Anne Mack in the Hospital: Seizure, Aneurysm

Timeline of Entries

4/18/95: Mom in hospital after seizure.
4/25/95: Mom's condition as of today.
5/2/95: Mom to have operation on 5/3/95.
5/3/95: Operation successful!
5/10/95: Mom recovering slowly.
5/17/95: Mom moves out of intensive care.
5/31/95: Mom in Transitional Care Unit.
6/8/95: Mom back in wheelchair.
6/14/95: Mom trucking along.
6/18/95: Mom at my brother's wedding.
8/23/95: Mom at home, recovering well.
12/7/96: Mom at home, continuing her recovery.
7/29/97: Continued progress. 8/1/97: Good news.

4/18/95

Some of you know already that my mom is in the hospital. Last Tuesday she suffered from a seizure that caused a heart attack, eye hemorrhage and brain hemorrhage. She is now in stable but serious condition in the Los Gatos Community Hospital's Coronary Care Unit. I got back from Colorado on Monday (I had a good time and I'll tell you all about that later) and have spent time with mom since then. She's coherent and able to talk, but taking a lot of drugs for pain that leave her quite weak. Doctors are waiting for her to stabilize before operating (probably some time next week) to relieve pressure on her brain. The big worry right now is that she can't move the left side of her body. But the doctors say she is in excellent condition and should recover.

I'm going to be at work tomorrow during part of the day at least; beyond that, I'm not sure. I may take a leave of absence of work and stay down here at my parents' house until after the operation.

Please forgive me for not returning e-mail or phone calls. If you do want to reach me, try me at my parents' -- (408) 395-2748. If I'm not here, you may be able to reach me at the pay phone outside the CCU. I don't have that number right now but John does.

I won't be able to work on projects for a while, so ObFic and some other things will have to be pushed back a little. I probably will not be checking e-mail or updating pages regularly.

Mother is in pretty good spirits (she confuses the doctors by telling them a lot of jokes) and all of us in the family are worried, but very hopeful for a complete recovery.

Love to all of you,
Stephen

4/25/95

Mom took an angiogram on Monday (yesterday); this was to decide if they should operate tomorrow or not. They decided to delay things a week because she was still suffering from heart spasms.

Mom is feeling slightly better at times, though she is dying for a cigarette and is sometimes disoriented about where she is.

Her throat infection has cleared up and her eye is mostly better. Her chest pains have eased. Her heart is fairly steady. But the pain in her head continues and she still has no use of her left leg and left arm.

The hospital's CCU doesn't allow flowers or other gifts, but a card is fine. The address is:

Anne Mack
care of Los Gatos Community Hospital
Coronary Care Unit #703
815 Pollard Road
Los Gatos CA 95030

If you need to reach me, you can try my parent's number at (408) 395-2748. You may also be able to reach me at the pay phone in the CCU waiting room: (408) 866-9693.

Anyway, we're all a little tired and short tempered but hopeful.

--Stephen

5/2/95

Mother's condition is much improved; her headaches are largely absent and her biggest complaint is of back pain (probably from lying in bed for nearly three weeks). Her spirits are fairly steady.

Her third angiogram was taken on Monday, yesterday. "Things look better up there," said her doctor, Doctor Vernal. There are apparently three aneurysms, one serious, one minor, and one medium one that may or may not be operable.

So, the plan is to begin an operation tomorrow, at 2:00 p.m. The operation should last four or five hours. The purpose of the operation is to seal off the serious aneurysm.

I'll let everyone know tomorrow what the result of the operation is.

Thanks for all of the support received so far.

--Stephen

5/3/95

The surgery was today, late this afternoon. It seemed to have gone very well. The surgeon, Dr. Vernal, was very pleased with how it went, and also said that it was just in time, since the aneurysm burst during the operation but they were able to seal things in time.

Mom is now recovering from the operation; convalescence should be for another day or two, followed by a couple of months of physical therapy to see if the paralysis on her left side can be reduced.

She was very aware after the operation, but in a great deal of pain so she's taking a lot of morphine.

My parents' number, in case you need to reach me, is (408) 395-2748. I don't know yet when mom will be returning home, so I will probably be spending more time at the hospital. The pay phone in the waiting room is (408) 866-9693. I'll be gone Friday afternoon and Saturday but I look forward to talking to all of you soon. Please forgive me for not returning any e-mail you may have sent me.

Thank you very much for all of your support, well wishes, and prayers.

Love,
Stephen

5/10/95

It was a month ago tomorrow that Mother suffered her stroke and entered the hospital.

