The TBI Chatroom |
On May 3rd, 2001 at 3:25 p.m. coming home from school my mother was t-boned in her driver's door by a Ford 250Econo-line van. I was notified at work about an hour later by the chaplain at the hospital emergency room that my mother had been in an accident. He would tell me nothing else. Once I arrived at the hospital, all that I could find out was that she was alive. Four hours later we were told she was going to be transferred to a bigger hospital by their trauma team, at the hospital to take another patient. They opted to take my mother instead, due to her critical injuries. At this time she remains in the Neuro ICU at the large hospital, in critical condition. She had massive injuries from the accident, her skull was separated from the 1st neck vertebrae - called occipital cervical fracture. She had both lungs punctured, numerous broken bones including collar bone, tail bone, pelvis bone, several ribs on each side, and a traumatic brain injury.
My mother is 58, and just today was weaned from the ventilator. We have been told twice that she was not going to make it, she coded on a Thursday, and then had a massive bleed in her stomach the following Saturday that they could not operate on. She is still with us, but has not been responsive but once in the last two weeks. The doctors do not give us much hope that she will ever be anything but bed bound due to her injuries, if she makes it. My family is somehow holding up, and I have not lost my faith or hope. My mother is a beautiful, smart, funny, sassy lady with a lot to live for, and a family that loves her so much. My grandparents, her parents, have been by her side constantly. If you read this, I covet your prayers, and God Bless You and your loved one. My mother is my best friend, and has always been a blessing to me. The best response we were able to get from her was blinking her eyes, and moving her leg and toe. We communicated this way though. Now it has been a while, and she seems to not be able to wake up. It is hard to get information from the nurses and doctors like I feel I am entitled. I am a Registered Nurse, so it is doubly frustrating to me. My sister and I are doing all we can, we talk to Mother, sing to her, have put music in her ICU room, etc. My daughter, who is very close to Mother, talks to her and rubs her with lotion. We all love her so much, and I hunger for the day I can hear her say "I love you" again. I cry now on a regular basis, and returning to work has been so hard. Even though I know Mother has many strikes against her, she has the greatest thing for her: she is a child of Jesus, and is the best example of a true Christian lady I know.
The doctors are only human, and God does still perform miracles, I have read many on this website. I am holding out for our own special miracle for my mother : Rin-Rin.
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