Our Own Little Miracle

The advances they continue to make in the medical field are amazing. A few weeks ago one of my grandma's had a severe stroke. We really thought she wasn't going to make it. They performed a new procedure on her and asked my mother-in-law to write about the experience, to document the procedure from the view point of a family member. My mother-in-law is amazing with words and I asked her if I could share her story here. And with her permission, here it is:

The procedure they did on Grandma is less then a year old and they are documenting it for evaluation and promotion. They hope to get the word out in the health community about it's availability and potential. Doctor who preformed the procedure asked that we allow a case study of Grandma. He said they present at various medical development studies and meetings as well as in papers. What he also asked for was a written perspective on the patient/family side of this issue. He said they can all talk about the clinical, medical aspect, but when presenting it helps to have an actual account of the procedure as experienced by the family. To that end, this is what I wrote. Thought it would also bring you up to date as to where we are.

The nurse who called me at work told me my mom was found unresponsive and was being sent to the ER. To a lay person, unresponsive has an unclear meaning. I thought perhaps comatose; I was not prepared for what I found at the emergency room. The cubicle that held my mom was cold and there on the gurney was my very frail 85 year old mother. Her face was slack and when she breathed air puffed from the right corner of her mouth. Her right eye was rolled upwards and her left eye pulled completely to the left. When I drew her hand to mine there was no movement or response. I talked loudly to her and tried to believe that the movement I saw in her left eye was acknowledgement that she heard me. The doctors questioned this. It quickly became apparent that she had experienced a major stroke on the left side of the brain affecting the right side of her body and portions of the left. She could not speak, stick out her tongue, follow an object with either eye, or move either foot or leg. Her right arm had no response, but when they lifted her left arm she was able to hold it there a few seconds. Hopeful that was reason enough to be positive, I looked to the team making the assessment and one said “Twenty-five?” and the other said “I agree.” I soon came to understand that strokes are ranked from one to twenty-five, with twenty-five being the most severe. All that I could think to do was to stand at my Mom’s left side, stroke her cheek and talk loudly into her left ear hoping to comfort her if she had any awareness of what was going on.

Mom had suffered an unwitnessed stroke. She had broken a hip 6 weeks earlier and was rehabbing at a nursing home. The doctors called and upon questioning the staff they determined that she was last seen lucid three and one half hours ago. The window of opportunity for administering TPA had passed. That drug which has the potential for dissolving blood clots could only be given within the first 3 hours after a stroke, or there was a chance it could do more harm then good. I was now presented with the only other alternative. Mom could be transferred via ambulance to Alexian Brothers Medical Center where they have a stroke trauma unit. There she would undergo a procedure known as a thrombectomy. During this procedure doctors would do an angiogram to find where the blood clot was in her brain and then using the Penumbra device the clot would be removed, allowing blood to again flow to the affected areas hopefully in time to limit permanent damage. This device had only been in use for approximately a year. The only other choice was to do nothing and see what the end result was and go from there. Mom had been through quite a bit in the last 2 months with several complications after the hip surgery and we, her family, certainly did not want to put her through any more painful procedures especially if the outcome seemed weighted against success.

In the flurry of activity, I was confused by what was being suggested and at first thought this involved brain surgery. When I received a detailed explanation by Doctor Marden, who would perform the task I realized that she would have general anesthesia, and that this was similar to a cardiac angiogram which we were familiar with. This allayed our fears and we realized that although it offered an unsure outcome the procedure was not extremely risky or painful. It also offered the possibility of even reversing some of the damage already apparent. I signed for it to be done and she was rushed to the stroke trauma unit. There we were warmly and compassionately greeted, assessed of her situation and assured that we would be kept informed. We were updated that she was handling the procedure well and then approximately three hours later we escorted her to ICU.

She was on a breathing tube that would be kept in until the next day. The angiogram found a blood clot in one of the major arteries of the brain and using the Penumbra System, they were able to remove it. Doing that restored blood flow to all but a very small area of the brain. That area could possibly be feed by alternative blood vessels, and even if not, would be considered a very small consequence. Now we were told she needed to rest after the assault on her body by the stroke.

Paramedics had taken her to the first hospital at 9AM and now at 8PM we left her, unaware if she heard our goodbyes or felt our kisses.

The next morning I arrived in ICU to a smiling nurse and jubilant Doctor. Mom’s bed was raised up and as I entered she turned slightly to look at me. TO LOOK AT ME! Both eyes focused on me. The nurse asked do you know who this is and she said Daughter. She spoke, she understood! She was able to move all extremities. She could move her tongue side to side. She knew her name and where she was. Less then twenty-four hours after the procedure she was now rated an eleven. There was some confusion and tangling of words when trying to communicate, but we could decipher it. Most importantly she was Mom again. She knew her children were there and she could see our joy in her dramatic turnaround. We watched with wonder as each test administered brought amazing results.

The next day she was transferred again, this time to a regular room and when asked the same question 4 different ways by the neurology nurse testing her, she answered correctly then looked at me and rolled her eyes as if to question the memory of the nurse. Late that afternoon the result of all her tests came back and she now was ranked at a Zero! Being ranked a zero never had a better connotation! She was soon discharged back to the nursing home where the attending staff was in awe of her recovery. Several called it miraculous. After we helped get her settled in it was clear she needed to rest so we said goodnight, this time comforted by her words of goodbye, and with unquestioning knowledge that she felt our kisses.

Amazing, isn't it?