Mother's condition is mostly unchanged from the last time I wrote. She complains of neck pain (from the center-line IV that was put in for the surgery) as well as back pain (from being in bed for over a month).

In general, she is not recovering quickly from the surgery. She is understandably suffering from some strange hallucinations (such as hearing her sons and daughter in the CCU when we're not there, and that there is a big hole in the top of her head, and that an old friend of my father's is hiding under her bed but won't speak to her). These are a side effect of the huge amount of morphine and the fact that's been in the same room for a month without being able to get out of bed.

Doctor Vernal is confident that she is out of danger and recovering well. We're all grateful for his optimism. I'm spending time with her, helping her eat, reading to her (The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood and Robinson Davies' new book) and trying to be supportive.

Sorry to be so far behind on my e-mail and everything else.

5/17/95

On Monday, my mom was finally moved out of the Coronary Care Unit and into a private room in the hospital's rehabilitation wing. She's doing much better right now: her headaches and other pains are mostly reduced, and she's able to talk on the phone. If you want to write, her address is:

Ruthanne Mack
Room 235
Los Gatos Community Hospital
815 Pollard Road
Los Gatos CA 95030

This room is probably temporary; one plan I've heard from a nurse is that she may move into a rehabilitation center. The requirements for rehab are heavy, however: patients have to be able to do three hours of physical therapy, two hours of talking/conversational therapy, and two hours of the-kind-of-therapy-that-I-don't-know-the-name-of where-you-plug-square-pegs-into-square-holes. That's seems like a full day's work to me, and mom isn't quite up to that level of activity yet.

I'm back at work three days a week and responding to e-mail and beginning to reply to phone messages.

Love,
Stephen

5/31/95

A lot has happened in last two weeks. Mom only stayed in her private room for a few days: on May 19, she was moved into The Los Gatos Community Hospital Rehabilitation Center. She is now in Room 4A of the Transitional Care Unit. She has a roommate, Hazel.

The TCU is a cross between Intensive Care and Rehab. She receives Critical Care from the RNs but she is also able to do some rehab. There are three types: Physical Therapy (to regain full mobility), Occupational Therapy (to regain physical skills), and Speech & Language Therapy (to regain mental skills).

For a few days, they were getting her out of bed and into a wheelchair. We could wheel her around, and she would take her meals in the dining room. Although this was tiring, she seemed to be doing very well and her pain was much reduced. They minimized her medication and took her off the IV.

On Friday (May 26), a nurse discovered a blood clot in her left leg (the paralyzed leg) and some swelling. Blood clots are critical: apparently, if a clot does not dissolve properly, it can dislodge and make its way to the brain, which can be fatal. But, the medicine that removes the clot can have disastrous side effects if the brain has not fully recovered from the brain surgery. Doctor Vernal ordered a new MRI to see how fast her healing was occurring.

The good news is that her brain seems to be healing very rapidly. So, she was put back on an IV with some special clot-reducing medication. And she was confined to bed again.

My mom had a hard weekend; I think she was depressed to be put back to bed, and because of her stress over this, she had a few painful headaches. She was exhausted over the last few days and quite tearful.

Fortunately, my understanding is that today she may be allowed to get out of bed again, for a few short periods. I hope that's the case.

One thing is that they have removed her bandage. Her hair is just starting to grow back in (after being shaved for the surgery) so for once my mom has the same haircut as my cousin Mark: a buzzcut. I will try to take a picture and have it scanned in for you to see.

She is taking visitors. I don't know how long she will be in the TCU (the next step is the Rehab. wing). If you want to send a gift or card, please send it to the home address and we will forward it to her:

Anne Mack
15181 Belle Court
Saratoga, CA 95070

She had an urge to watch The Blues Brothers over the weekend, which we did on Monday. She enjoyed that very much. (Her favorite line was in the cowboy bar where the reformed band plays their first gig. Elwood asks, "So, what kind of music do you usually have here?" The woman behind the bar replies, "Oh, we enjoy both kinds: Country AND Western.")

Overall: Her spirits rise and fall quickly. She had a hard weekend but continues to make excellent progress, even after a setback like this one.

6/8/95

I visited on Sunday, June 4. Mom was finally off the IV and back in her wheelchair. She was experiencing a great deal of back pain.

We ate and talked and I wheeled her around outside. In general, her condition seems a little better; still pain and hallucinations and no use of her left side -- but even slow progress is progress.

As a family, our biggest concern is how she will be able to attend the wedding of my brother Philip, which will be in Sacramento on June 18th.

