Another update

So I guess it's been too long since the last update since my dad has gotten a few calls today wondering what's going on. I warned you all - I'm not an experienced blogger. It's not quite part of my daily routine yet. :)

But once again, I want to thank you all for your love and support and prayers. It's been so neat to see how many people love my mom and are cheering for her.

Before I forget, my dad asked me to remind everyone that my mom has allergies so not to send flowers - they end up making her pretty congested. But we've loved the flowers she's been sent so far! Thank you! They were beautiful! They brightened the room and were enjoyed by many - I even took them to church and used them in Relief Society and Sacrament meeting, and they got so many comments! So, if you want, you can keep sending flowers, but to me! ;) And anything else I'm sure will be appreciated by my mom.

Okay, so as far as an update. I can't remember what I've posted already, so bear with me if some of this is old news. She continues to progress little by little each day. Her right arm is very strong, and her left arm is getting there. Tonight she gave me a demonstration of what she can do. She lifted her left arm all the way up, and even used it to pull herself while on her side. That's impressive! She's also gotten a lot more movement in her right leg - she can lift it up off the bed and can also bend at the knee and bring it up. In physical therapy today they stood her up for a little bit. She's also been spending a few hours each day sitting up on her own in the wheelchair. She's looking a little bit healthier and stronger each day.

So this is my favorite story of the day. She had a rough night last night and probably didn't sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. That's actually how it's been for awhile now. But anyways, this morning, they finally gave her OxyContin for her pain, and it made her pretty sleepy. My dad said she slept pretty much all day. But the best part......the physical therapist came and got her and took her down to the physical therapy room this morning . After an hour or so, my dad went to check on her in there, and found her asleep on the flat physical therapy bed. The physical therapist said she was so tired she just let her sleep. But she couldn't count that as physical therapy!

Yes, she has her hair. No, she won't let me post a picture.

We were just thinking - everyone we talk to asks if they had to shave her head for the surgery. And, nope, they didn't! They just made a part in her hair, and shaved off a strip less than a half an inch wide where they made the incision. We're trying to convince her to let us post a picture.....we'll see...... :)

She let us! :)

Movin' right along

So, I didn't see mom yesterday, and in just one day there were so many improvements! When I came in today she said, "Have you seen what I can do with my left arm?" and she lifted it right up! She can touch her nose with her left arm! Her movement is getting better everyday! Her right arm pretty much has full movement. She's able to eat all on her own. She's still wiggling her toes and can move her right leg up and down just a little bit. Also, her movement in her neck and head has gotten much better. She got the staples out of the incision on her head yesterday and was able to have a shower today. She was worried about being able to hold her head up that long while sitting in the shower chair, but she did it! Without any help! We're so proud of her.

The move to Rehab has been good. The room is bright, with a large window and nice view out across the Salt Lake Valley. :) It's also quieter and the nurses don't bug her so much anymore. We're hoping she'll be able to rest a little more here. She doesn't have all those IV's in her anymore - just lots of bruises - but no more blood checks every few hours either, so maybe those bruises will be able to heal. Along with the rest of her! She's looking a little better everyday! Just keep cheering for her and praying for her!

THANK YOU!!!!

My mom wanted me to put a big "Thank You" on the blog to thank you all for all of your love and prayers and support.
So,

Thank You

from the bottom of our hearts. It has really meant a lot to her and all of us!
We love you.

Moved to Rehab

Just a quick update today: Mom was moved to Rehab today at the Salt Lake Regional Hospital. I haven't been there yet, but my dad said he feels like the move is a really good thing - the room is quieter, more comfortable, more pleasant, more serene, etc. etc. There she'll work more extensively with physical therapists and according to how she feels can do a maximum of 3 hours of physical therapy each day, and the goal is to get her to the point where she can walk out of there!

Our Family

First Update

Hello. Krystal here. MaKayle gave me the assignment of writing the first blog post. And just FYI, this will be my first blog post ever! Being the only one not married and without kids, I often don't have very exciting things to share ;), so I don't have a blog!

I'd like to start by telling you all how grateful we are for your love, concern, and support. We know that your thoughts and prayers are making a difference. We always share with mom your well wishes and let her know that you're thinking of her. I know it makes a big difference to her, and she often gets teary eyed as I tell her how many people love her and are cheering for her.

So the road to recovery so far has been a little longer and more difficult than we expected. She has been unable to move her legs, her left arm and her head. Dr. Jensen, who performed the surgery, told us it would be a day in the ICU and then 3 or 4 days in the hospital, and she'd probably be able to go home. Tomorrow marks a week since the surgery and we are still in the hospital. Mom has been such a trooper and is hanging in there, despite not being able to rest very well. For those of you who've spent any time in a hospital, you know what that's like - with blood draws, and vital checks, and med schedules, being un-interrupted for more than 2 or 3 hours is unheard of!

Anyways, I'll get to what you all want to know - how's she doing and where do we go from here? Dr. Jensen said surgery went well, and he was able to remove all of the tumor. Post surgery she's had 2 MRI's of the head, and one of the spine, and everything looks fine. Except for normal swelling, things look good. Dr. Jensen said the loss of movement in her legs was normal due to the area of the brain he was working with and would be temporary. The loss of movement in her left arm and head and neck were unexpected - that's why they've done an extra MRI on the head and the spine to make sure everything's okay. So they've been a little "baffled." Dr. Jensen explained to us that in order to get in to the tumor, he had to pry the two halves of the brain apart, and one of the areas that may have been affected was the secondary motor movement (or something like that :)) area, which basically tells your muscles what to do to move. So probably, the brain just needs time to heal.

Another complication is that her sodium level dropped drastically, which caused weakness (probably contributed to the loss of movement in her arms), a seizure and headaches. Again, doctors said that sodium loss with neurosurgery patients is normal, but not that drastic. We always knew mom was special, but all these rare medical things just confirm it! One in a million, she is. To fix the sodium problem, they have limited her water intake (and we know how much she loves her water!), give her salt pills, and an IV drip of sodium. They are closely monitoring her sodium level, and it was back up, but had dropped again slightly by last night.

So she won't be discharged from the hospital until her sodium level is under control, and the plan we've heard is that she will move to Rehab to continue working to get the movement back. She gets a little better everyday! We're seeing more movement in her left hand and arm, neck and head, and she can wiggle her toes. She has great physical therapists working with her, and she's doing a great job trying to get that movement back.

The biopsy of the tumor determined that the tumor was malignant - with the same types of cells as the tumor they removed in her foot. Her case is being presented to the "tumor board" today, and most likely she'll have to do radiation. We're also waiting for the word on when she'll be able to do chemo again.

This was a long update! Hopefully they'll be shorter in the future! Thanks again for all of your love and support, and keep praying for her!