TLinden16
Scotty and Ray at Jelly Rolls are the best!
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2002
- Messages
- 16,243
We had a meeting with my mom's doctors today. She had a setback earlier in the week when they had to re-intubate her, so she's back on the ventilator again. Since they put her back on the ventilator, she has been pretty much unresponsive. She doesn't open her eyes or squeeze our hands anymore. The doctor believes that she is fighting off an infection, but they can't find it anywhere.
The doctor told us that the next step to getting her off the ventilator is to do a tracheostomy, which is cutting an incision in here throat to open her airways. She could still be on the ventilator for a while after this procedure. The hope is that within a few weeks, they'll be able to take the trache out. She will also be having a feeding tube put into her stomach, as she is unable to swallow food as a result of some paralysis of the throat because of the stroke.
The doctors believe that my mom pull through this, although she won't be at the same level of health as she was before the stroke. She may be wheelchair bound. There has still been no response from her left arm. We continue to hold hope that she will pull through this.
My family continues to struggle with making some very difficult decisions regarding my mom's care. Thankfully, we are all on the same page as to what we think my mom can handle, and what we think her wishes will be. This surprises me a bit because there are my five siblings, my dad, my mom's two sisters, and myself involved in the decisions.
It's really helped me to have my aunts so involved in this because it makes me feel better about the decisions we are making. My siblings have never had to deal with one of our parents being so critically ill, and it's nice to have my aunts' support and guidance in all this.
In making these decisions, there are two things that I'm really focusing on when I make them. My mom has always been very trusting of the doctors she's gone to. She's always felt that they are treating her the correct way (even when my siblings and I don't feel that). I really believe that if my mom was able to talk to the doctors, she would tell the doctors to do what they felt was the best way to treat her.
The other thing that has been helping me through this is my faith. I really put my trust in God to lead my family to the right decisions. I know that we are following the path that God wants us to follow, and I trust that things will work out as they are supposed to.
Thank you for your continued prayers, good thoughts, and support. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me to have that support at a time when I really need it. It really helps me to be able to write these lengthy updates.
Karen
The doctor told us that the next step to getting her off the ventilator is to do a tracheostomy, which is cutting an incision in here throat to open her airways. She could still be on the ventilator for a while after this procedure. The hope is that within a few weeks, they'll be able to take the trache out. She will also be having a feeding tube put into her stomach, as she is unable to swallow food as a result of some paralysis of the throat because of the stroke.
The doctors believe that my mom pull through this, although she won't be at the same level of health as she was before the stroke. She may be wheelchair bound. There has still been no response from her left arm. We continue to hold hope that she will pull through this.
My family continues to struggle with making some very difficult decisions regarding my mom's care. Thankfully, we are all on the same page as to what we think my mom can handle, and what we think her wishes will be. This surprises me a bit because there are my five siblings, my dad, my mom's two sisters, and myself involved in the decisions.
It's really helped me to have my aunts so involved in this because it makes me feel better about the decisions we are making. My siblings have never had to deal with one of our parents being so critically ill, and it's nice to have my aunts' support and guidance in all this.
In making these decisions, there are two things that I'm really focusing on when I make them. My mom has always been very trusting of the doctors she's gone to. She's always felt that they are treating her the correct way (even when my siblings and I don't feel that). I really believe that if my mom was able to talk to the doctors, she would tell the doctors to do what they felt was the best way to treat her.
The other thing that has been helping me through this is my faith. I really put my trust in God to lead my family to the right decisions. I know that we are following the path that God wants us to follow, and I trust that things will work out as they are supposed to.
Thank you for your continued prayers, good thoughts, and support. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me to have that support at a time when I really need it. It really helps me to be able to write these lengthy updates.
Karen
