Next Step

Lucy's acting quite odd today, as her body adjusts to the drain being removed. CT scan was clear, so they went ahead and removed it.

They're confident in her physiological state, and have moved her to another room out of ICU. Now it's simply a waiting game to see if she comes back to us, in working order. Today at lunch she wasn't as good behaviorally as she had been in the past, although she was both giddy and mentioning how good she felt.

It's difficult to not stress out, even when she shows signs of progress. If you see any of us on the street, at a restaurant, even find yourself driving by on you way home - stop and hug. They go a long way.

On the up and up and up!

Mom had the "brain drain" clamped, to ween her off of it. Her health slightly declined and her headaches increased when they did this, but this stuff should pass once her body and brain equalize.

Mom is doing extraordinarily well. Her short term memory is still winding its way back to the standards most of us are used to, and her confusion comes to the surface when she's been up for a while and is tired.

She's reading her "candy" celebrity gossip magazines (and can likely get extra use from them because of her short term memory issues), and is even occasionally watching TV. She sits up daily, and does "stuff" from a chair next to the hospital bed.

The doctors are quite hopeful for her to have a full recovery, and have been sure to tell us so repeatedly. She is still not yet out of the danger zone, but with your good vibes I don't expect her to slip backwards anymore.

This weekend she'd requested a few more days without visitors. Please respect her wishes, and Esha and I will let you know when it's okay to start bombarding her with your presence.

In the meantime, I'll keep you posted here.

Roller Coaster

Mom is having her ups and downs. Right now is the most critical time for her healing. I'll be spending most of the AM with her, and hopefully get some quality time in.

She was down yesterday, let's hope an "up" today!

Mom and the Brain Aneurysm

Note: I'm hijacking Dad's blog for a post or two - to bring you info on mom.

No. They are not brought on by stress. No. This has nothing to do with mom working doubly to both bring in money and take care of dad. Stress-related aneurysms are a myth. It just happened. Mom had the worst headache of her life while brushing her teeth, thought to herself "I hope this isn't what Wayne goes through daily," then blacked out. She awoke on the bathroom floor with her back to the door, listening to my dad talking to my sister on the phone.

Dad, thanks to all the deities in the universe, had enough sense to call Alyssia. She spoke with mom. I called and spoke with mom. She called Joe to come be with dad, and then 911; all after just having a brain aneurysm.

I knew something was very wrong because she always knows it's me immediately, but had insisted to the fireman that was present that I was the 911 dispatcher. We had all thought she just hit her head while fainting. Dad got up because he's a tough ol' man and was about to give the person pounding at his front door at sleep-time some lip, but stopped at the restroom because the dogs were barking and sniffing under that door.

I can give you the detailed rundown - but I am breaking down and need a break. These are tears of joy, of course, because Mom survived, and even had a successful craniectomy to reverse the aneurysm. Most people die the moment one happens. Mom is a rock.

Surgery Aftermath...

Dad is right back on track. He went back into physical therapy last Monday, only a short week after returning home from surgery.

I think he's as elated as the rest of us it was only a few days hospital stay. For as long as we have all been in one over the last year, it's still an alien location. Everyone can't help from regressing, even if just for moments at a time, and it's gut-wrenching to so powerfully have memories of that short year ago.

Thankfully, contrary to that, Dad is getting better daily. Little hints of his past self eek their way out, reminding us that he's still in there, like a child groggily awakening for an unwanted school day. A couple of weeks ago, he watched his first Warriors game since before the accident. That brought up happy tearful emotion in all of us. Keep it coming Pop. Keep it coming.

A bunch of cannibalistic turkeys.

Surgery...

Dad has been on the recovery trail for quite some time. He's improving daily, even among the setbacks. He now walks, and even has some use of his left hand.

Currently, one of those setbacks has to do with his gall bladder. It needs to go, so he's going under the knife. 4 days recovery in the hospital will go by in a snap of the finger. I look forward to his path again becoming unencumbered.

Head injuries do not make you any shorter.

The Jokester

Dad's sense of humor has improved greatly since the accident. I don't know if he's lost his ability to filter himself and he had this humor hidden away before, or if he's just being honest and I'm taking it as funny. He's a pleasure to be around.

He's doing well. He says he's not getting the sleep he needs, but i suspect he feels like he's just not waking up at 100%. It may never come, but I'm certainly hopeful it will.

I had a dream last night that he was driving. I can see it happening again, albeit a long way down the road (pun not intended).