Overview

One month out from the bleeding aneurysm. Where are we?

Chances of Survival = outstanding. Would be a big fluke if anything life-threatening happened at this time.

Physical:

• Sitting up 90 minutes at a time. Can stand, with help, for very short periods.
• Mom is impatient to be allowed more physical activity. Physical therapy and Occupational therapy are beginning to crank up to higher levels.
• Swallowing problem persists (swallows liquid into lungs w/o coughing it back up). Treated by machine which stimulates muscles of throat. I am unclear on the prognosis for recovery, and will ask the Dr. about this tomorrow.
• Speech therapy has begun. Mom's voice volume immediately improved after her Monday therapy session. Her voice is now three times as strong as it was last week, and stronger than it was even Monday morning. If you focus, you can (just) understand her words from across the hospital room.

Neuro:

Mom shows good memory for things which happened before her incident. She shows medium good short-term memory, which is an improvement.

One problem might be termed a problem of focus. She will be talking along, sharp as a tack, then seemingly forget what the ongoing conversation is about, and wander off onto another subject.

Second, when she awakens from sleep, it takes 5 or 10 minutes of awakeness for her to re-orient to her current circumstances. In truth, Mom has always awakened slowly (like her eldest granddaughter: Courtney). This might've been something we could've anticipated :)

The long term neuro outlook is not predictable. She could make a full neuro recovery (per the neuro surgeon) in a few months. She could make a full recovery in a year. She could make a 90% or 95% recovery in a year, and a full recovery in approx. two years. She could make any type of partial recovery inside any of that time frame, yet not quite make it to a full recovery. She could suddenly stop recovering exactly where she is now - which, btw, is not any type of terrible place. Mom is healthy, and she has recovered her typical personality. She is entertaining. She has a good and happy sense of humor. There is plenty of her to love. And she has plenty of love to dole out - especially if you are one of her grandchildren.