A Family's Journey: Told Through My Eyes
What a year 2016 has been! We celebrated our parent's 50th wedding anniversary with a beautiful vow renewal ceremony amidst family and friends. It was an awesome year that came very close to becoming a tragic ending 4 months following the happy occasion.
My mom went into the ER with what we thought could be pneumonia, because of her shortness of breath, but it turned out to be 3 clogged arteries that required her to go in for an emergency open heart surgery (double bypass) less than 24hrs later.
"...she made it through with no complications...
Little did we (my mom, dad, sister, and myself) know that her situation would turn for the worse in a very surprising way."
About 4hrs later, the day of her surgery, she made it through with no complications. That was a great relief, but her battle was just beginning. What was once a very active and mobile woman, suddenly had to deal with limited mobility for 2 months until she physically healed. Little did we (my mom, dad, sister, and myself) know that her situation would turn for the worse in a very surprising way.
"What we thought was another quiet night quickly became a night we would never forget."
About a month after my mom's open heart surgery, my dad led her to bed for the evening. What we thought was another quiet night quickly became a night we would never forget. As my dad sat my mom on the side of the bed, I heard my dad call for my sister and I in a low voice, and disturbing way. I immediately jumped up and rushed to their bedroom to witness my mom sitting on the side of the bed, slumped over making a gurgle noise as she tried to breathe. I called her name and there was no response. Her body suddenly tightens as she stare at the ceiling then she collapses back on the bed. I call her name, no response, I check her pulse, no pulse, no breathing. By this time my sister makes it into the bedroom, I tell her to dial 911. As the call was going through, my sister asked me if she was breathing? I tell her she has no pulse. My sister puts the phone down and started mouth to mouth resuscitation. I picked the phone up and started talking to the emergency operator explaining the situation. In about 5 to 10 minutes the EMS was at our home. It took the EMTs around 30 to 45 minutes to stabilize her for transport to the hospital.
After hours of waiting in the ER waiting room, and filling out paperwork, the doctor comes out to explain to us that she has a pulmonary embolism. This massive blood clot in lodged in one of her lungs and collapsed the middle and bottom half of it. She also had 4 blood clots in her leg, which is where they determined the blood clot traveled from. They immediately worked on the PE (Pulmonary Embolism) in her lung to dissolve it and revive her lung. Aside from the clot in her lung, the blood thinner she was receiving for the clots in her leg caused bleeding in her stomach. We later found out that she had 4 bleeding stomach ulcers that they had to go in and treat. It was then a tricky situation, having to decide between her receiving the blood thinner for the clots in her leg, and not receiving the blood thinner, for a day or two, to allow the bleeding ulcers to stabilize a little. I lost track of how many blood transfusions she received due to the internal bleeding. After a couple of days passed, things started to balance out, the bleeding eased up and the clots were being dealt with.
"the doctor decided to bring her out of the medically induced coma... but once again, to our surprise, we were faced with a shocking discovery."
Just shy of a week in ICU, the doctor decided to bring her out of the medically induced coma. We were so happy that she was waking up. They attempted to take the breathing tube out, but once again, to our surprise, we were faced with a shocking discovery. That darn balloon on the breathing tube didn't inflate! The deflated balloon signaled there was swelling in her throat. We figured, ok this should be a quick and easy resolution for this. They gave her steroids and we waited for the swelling to go down...and we waited, and waited, and waited some more, but the swelling refused to go down without a fight. So now my mom is fully alert and aware of her situation with this breathing tube down her throat. About 2 weeks in, the swelling in my mom’s throat finally went down just a little around the breathing tube, but it was enough for the doctor to feel comfortable taking it out without resorting to a tracheotomy. The day they removed the breathing tube all went well, her throat didn't close, she was able to breath on her own, and she could talk with a whisper. She was now on her way to being discharged.
"...with much support from her family, and while astonishing the nurses and physical therapists, she made strides in her rehabilitation after 3 months."
After a little less than 3 weeks in the hospital she was now on her way to start the beginning of her journey to a full recovery. She was transported to a skilled nursing facility, and with much support from her family, and while astonishing the nurses and physical therapists, she made strides in her rehabilitation after 3 months.
She is now home, feeling joyful and blessed, and is continually doing well. Her doctors are all amazed at all that she's made it through. She is back to her lively self and is determined and focused on getting better and back to her active lifestyle.
Before her medical situation happened, about 2 years ago she began going to the gym with my sister and I. She worked out twice a week and personal trained once a week. She wasn't the healthiest eater but she tried to maintain a healthy diet. She made her routine visits to the doctor and stayed on top of new ailments she experienced. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but you never know how beneficial maintaining a healthy diet, a few days of exercising, and having a strong faith and belief could help in extending your life. I personally believe that prayer and exercising helped my mom become strong enough to put up the good fight she needed to make it through.
We hope to, at some point, share our mom's story, on our blog, as her memories of the events slowly come back to her from her first entering into the hospital to where she is now. I thank God for the prayers of my family and friends throughout these days. It has been a long road from September up to now and will be in the months to come, and with the continuous prayers she, and we, will be alright!
xo,
M&C
