Week 3... I think.

Hello guys,

Sorry for the delay. Not intentional at all, but it's been an emotional rollercoaster for me and it's hard to try and find the appropriate words to put on here to best describe the situation.

Mom's physical health is doing great. They have been taking really good care of her at the Rehab facility here in Fresno. The staples (I counted today, and lost count after 30) are still there, but should be removed in the next few days. Dad & I have a meeting with the doctor this Wednesday to figure out the next steps. I should have more information then... we've been in a constant (and annoying) holding pattern right now.

As it stands right now... She has an organic brain syndrome, which is most likely caused from the trauma to the brain. She is still having problems with her short term memory, and is feeling quite down every once in a while (because she can't recall the people sending her well wishes, the visitors, the cards, etc). It's hard to give encouraging words to someone who won't remember.

Feel free to post something on here that I can print for her, or email me direct (mark.hammons [at] gmail.com) and I'll give them to her on Wednesday morning, or sooner, before I leave town for work!

Thanks everyone for your encouraging thoughts! Keep 'em coming!

The Next Stage

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone.

On Thursday afternoon, Mom was released from UCSF and was transferred to the San Joaquin Valley Rehab Center in Fresno. The plan is for her to be there for about a week and recoup from everything. She was released to this facility from her surgeon as a place for her to recover from some untypical symptoms/side effects from the surgery.

I talked with the Surgeon's primary nurse on Thursday, and here's a breakdown of what she said.

- The aphasia has cleared up. She is able to associated the correct words with objects and things around the room.

- She is suffering from short term memory loss. This is common after these types of surgeries. This is mainly due to the swelling in the brain around the area where they went in.

- She is suffering from a mild case of delirium. This is not common, and it's really hard to say how quickly this can resolve itself. It could take 1-2 weeks for this all to clear up, and the best thing for recovery is rest and sleep.

So that's where we stand. She's still as feisty and funny as ever, but is really having issue with remembering things (conversations) that are happening. Still worried about Putt. She does remember the grand kids, but can't remember what happened on her birthday. Goofy stuff.

The current plan is for to stay there for a 7 days, and then she'll be re-evaluated to determine if a longer stay is necessary.

Keep the good thoughts coming.

The progress continues

I talked with Mom today and she sounded great. She was asking me about work, talking about being in the hospital, and all sorts of good things. Having brain surgery, there's obviously some adjustment that has to occur after the fact. She's making coherent sentences, but just coming up with some crazy things (making connections a few years removed). She also talked to her brother in Texas today, which I'm sure was good for both of them! :)

The physical therapy doctor and occupational therapist came by today, and it appears that all these things are progressing as well as they should. Assuming things are on track, she could be released tomorrow.

I might update this later today when I get an updated report from Dad.

as the story goes...

Yesterday was a rough day. They say that a craniotomy can slow a person down, but they obviously haven't met Peggie! Countless times yesterday, she was able to get out of bed to eat, visit the restroom, and was extremely adamant about taking a shower (which she can't do quite yet). She's still a bit disoriented.... she knows everyone's name, but still is not sure why she's in San Francisco and can't remember the date. The aphasia that she is suffering from they say is very common (and temporary), but it's a freaky thing to encounter from someone you're so used to seeing. She's talking fine, but she can't say the correct words for items, but thinks that she is! It's a very weird thing to encounter. The swelling in her eye went down considerably the past day, and she's making some good strides on eating.

The first night (Saturday) in the hospital room, she was trying to get up out of bed A LOT so they had to put a bed alarm on so that they could hear her when she tried to get up and use the restroom. So our adventure yesterday while we were in there was making sure someone was there to guide her to the proper place, or convince her to stay in bed. We were there from 8:00am to about 9:00pm last night. Leona was very gracious and was on Peggie duty last night, as we all felt that she would try to get up in the middle of the night and do something again. Leona reported that she's doing better when she gets out of bed. Leona was able to wash mom a bit.

I dropped Scott off at the airport and headed back to Fresno today. Dad (and Leona) are still there with mom. At about 11am, Mom went in for the angiogram, and as of right now, she hasn't come out yet. When I hear from Dad, I'll report!

The Day After (Part Duex)

Mom was moved out of the ICU this afternoon, to her own room. She's made some progress with her recovery. She was able to get up out of bed, make it to the restroom, and then back to bed for some more sleep.

If there is anything you'd like for me to pass along to her, please let me know.

The day after

Well, I wish that I had more things to say right now. She is still in the ICU, doing a lot of sleeping. We've all had the chance to go in there a few times to see her. The left side of her head is quite swollen, and she complained of feeling like someone punched her in the eye. She has bits of clarity (reminding us to feed the dog), but is still in a haze and doesn't remember why she's in the hospital or why she had the surgery.


On Monday morning, they are going to do a followup angiogram to make sure the clippings and everything is in order.

The Big Day

Well, after waking up at the crack of dawn (bunking it old school with the brother; like we used to when we were young), we made it to the hospital at 6:00am. We got checked in fine, and mom was rolled into surgery around 7:45am.

Then, the waiting game began...

We received periodic (positive) updates on the progress of the surgery. They would call our cell phones and tell us things were going fine, with no ETA. Then, at 1:45, Dr. Lawton came out and told us that the surgery was a success and that mom is recovering in the ICU! The main aneurysm was successfully clipped and (what we thought was) the second one actually was nothing to be concerned with.

We are currently waiting for her to get out of the ICU to see her. I'll update you all later on when we know more!

The Medium Day (relative to the Big Day)

Hello again,

The day is almost here. Mom, Dad, & Bro are in San Francisco right now getting all of the pre-op stuff happening. Today, she'll meet with the Anesthesiologist, get the Angiogram complete, as well as meet with the doctor & nurses to make all of the final arrangements necessary.

I'll be heading up there later today (just got out of jury duty) to meet up with the gang, then it'll be off to the hospital tomorrow!

I'll do my best to update everyone about the status of everything.