Dene’s Story

Site created on October 29, 2018

Welcome to our Caring Bridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate all of your prayers, support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. This is the beginning of a story that we don't know the ending to yet, but already have been able to witness God's love for our dear Dene . On Saturday October 27th  2018  Dene was  relaxing at home when Walt heard her start coughing and choking. When he got over to her he immediately recognized the signs of a stroke . She was unable to speak or move her right side. He called 911 and grabbed her oxygen she wears at night and turned it on full blast.  While the paramedics were in route they realized that  she would need to be air lifted to Springfield where they specialize in stroke care and called for the helicopter transport. She was airlifted to Cox Health South where they started treatment for her. She was unable to have a MRI/MRA due to her pacemaker, so they did a CT scan, angiogram and started her on TPA.  They had found that there was a large clot causing a complete blockage in the  left side of her brain . The team then decided to do a cerebral angioplasty to retrieve the large clot and called in an emergency on-call interventional radiology team. They were able to preform a cerebral angioplasty and remove the large clot. They saw a second smaller clot but were unable to retrieve it at that time.  She was transferred to the Neuro Trauma Intensive Care Unit. Dene was unable to speak or move her right side at all and had some weak movement on her left side. We are taking each step in this process one at a time and hope that this helps keep everyone up to date. 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Deborah Scharrer

We wanted to send a quick update out about Mom and Dad. They have been making their way in Arkansas for the past 6 months. Dad has been helping at church and Mom has been working hard walking around the house! Although our family would love them to come to MN we understand with Covid-19 that may not be the wisest choice at this time. 

Mom has been struggling with some pain and UTI issues for about 6 months. The doctors found through CT scan Friday and scoping Monday she has a 10mm kidney stone. They will be using a lithroscopy procedure to break up the stone. Along with stent placement, they hope to prevent the particles from causing further infections. She will have that procedure Friday and will either go home same day or the following day.

Other big news is Dad is having a knee replacement surgery on 6/30. Elizabeth and Natalia are heading down to help with his recovery. They plan to stay for 2 weeks or so. Dad's doctor said full recovery will take 6 weeks, but he should be up and at em by 2 weeks post-op!

Prayers that Mom's procedure Friday will go well with no complications. We also ask that her recovery would be quick and the same for Dad's knee replacement! Finally, safe & healthy travels to Elizabeth and Natalia as they head to Arkansas.

Thank you for your continued prayers!
~Deborah
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Dene Stay Connected to Family and Friends

Your $25 donation to CaringBridge will help keep this site online for two weeks. And if you donate by March 28, a generous CaringBridge donor will match your donation, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000.

Make your gift in honor of Dene by midnight on March 28 to be counted!

Comments Hide comments

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top