hey guys.
so i guess you're all probably wondering the story behind my mom's surgery. I've received a lot of love from everyone which I am very thankful for (as is she) and I owe it to everyone to explain what happened.
It all started like 3 weeks ago or so. My mom was walking our family dog and slipped and smashed the back of her head on some ice. The silly lady even kept walking the dog even though she was only like 5 minutes from home. She says now she thought she was going to pass out when it happened. She brushed it off as a concussion and didn't go to the doctor. My mom is the kind of lady that can't be bothered to wait for things (like emergency rooms) and doesn't like to burden anyone else at all.
So over the holidays my mom was recovering from her concussion, but on New Years Eve she started feeling a little hazy and was complaining to my dad about her eye bothering her a bit. They went to the Emergency room and after lots of testing they diagnosed her with post-concussion trauma. They sent her home and told her to rest.
On new years day, she started acting a lot stranger. That night, she started losing some feeling in her legs, and when she went to stand up she toppled over. She went to get ready for bed, brushed her teeth, fell of the toilet, and then went to brush her teeth again not realizing she had already done it. My dad was really, really worried and decided to take her to emergency first thing in the morning.
By the time they got her to the emergency room they rushed her in right away. She was delirious- she thought it was 1961, and when asked if she had spoken to anyone that day, she answered "my mom". (she passed away in 1983). They did a cat scan and realized that she had severe trauma and bleeding in her brain. They immediately told my dad they needed to operate that night and she could pass away if they didn't act fast.
My dad called me at 1:30 in the afternoon and told me. Well, all he said was "your mom is having brain surgery tonight. she hurt her head when she fell walking Rosie". Thats basically it. I was so scared. I had no idea why, what was happening, and I was so worried about her being so scared. (I later found out all of the other stuff leading up to the hospital, so she wasn't even aware that she was there. It wasn't even until about 8 hours after the operation that she realized she was hospitalized). It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. She went in for surgery at 5pm and we didn't see her until 8:30 or so. She looked like a little old woman. Half of her head was shaved and her skin looked like paper. She was mumbling and still confused. The actual procedure required them to drill holes in her skull and drain all of the blood from the concussion. She has 15 staples in her head and this tube coming from it which collects all of the blood which is still draining. The problem with her eye that she had been complaining about was actual blood clotting.
They said she would be home by tomorrow but now they are saying Tuesday at the earliest. She has all of her motor skills and is being super positive. I am so proud of her. She is off of the IV as of today and was eating solid (shitty) hospital food the day after the operation. what a trooper. She keeps joking about her hair and saying she will shave the other side too and have a mohawk. (haha). Does anyone have any good suggestions for age appropriate hats she could wear until her hair grows in?
I think the hardest part for her will be the 6 weeks of cabin-fevered house arrest she is on while she heals. Dad is going to be super over protective of her and her clumsiness while she is home. She is a very active person by nature so there will be a lot of time for her to watch tv/movies, read, and gain back the 10lbs she lost while sick. I am trying to suggest her some things to do which are low intensity while she is home. I think yoga might be good because it will keep her feeling fit which is something important to her.
i've been in visiting her multiple times a day and like i said, she seems to be doing good. today she looked more tired than before and a little bit down, but her skin had more color and she seemed very present and normal to converse with. I start my new job tomorrow, but I hopefully will get to visit her tomorrow night when I get home.
whew. thanks for the love everyone. Now go tell your family how much you love them.
