Tuesday in Miami

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

We are here at the hospital and just got to see Mom.  They have been very busy with her since she was received by the trauma team late last night.  She was reexamined from head to toe to check all of the work done in the DR.  All of her wounds have been redressed; ventilator tubes, IVs, etc have all been replaced.  They also stitched up the areas where they had performed the craniotomy (they had appropriately left them open before to let the brain expand and relieve pressure), so she no longer has a bandage on her head.  Unfortunately for her, she now looks like she went to the same barber I used to go to in Honduras.  Those cuts weren't worth the 75 cents I paid then, and neither is this one, but only Mom can pull off a pseudo-buzz cut and still look beautiful.  The swelling from her surgery has subsided significantly, so she is looking more like herself.  For some reason, she just seems more stable and solid today even though not much has changed from yesterday - it just feels good to be closer to home.  We have seen little movements - eyes fluttering, moving her shoulders, moving her tongue/lips, etc - when we've been with her, which has been encouraging, but we don't know what they mean.  It just makes us feel like our Mom is somewhere in there and fighting to get back.  The doctors are optimistic that she can hear us and have encouraged us to talk to her to stimulate her senses and get her to wake up.  We are definitely up for that challenge!  They have taken her off the sedation medication, so getting her to wakeup is an important next step.

Before I talk about the Miami team, I want to memorialize a few thoughts about Dr. Baez and Dr. Suazo back in Santo Domingo.  The specialist in Miami was very complementary of their work with Mom.  In short, they have been our heros in the truest sense of the word.  No doubt about it, they saved Mom's life.  We believe they cared for her as one of their own family members and were a source of strength for our family as they were patient, balanced, and thoughtful in the way they counseled with us.  They pulled all the scientific and medical levers available to us while at the same time kindly letting us into their own faith and belief in a higher power - something that is not required within their charter, but was a huge source of strength to us as we grasped for all the help we could get.  They mentioned feeling a special connection to Mom and our family - we found great solace in that.  A special thanks is required for Dr. Baez who took more time away from his family (not to mention his heavy responsibilities back at the hospital) to fly with Mom to Miami and ensure the handoff to the team here was thorough and appropriate.  We developed a great love for them and hope to be able to build a life long friendship when all of this is better.

Enter Dr. Bullock.  He is Mom's new doctor in Miami and the head of neuro trauma at Jackson Memorial.  We had a chance to sit down with him this morning.  The overarching message is that there is a lot of good, with one potentially, very scary bad.  The good news is that most of her brain is returning to normal in terms of pressure and size.  Her eyes continue to respond to light as well.  Her breathing is strong.  Blood pressure and hemoglobin levels are in the right place.  All in all, she is relatively stable condition.  The area we are worried about is her Thalamus - right now, she has what's called a bi-lateral thalamic infarction that was caused from the swelling and trauma to her brain, mostly likely in the first 8-10 hours after her accident.  Right now, the doctor has reiterated to us many times that it is still too early to tell what this will mean for her long term neurological state.  They will be doing a series of MRIs later today or tomorrow to understand how much of the infarction showing up on her scans is edema (swelling that could ultimately subside - we want this!!) vs. brain cells that have died from lack of oxygen (we don't want this!!).  Please pray for a good outcome on this front!  Dr. Bullock also suggested that we can get her to Chicago sooner than we had thought. Right now we are shooting for wednesday of next week and will probably send her to Northwestern in Chicago. Dad feels that getting her close to her support network with some long term consistency with doctors and nurses will be best.

One of the silver linings in this storm is that a close family has come even closer together over the past few days.  We have leaned on each other as never before - not just the ones here in Miami, but those at home. Our wives and husband have been instrumental in taking care of children, home, blogs, calls, travel, etc. In many ways their jobs have been more difficult because they have not been able to see mom. They are left to worry and wait until we give them a call and fill them in on the details. We love them for who they are and all they do.  We have also learned of many other friends and family that have been helping out an home - planting flowers, tending Mom's little garden, spreading mulch that was sitting in bags on the driveway, getting mail, etc. - without being asked, just because it needed to be done.  We cannot tell you how much these selfless acts of kindness mean to us.

My sister isn't going to like this much, but I want to spend a couple of minutes to publicly express our love and gratitude for her on behalf of me and my brothers and Dad.  She has been simply amazing.  We could not have gotten here without her.  Like our mom, she has an incredible heart and is is very close to the spirit and so has feelings that have help us through some very difficult times. While we tend to doubt, she does not. When we want to question, she does not. I think her dogged determination will convince Mom that the best path is to obey her daughter. She just will not stop believing and that's just what we need!!  She was with Mom tonight and was reading emails to her from friends and family. She then would take her iphone, place it up against Mom's ear and play a video of one of the grandkids singing or talking while saying to her, "Momma, I'm not going to stop until you give me a sign or open your eyes."  My mom needs her and so do we.  We love her very much.

So,for the daily recap:
1. All vital signs are stable
2. She is strong and fit which will help as she fights to come back
3. The brain swelling continues to go down
4. She is not under sedation
5. She continues in a coma primarily as a result of the impact to the Thalamus (doctor believes)
6. She will have a full MRI tonight which will give us more info the Thalamus. We pray for it to be edema and little cell damage.  We should know more tomorrow morning.
7. We will be making plans to move her to Chicago in about a week.

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers. We have been overwhelmed by everyones love and concern.   Trust that it has made a difference in our lives and in our Moms.  Thank you!!!





photo taken Christmas Eve 2011- Sherrie hosted a party for the Labrums and Eyres