Been in Boulder a lot lately, not in a good way...

[hipmamajen]

My mother in law works on the CU campus. Earlier this month, she collapsed at work, and was rushed to the hospital in a coma. Scary, scary, scary.

She'd had an aneurysm in her brain that ruptured, and at first they were saying that she would probably never regain consciousness, and that if she did it probably wasn't going to be a good thing.

Fortunately, she did wake up, and she's more "with it" than anyone expected. She's still at terrible risk for something called vasospasms, which can follow these events at any time up to 21 days. With no warning, they the blood vessels in her brain can clamp down and essentially cause a stroke, which could permanently disable or kill her. So, they're keeping her in the ICU, but for now she'd be in there anyway since she's still having a lot of problems.

So, we've all gotten a crash course in brain physiology, aneurysms, and ICU lingo. For instance, MIL was on propofol, a sedative, the entire time she was on the ventilator, because it's awfully uncomfortable to have a machine blow your lungs up like balloons 14-20 times an hour. As you probably know, propofol is one of the medications implicated in Michael Jackson's death, so we've found that some medical folks jokingly call it, "Jackson Juice." That gave me a little giggle

Anyway, my husband and his brother, and the 2 daughter in laws all live in the Denver area, so we try to go up and spend time with her as much as possible. I'm the only one without a regular job, so I'm up there a lot of the days. I'm glad to be able to go. I don't know what people do in there without family, it's a pretty scary place, and having a brain injury doesn't help.

She doesn't remember anything since the event, so if she falls asleep or enough time passes, she will forget what happened to her, and that she can't get out of bed yet, and what all the tubes, etc are for. Mostly she worries about her dog. We have him at our house, but she doesn't remember that, so every time she thinks about it, she worries that he's home alone, hungry, scared and suffering. She can't talk right now because of the kind of tracheostomy, so she writes all these frightened and agitated notes about him. It's heartbreaking. So, it's good to be able to be there for her. I know the nurses will answer her questions, but they can't be in there full time to reassure her, they have other patients they have to take care of. So, we go and try to cover as much of each day as we can.

Anyway, long story short (too late) that's why I haven't been here. I do try to check in when I can, but most days I'm driving, visiting, driving, trying to catch up at home including the homeschooling, getting a little sleep, and starting over. I do think of you guys a lot, though! I'll have to re-read The Stand now that I'm up there most days of the week, especially with the H1N1 swooping in to kill us all (or do nothing, depending on who you listen to.)

Hugs all around.

[Moderator]

Sending best wishes for a full recovery for your MIL. Don't forget to keep your batteries charged, too, by getting some down time for yourself. (((hipmamajen)))

[Spideyman]

Himama- many prayers and good wishes are being sent your way. I will send you a PM today. Have some suggestions with the short term memory( this is exactly what we dealt with for my neighbor across the road).

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

All the best to you and yours, AWMMS!

(((((hipmamajen and family)))))

Long days and pleasant nights

[Ubasti]

You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
(((hipmamajen)))

[Charms7]

That is very frightening and sad, hipmamajen. Many prayers offered for your mother-in-law's swift and complete recovery.

My grandmother had Alzheimer's disease the last twelve years of her life. She lived with my mom and dad then. Grandma couldn't remember from one minute to the next and asked the same question over and over. Dad would lose his patience with her and just leave the room. I tried to spend as much time reassuring her as possible. Mom went to the store a lot. It is tough going through that, for the victim as well as for family members. My grandmother was 64 when she had the stroke that robbed her of her short term memory.

May your mother-in-law never go through anything like that. I have known people who have suffered terrible illnesses (like a stroke) and fully recovered, too. So keep the faith.

Like Ms. Mod said, take good care of yourself. You're a wonderful daughter-in-law.

[rjt65]

G luck going forward and hope all is well soon Jen!

Positive vibes to Jen!

[Haunted]

Oh my goodness, in an instant things are turned around, arn't they? BUT, it sounds like your MIL is in good hands; she is very lucky.

Ms. Mod is right, you describe your life as back and forthing from there to there, trying to fill everyone's needs. You must take care of yourself too; can't have you collapsing. Why not work a schedule with the others so that everyone has some down time while making sure MIL is covered.

Also maybe someone could take a picture of her dog showing the date or something with one or all of you so that she can see it and reassure herself that he is being taken care of. You could tape it on the underside of her bed table where the mirror is located.

Many prayers.

[Gallina]

Sending many prayers for you and the family Jen.

[Kim L.]

All best wishes, good thoughts and prayers for you and youir MIL.

(((((Jen)))))

(((((Jen's mother in law)))))