Still a Rollercoaster Kinda Thing

When I last posted on Friday, everything was going smoothly.  Mom did will with her brain/scalp surgery and was alert and seemingly unaffected.  Until Saturday.

I called her Saturday morning to check on her to see how she was doing and if she needed anything.  The nurse answered the phone.  She said mom was not functioning cognitively( she could not state where she was, her name and so on).  I asked to speak to her and mom could only respond with "okay", and nothing else.

I again spoke to the nurse and said asked her if she was given her seizure meds the previous night, the nurse checked the chart and said "no".  There was no order for that in her charts. That immediately angered me and I said I will be down to see mom as soon as I can.

Meanwhile,mom's nurses tried to get her to take her meds after our phone call, but mom could not swallow.  Translation:  she was having seizure.  Again.  The seizure or set of seizures were so severe that she was immediately taken to ICU.  Before she went to ICU, they did an emergency CAT scan to check her surgical site.  That was negative.  Meanwhile mom was still experiencing seizure activity and was unable to communicate with her nurses.

We arrived at her old room at about this time.  Her room was empty and her nurses were trying to catch us up on what had transpired and take us to the ICU to see her. At that time we were directed to wain in the ICU waiting room.

After she was given a room in ICU, they transported her to  get an MRI, but during her trip to get the MRI she became unstable and stopped breathing.  They immediately transported her back to ICU and intubated her.  Yes, they put her on a respirator.

We did not know this awhile we were in the waiting room, but a doctor did come in and asked if thy could put in a central line to give caustic medications to regulate her heart and get that under control.  Of course we said yes.

Hours passed by and we have still not seen my mom.  But then her nurse did come out and talked to us and told us that yes, mom was intubated and sedated so they could get her seizures under control. And we could go back and see her.

I have worked in the hospital and have performed many an ultrasound exam on an ICU patient, so I knew what to expect.  Kinda.

Mom's room was quiet and dark.  she lay there with tubes of all kind coming out of her body.  We watched the monitors and I was mesmerized.  The nurse asked us to be quiet and not stimulate mom as she would become agitated and try to pull out the tubes.  so my husband and I just stood there, watching mom and the monitors.  We did not stay long.  I never felt so helpless in all my life.


Fast Forward:  Within 24 hours mom became more stable and they took her off the respirator. We went back the next day to see her in ICU and she was alert and talkative. Her sentences were not real clear but she did know us and was able to communicate.  Day two ofter coming off the respirator, mom was more of her normal self.  They transferred her to a regular room and she is doing fairly well.  I am going to see her at lunch today and talk to her doctors.


 I still do not know what effects this last seizure episode had on mom.  Her diagnostic tests are all negative, but there are some definite after effects.  Time will tell.

One of these days, I will again post on my financial ups and downs.  In fact, I am looking forward to being able to do just that!  Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and support.  It is much appreciated.