Slacking...

October 17, 2008
Neurology Dr. Jonathan Artz


I took mom to see Dr. Artz for the first time on the 17th. He spent the first 20 minutes of our appointment (yes it took that long) reading her chart and taking notes. Every few minutes he would say "Wow, did this really happen?" Wait, (to himself while reading) did she have an aneurysm or did they coil it off before it happened? then he'd read a few more seconds and say "both!" then he looked at us and said, more than once I might add, "it's extraordinary she's alive!" It was really interesting talking with him. He like all of the other doctors and people who hear about her case are amazed by her progress.


October 19, 2008
She's been out of the hospital for one month today! Oh, and it was three months ago when she was admitted into Kaiser Sacramento and diagnosed with CNS Vasculitis.


October 21, 2008
This marks three months from "dooms day!" It was July 19, 2008 which started her 24 hours of mass destruction. This is when the majority of her brain damage occurred. It all started on this day around 4 pm when she suffered her first seizure.


October 22, 2008
Kaiser Santa Rosa


Mom received her fourth round of Cytoxan. This round is proving to be one of her most difficult yet. She is really feeling nauseous. She is doing well but it's just not feeling too hot. Luckily for her she's basically been sleeping a lot today. Hopefully she'll be back to feeling normal by tomorrow. Interesting information: I found a little book about the nurse who was administering the chemotherapy to my mom. She was a cancer survivor, it was very interesting reading about her journey. There is a woman who is a cancer survivor who started the Foundation for Stories of Cancer Heroes (http://cancerheroes.org/) and she started writing the story of her own survival story. Now, this foundation will help survivors or the families of those who have lost their lives from cancer. The books are printed by Heritage Makers and are very touching and beautiful. It makes me realize even more that every person has a story and it is so rewarding to be a part of so many lives. I realize even more that anything can happen to any of us- we always think "bad things (like cancer, vasculitis, disease) happen to OTHER people, it would never happen to me".
I would like to make a book for my mom at some point, I do think however that I will have some time because as I look at her story for the last three months I realize that it changes daily so I would like to maybe do it for her one year anniversary. I hope you are all well. Please let us know if you need anything.

progress, progress, progress

So Mom is very excited to report that she no longer has to wear her AFO- (Ankle-Foot Orthosis). Often times with stroke and brain injury there is injury to nerves and muscles that are known as dorsiflexor muscles and cause drop foot. It is very typical for people who have drop foot to have to wear an AFO for the rest of their lives and those dorsiflexor muscles do not come back. However, with mom she has only had her AFO for about a month and she's already worked the muscles back so much that she can now lift her toes and it does not impede her walking. As of yesterday she no longer has to wear this very uncomfortable brace. We are very happy for her.
Also, we saw her rheumatologist today and he was very pleased as well with her progress. She is walking very well and her memory is improving daily. Here is an example of her memory: The speech therapist does a test called auditory memory scan (or something like that) where they give her three random items to remember, for example rose, hamburger, hat. Two weeks ago she could not remember after 30 seconds that her therapist even told her to remember anything, then last week she could remember for up to a minute with visual cueing (for example to picture a hamburger wearing a hat and holding a rose, then to give her clues like it's something you eat, something you wear and a type of flower). This week however she was remembering for up to two minutes with no cueing. This has been her biggest trial (well after she got well I mean) so far but she is really doing amazing. It is really neat to watch this progress daily.

steps

So the amazing feat of the week, other than just moms improvement each day, is that she cruised up like 20 stairs. Previously she'd get exhaused with only five steps and she was able to walk, very quickly I might add, all the way up and then down about 20 steps. It was truly amazing and she is improving each day. She is walking better now and although her balance still has issues she is doing a lot better.