Welcome to Whitney’s CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting and keeping Whitney in your prayers!
On Sunday, July 1st, Whitney traveled to Denver, CO to meet a good friend and then travel on to California for a girls' vacation. On Monday morning, July 2nd, Whitney experienced some symptoms such as facial drooping on her left side, a headache, and water spilling out of her mouth while drinking. She then took a long nap and felt much better after. The symptoms did not stay consistent so she attributed them to fatigue. Symptoms began again on Tuesday, July 3rd, after the girls made it to California such as left side weakness and an incident where Whitney dropped her plate while in a buffet line.
Whitney contacted her insurance company at that time and got the names of urgent cares that would be in-network. They went to an urgent care where that provider immediately sent them accross the street to Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, CA. It was there that Whitney was diagnosed with having had a major stroke on the right side of her brain 37 hours prior. The MRI showed blood clots completely covering her right side of the brain. Whitney underwent surgery in the very early hours of the morning on Wednesday, July 4th. The surgeon went up through Whitney’s leg and eventually into her brain to try and extract the clots in the right side of her brain. God was definitely watching over our girl as it turned out that Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, specializes specifically in strokes and the doctor that did Whitney's surgery is only one of a few in the nation that is able to do the procedure that he did. Whitney's parents, Rick and Joy, and her brother Aaron, flew to CA and were able to be in Whitney's room by early afternoon on Wednesday, July 4th. At that time, Whitney needed a ventilator to help her breathe (thus she could not speak), could not open her eyes due to heavy sedation, and could not move her entire left side of her body. She was able to recognize her family's voices as they came into the room that afternoon as she cried when she heard them (this was a good sign that she recognized them and reacted). On Wednesday, her sole means of communication was through squeezing her hand to answer, "yes" when asked questions such as, "Are you cold?" At that time, the doctor did not have a prognosis concerning Whitney's functioning after her ventilator was removed and her heavy sedation wore off. This was an extremely difficult time for family not knowing answers or if the "old Whitney" would be present in the next few days. At that time, the doctors predicted that they would try to start weaning Whitney off of the ventilator the following day, Thursday, July 5th. They also did an MRI on Wednesday night and it revealed that the majority of the clots were removed and the right side of the brain was clear of clots or hemorrhaging! Rick, Joy, and Aaron entered Whitney's room on Thursday morning and she was awake (eyes finally open!) and SPEAKING to the Speech-Language Pathologist as she tested Whitney's cognition and speech-language skills by asking her questions. The doctor, after reading the MRI from the night before, predicted that Whitney, through rehabilitation and therapies, would eventually return to at least 90% functioning. This was a huge relief and gave a new hope to family and Whitney!
Thursday was a big day for Whitney, as different individuals such as occupational, physical, and speech-language therapists took baseline data and tested Whitney's functioning. She had some difficulty with reading and writing, swallowing (due to her left side weakness) and is still unable to function her left side of the body, but we are very hopeful that through vigorous rehab. and the natural healing process, that Whitney will overcome this! Her team is recommending at least 90 days of inpatient in a rehabilitation facility and family and her team are still deciding if that stay will be in Arcadia, in Nebraska or both.
Aaron and Rick will return to Nebraska in the next few days and Joy will remain with Whitney in CA. Currently, Whitney is unable to receive flowers or stuffed animal and such because she is in a critical care room. We will let you know when she is moved to a regular room that permits such things. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers during this time. We will keep you updated through this page with Whitney's progress.
In the last six visits at Madonna, Whitney has been re-evaluated for physical and occupational therapy. She has met and surpassed and her goals. She was able to identify twelve out of twelve objects when placed in her hand without looking at them, while previously only being able to identify eight out of ten. Today, Whitney has been discharged from Madonna!
She will continue to use the FES bike twice a week for the next month on her left lower and upper extremities. Whitney has gained 100% movement back, and about 80% feeling has returned to her left side. She will continue to hope that feeling returns within the first year!
Whitney has been extremely thankful for all the prayers and support!
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