Megan Olson Megan Hoff Olson

On Thursday, February 16 while working with one of her favorite clients, Megan became very ill and started vomiting, passed out and was unresponsive. She was taken by ambulance to Lake Region emergency room in Fergus Falls, with an extreme headache and continued vomiting. The doctor on call treated her for a migraine (which have been a near constant struggle for Meg her adult life), but didn't perform a neurological exam and eventually sent her home. Late Friday afternoon, my mom called Molly to let her know Megan had been in the hospital for a bad migraine, and was at home but not feeling better. Molly immediately asked if she'd been checked for possible brain aneurysm (as I had a bleed in 2002, so there's a family history). I asked the same question when Mom called me a few minutes later. My parents went to Megan's house and convinced her to go back to the emergency room. This time a CT scan was performed, which indicated that she had, indeed, suffered a bleed. Friday evening Megan went to Sanford Medical Center in Fargo, North Dakota by ambulance. She was still lucid, but in extreme pain and a bit confused. An attempt to contain the bleed with a coil via her femoral artery failed, so she was moved to the OR for a craniotomy and clip. 

Surgery went very well. She's still in critical condition in the ICU. She is not out of the woods, as things could change quickly, but we remain optimistic for a full recovery. I was blissfully unaware of the ups and downs of brain injury recovery when I was the patient; I'm not enjoying being on the other side of the hospital bed at all. 

Molly and I drove up from Minneapolis and joined my parents to talk to the surgeon (Dr. Alex Drofa) post op. Nathan arrived this morning and we had a chance to see Megan briefly. Megan's kids are all heading to Fargo. Molly is holding down the fort at the hospital while the rest of us get some sleep. They're monitoring the pressure in Megan's head carefully, doing an angiogram to check placement of the clip, and trying to keep her quiet. --Kate