The Latest

Yesterday was a roller coaster - the kind you ride while swearing to never get back on.

We labored all weekend as instructed on deciding whether to proceed with the brain surgery option or the sedation option. My husband and his sister were adament on sedation. Less risky, no chances of them taking away good cells from the brain, etc. So that was supposed to be done Monday, along with her trach so they could finally remove the ventilator and such.

Well, Monday, the neurologist was supposed to come by and he never did.

Sigh.

So Tuesday, the trach was done at 10:30 and went well. Then the doctor finally came by and said he was at a loss. That he had no idea what else to do, that it was a waiting game for sure now, and that it didn't make sense why she wasn't awake yet.

Super encouraging. (do you see my sarcasm positively dripping off your monitor?)

He then said that surgey was no longer an option at all because the pressure wasn't even (not sure why that matters, but I didn't go to med school, so....) and that at this point the heavy sedation we had agreed on would accomplish nothing and would be a waste of time. He then added that he fears they missed something like a possible brain stem injury that would "explain" why she hasn't woken up yet, etc. so they arranged for another CT scan.

Sigh.

Then all of a sudden, I found out through Facebook that she's in surgery. Poor Hubby is getting so confused as to who knows what and who he texts what to, that he hadn't told me. I called right before she was getting out of it. Anyways, turns out the doc didn't want to give up yet (how kind of him) and wanted to do the surgery after all as a "last resort" before resorting to simply waiting. Apparently the CT scan showed nothing new after all. Which is good, but still confusing.

She made it through the surgery well, they did nothing to her actual brain, as once discussed, just simply removed a portion of skull to allow her brain room to breathe.


After an hour or so, the pressure had already dropped!! So that you can see numbers-wise, average pressure in a regular person's head is said to be between 4-18. That's what they want to see in my MIL. Well, on a good day her pressure has been 28-30, on bad days, 40. After surgery? It was a 10. Praise God! The doctor said last night that was a great sign and it didn't guarantee it would STAY down but we could surely hope. He also said that the pressure lowering is also no guarantee of her waking up but again, it could certainly help.

We all know that her waking up is, as my husband said, between her and God.

Thank goodness its not up to the doctors.

Don't get me wrong, her doctors seem to be really great and we've had no trouble other than the typical "waiting" issues that all hospitals deal with in regards to making rounds. I don't mean to sound so sarcastic and negative about them, I know they are doing their job and a good one, considering. Its just frustrating and I'm so TIRED of roller coasters. Just tired in general.

But we press on. With a smile, a prayer, Starbucks and lots and LOTS of Diet Coke. =)

Please pray today that the pressure in my MIL's head stays down and that she wakes up from her coma. Because now the doctors truly are done, and at a loss if this doesn't work.

Which to me just means they're now officialy out of the way for God to do something really big and impressive, and get ALL the credit. =)