It’s been several months since we’ve updated the site, but as we all know, life gets in the way sometimes. 

Mom has shown tremendous improvement the last couple months.  When we last posted an update, she had just come home from the rehab hospital and it took a long while for both her and us to adjust.  We had to set up a “bedroom” downstairs as her mobility was still limited and going up/down stairs was off limits.  

The month of June was full of follow up appointments in addition to Mom receiving semi-weekly home health visits for physical, occupational and speech Therapy.  As she was still a bit “out of it,” she was not participating to the extent we would have hoped but she made some progress.  

July was another month full of medical appointments and  continued improvements both cognitively and physically.  Her strength had returned for the most part, although she still had some trouble with the fact that she would get fatigued quickly.  Cognitively she became more aware of her situation and frustrated with the limitations it brought.  

August was daunting as I would be back to school in the middle of the month and we had appointments both new and follow up scattered throughout. We did receive good news when the neurosurgeon said that she would not require the previously planned shunt to drain excess fluid from her brain. 

Mom had a cranioplasty (skull sections replaced) on September 16th.  She had a post-op follow up and all is well.  With her skull back together she is no long a “fall risk” and we don’t have to worry (as much) with her going up/down stairs.  She has been excited to be able to sleep upstairs in her bedroom and put behind her the temporary set up we had downstairs.

She has evaluations this week with outpatient therapy and hopefully all goes well with those and she will be able to begin that soon. Today she will have a CT scan as well to check on her brain again after the cranioplasty. 

Overall she’s made a remarkable recovery thus far, and she still has a long way to go.  Her memory, mobility, and cognitive ability have all improved.  Hopefully these will continue to improve with outpatient therapy and time. 

We want to thank everyone who have been so kind as to provide all the amazing support the last couple months.  There’s no way we can ever repay all that you have done.