Never

Never
26 days.  Where have I been?  Well, most of them have been in Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC).  The surgery I had on my tumor came with some complications. It was larger in size than anticipated. Surgery lasted 4 hours. Because of these complications, I am dealing with the loss of the left side of my body. Dr. Garcia is saying this will return as the brain heals. I had CT scans several days ago. They showed reduction in the hematoma but brain is still swollen. I had lots of therapy while in the hospital: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy.  Bill and I will continue the exercises at home.  We are waiting for home health care to meet with us to schedule therapists to come to our home.  Meanwhile we struggle with getting me ready for bed, to the bathroom, dressed for the day, from chair to chair.  My Left arm and hand just dangles so we have to have it in a sling or propped on a pillow. This is so frustrating not being able use this hand for things like opening envelopes, pulling up your clothes, grabbing for a glass of water.

I know Kristi has been by my bedside since surgery along with Bill.  Supporting me with the therapy and being there when I just get frustrated and Sasha was a great neck massager.  We now have new furniture in our house. Wheel chairs, cane, extra toilets.  Lol. There is so much I would like to write about about but it’s hard to pull it out of my brain and hard to type it all out. I will catch up in  the days to come.

Never did I think I would wake up after surgery not have use of the left side of my body.  Thank you all for the well wishes, prayers and cards!

Got great news today that my sister Deb is coming on Monday to help us. She’ll be here for 2 weeks.

Another Update

Recovery is taking longer than any of us expected but all the doctors and nurses say this is normal while her brain heals. I’m sure she’ll share all the details with you when she’s ready. 

She is currently on the rehab floor at the hospital. She’s working with speech, occupational and physical therapies for hours every day. And boy do they make her work! 

She wants to go home so badly but she needs to regain her strength. We all know her determination will get her there!

Belated Surgery Update!

Hi all!  Kathy's daughter Kristi, here.

So sorry for no updates on her surgery but it took me some time to get to mom's blog.

Mom's plasmacytoma was larger than they originally thought and surgery lasted 4 hours. Her recovery has taken much longer than anticipated as her brain heals from the trauma of this surgery. I'll let mom share all the details (or wait for her permission to share them) but please know that she is getting the best care.

We see improvements every single day and sometimes every hour! Today was the best day yet and we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. She is still in the ICU but her doctor is not concerned by anything and said that we need to be patient. Easier said than done, right!?!?

We appreciate your love/prayers/meditations/healing energy! We will take it all!

We've been reading texts and messages to her so feel free to comment and we will share with her!

The picture is of her daughters, Kristi and Kerri and her husband Bill up to no good while they waited for her in surgery!