Patricia Baumer

This is Fred. It is Monday, 10/8. Patricia has agreed to my doing a caring bridge site so that you can know what has occurred.

Many of you knew that Patricia had ventral hernia surgery followed by plastic surgery last Friday, a 4.5 hour double surgery. All went as expected in those surgeries, but while Patricia was in the recovery room she had a seizure. There were two more seizures later that evening. She had an MRI scan on Saturday, but that did not give real evidence of what might have caused the seizures.

Today she had an EEG, which the neurologist read to say that there was no sign of seizures while she was having the EEG. Good news. He did say there were slow brain waves, which could be due to the anesthetics. They will do an ultrasound on her neck to ensure there are no arteries blocked. And he will keep monitoring to try to figure out what's wrong and how it can be treated.

What seems to have everyone stumped is the endless amount of sleep that Patricia desires, and that she has no appetite at all. Her speech is very compromised as is her memory, so it is very difficult for her to communicate. She has done two days of physical therapy, and each day we are hoping she is a bit stronger in getting from bed to chair to toilet. Her oxygen levels, blood pressure and sugars are all being monitored. She is in Methodist Hospital in the neurological wing and getting very good care. I know she would appreciate notes and cards, but until she is willing to ask for visitors, please keep praying and sending good thoughts by adding your comments on this site or sending cards to our home and I will bring them to the hospital.

I am personally in awe of Patricia's willingness to comply with the staff requests as much as she can. I will keep you updated on her progress.