My holiday weekend and wasn't much of a holiday...

As much as I love Christmas, this Christmas was one I would have rather have missed altogether. On Christmas Eve, my mom had a stroke. She was found on the floor of her bathroom by my sister and rushed to the ER. Luckily, she was found in the necessary three hour window that made it possible to start the TPA treatment. This treatment is crucial to seeing improvement in stroke patients. However, given her advanced age, we were told that there was also a 50/50 chance this treatment could make her bleed internally and that, if she did, it would be fatal. Knowing that, we let them start treatment. Also knowing my mom would never want to live in the condition she was in on that day. She was then taken to Froedtert Hospital where she spent two night in the ICU.

I spent the rest of the weekend going up to Froedtert and each time there were noticeable improvements. Small improvements but improvements none the less. She cannot use her right side. She can lift her right arm but cannot direct it to do anything but the day before she wasn't even able to lift it. She can speak but it's not really what she wants to say. Words come out and she gets frustrated because she cannot express herself. Still, she can speak! She cannot swallow. She failed two swallow studies so they are going to insert a G-tube so they can feed her. And she will have a stent put in her neck to relieve the blockage that caused the clot which caused the stroke.

Her color is good and she does understand what happened and knows where she is. So, we'll take this one day at a time. Our hopes are that once she is released she will go to Brookside here in Kenosha for some rehab and then, hopefully, back to my sister's house where she will be more comfortable.

All in all, this Christmas was stressful and sad and never ending. But, we're all here. And we're all alive. And each day brings something else to feel hopeful about. That being said, I know that I have the best family in the world and the most caring friends. And I know I have the strongest mom in the world so even at 93 years old and struggling to get through this her faith and inner strength will take her far.