Marcia Moore

After having a migraine headache for 2 days my mom started exhibiting signs of a stroke after my dad did some research on the computer and consulted with our long time family friend who is a Doctor, Jeff Rattet. On August 27, 2016 my dad took my mom to Mountain's Community Hospital where after an MRI was completed it was determined that my mom needed to be airlifted to Loma Linda Hospital immediately.  Tom and Andrea Conklin were the first one's to arrive at the hospital because they both work in the area. An ER Attending Doctor spoke to them right away and said that Marcia had a mass on her brain that was infected. They had to intibate her because she was unresponsive and they wanted to insure she was still receiving a flow of oxygen. The mass along with the swelling was causing the brain to be shifted to the left side. The ER Doctor said that they were going to do another MRI right away and would give us more information once they knew more. Tom and Andrea stepped outside to wait while the MRI was being done and waited for my dad. After about an hour we all went back into the ER to speak with the ER Doctor. We were approached by one of her nurses that told us that my mom was transferred to the ICU unit on the 9th floor. We all waited patiently in the waiting room. My dad and I were approached by a neurosurgeon who explained to us that my mom would need to have emergency brain surgery to remove the mass and hopefully reduce the swelling. My dad consented to the surgery and we had about 30 seconds to say goodbye to my mom before surgery. The neurosurgeon said that it would be about a 3 hour surgery and that we would be contacted by the operating room staff about updates on the surgery. We all waited anxiously saying lots of prayers that the surgery would go well.  My dad was contacted by the operating room via text after an hour and a half saying that one of the surgeons wanted to speak with us. We rushed down to the main lobby scared that we were going to hear bad news. The surgeon said that the surgery went well and that they were able to remove the mass. My mom at that point was in the ICU unit. She was in the ICU unit heavily sedated and still on the breathing machine and on heavy antibiotics to treat the infection. She was in the ICU for 6 days having good and bad days. We were told that the swelling in her brain had not subsided and it was affecting her left side in terms of motor skills.  Once the breathing tube was removed and her labs remained stable they moved her to the Intermediate Care unit. She remained on the antibiotics having waves of nausea and a horrible headache. At one point she was then transferred to the Acute Care unit. Her labs remained stable and she started getting her appetite back. She even started eating small bites of peaches and a bite or two of mac-n-cheese. My mom was doing well with physical therapy and was able to do about 7-8 minutes. At one point the rehab Doctor came by and did an assessment on my mom as part of the admission's process. My mom was then transferred to the East Campus Rehabilitation Center in Loma Linda. The plan was for my mom to participate in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech services to help her get strong. When we visited her the weekend before her therapy started she was alert and sitting up and talking. She ended up in the ICU unit at the rehab center that Wednesday because her sodium levels had increased. She remained there 3 days while they tried to get her sodium levels down. The swelling had increased in her brain and they were concerned that she may be having seizures. Her sodium levels were slowly coming down and it was determined by a neurologist that she wasn't having seizures. My mom was transferred back to the main hospital on September 16, 2016 to an Intermediate Care unit to be furthered monitored.