...but I'll take it. I asked her to smile for John, and she gave the same sort of smile. Then she did it for Chuck and later for Mommom.

Select care observed her today. I don't know how it went but the nurse mentioned something about waiting for insurance approval once Mom was observed. Select care is on another floor in the hospital where they would care for Mom's needs like her trach and begin physical therapy. It is not rehab...yet.

Today was a pretty good day. I wanted to cry when she was attempting to smile, and she made that version of a smile came out. It was beautiful! yay for today's accomplishments!

Day 31: Update for April 22, 2008

Wednesday was the first day I heard mention of any "whats next". Dr. Chase has asked another part of the hospital to come evaluate Mom to see if she could be taken to their section. This would offer things such as physical therapy, care for her Trach, as well as day round care that she still needs (she still has catheters and has not used the restroom in weeks on her own) Apparently as far as ICU goes, there is nothing neurologically that puts her at risk, and she doesn't need to be in there much longer. After a time spent in the "special care" area, we hope she will get released to the rehabilitation center on campus, or another like it. It would be a live-in facility where she could learn to live life again...walk, communicate, and so forth. I'm pretty sure we have a very long road ahead of us. I am so thankful Brad and I do not have an assignment with young life this summer. This is by far the biggest assignment for us, and I know many hours have, and will continue to be spent in Winston Salem with Mom.

She was a bit more awake on Wednesday. Not a whole lot more. She would sit and look at Me, Chuck, or Mommom, sometimes even cutting her eyes to follow us across the room. She wrinkled her nose up a lot as if something smelled bad or her nose itched. Could have been either reason I guess. Mom was continually saying "Sorry, I smell" before any of the strokes happened that left her in the current condition. After a month of sponge baths, surgeries, and only swabbing out your mouth, I'm sure she doesn't feel as clean as she would like. The girls however, have done an amazing job of taking care of Mom, bathing her, brushing her hair, and treating her and us with the utmost kindness day in and day out. They are wonderful and have come to be friends in a way through all of this.

So we will see how Day 31 goes. That is our one month marker. Hard to believe March 23 is when it all began. Now it is April...I look forward to sharing more later.

My goodness...It's day 30!

and....what a big day it was. You can now see Mom's beautiful face free of any tubes. They took her into an operating room about noon and performed the tracheotomy. She came back to her room after recovery where we were able to spend some time with her before anesthesia was started for the insertion of her PEG line. They put the line into her stomach right there in her room! Crazy how efficient those surgeons are. She slept most of the day. I'm sure it is the effects of being in and out with the two surgeries. She sure does look good though. It is wonderful seeing her face clutter free. I am excited to spend some time with her and not be afraid of her waking up. Now, she won't gag and cough when she sees us (like she did with the breathing tube down her throat).

She should also have more awake time. The meds they are giving her (forgive me, the name has slipped out of my head for the moment) should on average kick in on the third day. Tomorrow will be day three, and the effects should make her keep her eyes open for longer periods throughout the day.

Thats it for now. She is pretty much the same with the exception of the two surgeries she had today and the possibility of more awake time tomorrow. I am looking forward to moving forward.

Day 29: Mom update

Tomorrow will be a big day for Mom. She is scheduled to receive her tracheotomy tomorrow morning. The doctor spoke with Chuck, and he has reserved an operating room. By the time we get there in the morning, she should have it in. Later in the day, she will have the peg line (feeding tube) put in. That means that the breathing tube down her throat will be out and so will the nutrition line that goes up her nose. I'm sure she will be out of it for pretty much of the day, but this should make her more comfortable in the long run (of her hospital stay).

They will begin giving her a medicine to "boost" her awareness. It takes awhile to get into her system so it may be some time before we see results.

Not a ton of new things to report. Mom is still holding her own each day. It was another day of pretty much the same. I can't believe it has been almost a month. It has for sure been the longest month of my life yet, I find myself looking back and wondering where did the month go?...Is it really almost May? I am saddened that the tulips have come and gone, the dogwoods are at the end of their blooming period, and all the bare branches of trees are now filled with bright green growth. Mom didn't get to see any of it happen. Her favorite time of year has come and is slipping out. A fresh start to sping...new life everywhere. I pray that we see renewal and new life with Mom soon as well.

Day 28: Mom update

The seizures seem to have stopped! Another EEG tomorrow is set to confirm...I hope that we have seen the end of them. Mom was awake a bit more today and when she opened her eyes, they seemed to focus on what she was looking at. She first looked at Darcy (a friend of Mom's and next door neighbor), Me, then at Chuck. It was really an encouraging moment. Apparently, yesterday Dr. Anyanwu told Chuck. "I think your wife is going to get through this, it'll take a while, months, but I think she'll be ok"

On Tuesday, Mom will be getting her trach put in as well as a feeding tube (peg line). I think they have finally decided that she needs to move on from the tube and she is not able to without assistance. So, that leaves us with the tracheotomy.

The doctor has also ordered special shoes for Mom to wear in her bed. Her feet have "dropped" from not using them for a month now. The condition can be part of the effects of her strokes. I'm sure there is a long road of recovery with her feet and legs. She most likely will need to learn how to walk again.

I really am excited about this week....if the aneurysm, vasospasms and strokes, as well as the seizures are all behind us, then this week should be one of wakefulness and some form of assessment on where she is in all of this. I know realistically we are looking at months of recovery but, if we have our Mom, and Chuck has his wife, I will take it and run with it. I really want Mom to be one of the "success stories" that we have heard so many of from friends, family, and medical teams.

Keep praying and I'll keep posting to let you know how it is going!