6/14/95

I stayed with mother on Sunday the 11th and Monday the 12th. I don't have too much to say; she's doing okay, making slow improvements. Her mood seems to be delicate in the morning and more positive in the afternoon. She still has hallucinations and some deficits, but I think she's getting better. Still no word on when she moves into general Rehab. Her Speech and Language Therapist, Daphne, has her do all sorts of useful exercises and has created a "Memory Book" for her to help remember things.

Her strength is a little better (she can stay in her wheelchair for a few hours now before getting tired), and best of all, she has permission to be driven up to the wedding up in Sacramento this Sunday. We're all hoping Philip's wedding will be excellent therapy for her.

6/18/95

Mother made it to Phil and Erin's wedding on June 18. Her friends Cathy Wooten and Nora Whitman (a nurse visiting from England with her husband John; they are old friends of our family) helped transfer her from the Rehab Center into the car, drove up to Sacramento from Los Gatos with her, got her out of the car and into a wheelchair, then helped her change clothes.

She cried the whole way through the wedding. (She wasn't the only one.)

She stayed for the dinner and was generally calm and happy after the service. Nora, Cathy and mom returned home right after Phil and Erin's first dance as husband and wife. Mom was back in the hospital by 9:30 that night, exhausted from the day.

(I now have some pictures that I'm starting to scan in. Watch for them...)

8/23/95

I'm not sure why I haven't updated this journal for two months. But here's the story: In July, the insurance and health care companies decided that a million dollars was more than enough for one person, and so put pressure on the hospital to go ahead and send her home. So early July, mom left the hospital and moved back home.

My sister Joanna has been fully trained on the transfers (from wheelchair to car and from wheelchair to toilet) and has decided to not return to UCSD this year in order to help take care of mother. My youngest brother Harry helps out a lot, and Phil and I are there as much as we can be.

We've hired two nursing assistants, Virgenia and Florence, to help out each morning from 7:30 until 2:30 (although since mother is improving, we've cut their hours back to noon, since their services are expensive).

Mother is adjusting well to home and her condition improves steadily but slowly. She's becoming a little more maneuverable with her wheelchair, and there are some signs that she's starting to regain a little muscle control on her left side.

Mom's attitude and spirits rise and fall but she is certainly much stronger than before and is full of plans and ideas. Therapy and rehab continue (at a slower pace out of the hospital than before, and perhaps not as much as mother would prefer).

I'll have her type a few things in here and say hi.

12/7/96

It's been hard for me to update this diary; in September, a year after my mom came home, I moved from Berkeley to Saratoga to help take care of her. Joanna has spent the last year helping my mom, and now it's my turn (Jo has only one more year of school, so it seems right).

Mom is doing very well. Her newest landmark is that she has recovered some movement in her left side: her left hip has enough control that she can begin walking, albeit slowly and painfully, with a four-posted cane.

She did suffer a seizure last month when we had tried reducing her anti-seizure medication (it has the bad side effect of making her drowsy), so we put her back on Dilantin. She's not back to where she was, but you wouldn't recognize her from that picture above.

Mom is quite active and trying to accomplish as much as possible. One of her doctors, Dr. Mrdjen, is certain that she will be able to walk again, which is great news.

Her biggest problems at the moment are the short-term memory loss, her frequent and painful headaches, and her general lack of movement on her left side. But all of these problems are much less now than they were a year ago. I'm confident her recovery will continue, faster and faster. I'll try to update this page and keep people informed.

29-Jul-97: Continued progress

Working with her new neurologist, Dr. Stroud Connor, my mom has seemed to arrive at a new set of medication that both prevents seizures and reduces her headaches. For the last couple of months, she has not had the severe headaches and migraines that plagued her in the past.

She continues to make excellent progress on her recovery. Although still mostly paralyzed on her left side and hampered by some short-term memory and concentration problems, she's walking more and more with a four-posted cane, and taking some physical therapy through Recovering Function and the Los Gatos Community Hospital Rehab Center. She's getting more self-sufficient all the time.

1-Aug-97: Good news

Some exciting news today: Mom was able to move her arm. Working with Virgenia (her nursing assistant, who comes in Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings to help her exercise), Mom was able to raise her left arm a few inches unassisted.

This is good because her leg movement was also very small at first, but then developed enough to be able to allow her to walk with a cane. Now perhaps her left side will continue to regain movement to the point where she'll be able to support herself more.

Mom was very pleased, since she had heard that if you don't get movement back in two years, you probably won't get anything else back. It's now been 28 months since the aneurysm.

More news when things happen and when I have time...

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