A New Outlook

Most of you who follow our blog already know of the circumstance my family has been faced with recently, but I want to write about it anyway for journaling purposes and general info. My young, wonderful, beautiful, amazing mom had a stroke on June 2nd. She had been having strange pains in her back and head for several days, and even had them checked out at the hospital to no avail several days before having her stroke early Wednesday morning. She had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which means there was bleeding in her head between her skull and her brain. The bleeding was in the cerebellum, the lower back area of the brain that affects balance and coordination. When she was brought into the hospital they did a CT scan on her to find the source of the problem, then rushed her into immediate surgery where they put a drain in the back of her head to relieve the pressure. She then was placed in the ICU for almost two weeks. In the ICU she remained largely unconscious and hooked up to a ventilator to help her breathe and a feeding tube to keep her nourished. In only a few days she was able to respond to our touch and voice by wiggling fingers and toes, and then later by winking, raising eyebrows, and opening her eyes a little. Finally she began to wake up enough so they removed all her tubes and needles and let her out of the ICU. She is now in the rehab unit working on regaining control of her body. Her memory and mental capacity seem to be completely intact. Most times she outsmarts her nurses and doctors about what medicines and type of care she needs :). She is definitely sad to be in this condition in the hospital, and misses her "grandbabies" very much, but she has made amazing progress over the last four weeks and we are very hopeful she will have a complete recovery. Her current challenges include regaining balance, waiting for her brain to recover so that hopefully her eyes won't see double anymore, overcoming nausea, and getting strength back in her body so that she can walk and be mobile again.

The last four weeks have been kind of long and not so easy for my family and I. Our dad had a brain injury five years ago, so we have experienced this to some degree before, but we are definitely all shaken. We have all relearned the importance of family and the fragility of life. I know that my testimony has grown, and I have grown and matured personally. I am so thankful for a loving, caring husband to turn to in difficult as well as triumphant times. I'm also thankful for the sacrifices and dedication of my brothers. Thanks to all of my family and friends who have been there with prayers and support. I can truly say that I am so blessed to have wonderful people in my life. I'm also very blessed to have the gospel in my life and I know that the Lord has been in this completely. I want to caution everyone to remember how fragile life can be, and remember to be thankful for all the little things. I'm sorry for the giant novel, but I want to remember the impact of this process, and I wanted to be able to share it with others!

Four week anniversary mom, keep working hard! We love you so much!