We will use this website to update everyone to the best of our ability.
They say angels are always surrounding us, but if you know my mom she’s a real life angel because on January 11 she saved her own life. The day started out as normal day our Mom, Gram, Liz, Sweets (as our dad calls her) was running around doing errands with her sister, Val, for their parents. They were getting ready to do a real scrub down at their parent's house which included cleaning the gutters out for the big rain that was coming. In seconds it all changed. Val dropped mom off at home so she could get some stuff together and meet her up at Marmee and Papas (her parents house). She called Val almost immediately after saying she was having the worst headache and for her to come. As Val was on her way back to mom's house, mom laid herself down in the bathroom and called 911. She was rushed to Torrance Memorial where they proceeded with labs and a CT scan. Mom's pain was a 10 and the doctors worked diligently to address what was happening. The doctors told us she had what is called a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm. You're probably thinking, "In english please". In short, it means blood was dispersed between the brain and the tissue covering the brain. We shortly and with lighting speed were transferred to Torrance Little Company where they could provide us with more resources for mom. She was surrounded by her husband, children, sisters, and her most loved Marmee. The minutes turned into what felt like days. We spoke with many different doctors as they tried to walk us through what had happened and what we were looking at in the upcoming hours. At 11:30pm they took mom into surgery. Our dad was right by her side as she frequently kept asking for him. The first part of the surgery was to place a drain to remove some of the fluid that was building up and the second part to clip the artery and the third part to get her all put back together. I think my siblings would agree waiting for her to get out of surgery was far worse than when we were kids and she made us sit at the top of the stairs waiting for Christmas morning to open gifts from Santa. The doctors let us know the surgery had gone well and that it was now our journey would really start to begin. She was facing at least a two week stay in the ICU- and in true Maltese Gardner fashion we made the waiting room our new home. Our mom's care team are always real life angels. They have given her the upmost respect, care, and always have held us up during these most difficult of times. Never batting an eye when the same question was asked multiple times and turning the other way when the rules were just one visitor at a time so my siblings and dad could be with my mom together.
After the surgery our first battle was to wean her off the sedation medication and get her to start breathing on her own. Mom was deserving of a bit of a rest and they explained everyone’s body’s are on their own time. As the day began to turn into night we could tell she was becoming more active and moving her legs around and showing us little peaks of those beautiful blue eyes. Unfortunately they weren’t able to take the breathing tube out just yet, but we are hopefull that tomorrow is a brand new day and our mom and your Liz is a fighter.
At this time we are asking for no visitors and to be patient with us as we navigate this journey.
