Mom continues to make irregular progress.

Two days before her staples were taken out of her scalp incision, I took this picture of her in front of a fantastic rainbow. Because she was not well illuminated compared to the sky, I brightened her part of the image (circle at bottom center of image) on my computer, so her incision can be seen. It is eight inches long, going ear to ear across the top of the head.

Nausea continues to plague her, but not to crisis level. Her alertness is quite variable hour by hour, and day to day, but the long-term trend is good. She occasionally operates at the level she held two years ago.

Today she did a little bit of gardening for the first time: planting dahlia bulbs. I dug the holes. She also does a little laundry and washing dishes.

And there is more good news. A wrinkle I haven't mentioned is our family history of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), which is a fairly rare form of progressive dementia. Usually not inherited, but in our extended family it can be traced four generations in the pattern of a single dominant gene. Mother's great-grandfather, grandmother, father, aunt, and two brothers slowly developed the disease, starting in their sixties. There is treatment, but not full rehabilitation. This was the original reason she had an MRI six months ago. I was convinced she had NPH back then, because she was developing the exact symptoms, but we were both surprised to find the tumor instead. The good news: It is now official, she almost certainly does not have NPH. Which also means my brother and I can stop worrying about inheriting NPH too. So the future looks good.

She requires a lot of attending, and my computer is broken, so I won't be checking in very often.

Wishing you all progress.

Mom's surgery went perfectly, with excellent recovery, but she fell ill yesterday.

My mother's surgery went perfectly, although it took 4 hours. She was talking hours after the operation. She was sent home three days later (Thursday, 4/23). Incision looks healthy; it goes from ear to ear with staples! Friday and Saturday went the same: alert and hyperactive in the morning, exhausted the rest of the day. Most of the visual effects have disappeared.

But then mom became ill suddenly at 7 am, Sunday, 4/26. She went by ambulance to ER at 9 am.Very high BP, nausea, pain in chest/back, dry heaves, delirium. Admitted to hospital same day. They were most worried about her high BP. She improved overnight enough to go home Monday afternoon with new meds for nausea and heartburn. Doctors have decided she was unlucky enough to catch a stomach bug during her hospital stay following surgery. BP is now under control, but nausea and disorientation are still strong, with a little stomach pain.

Her prognosis is still very good.

My mom goes under the knife.

My mom goes under the knife to have her benign tumor (meningioma) pressing against the brain removed in two hours. Since brain tissue is not directly involved, we expect complete recovery, though it might take more than a month. This is nerve-racking, but the situation could have been so much worse. Apparently pressure from this tumor in this part of the brain has suppressed her motivation, ability to focus, and her organization skills, which is why she has become so passive and unable to handle complex tasks over the last several years. We hope she will go back to her skill level of five years ago, when this became noticeable.

My mother actually had seizures rather than a stroke.

Update on my mom.

She is home, now. Turns out not to be stroke, but irritation of the brain by the tumor, causing inflammation, which lead to a series of seizures. This kind of seizure occasionally leads to delusions, hallucinations, obsession, and altered states of consciousness, sometimes ecstatic, grandiose, or trance-like. Mother's were classic. The seizures are harmless per se, except for unsafe behavior, but can sometimes be the first sign of a dangerous underlying morbidity. Not an emergency, but the tumor has to go. Meanwhile, new meds.

My mother has had a stroke.

Not much to say since I am now very busy. My mom, whom I assist living in my house, had a frontal lobe stroke (or maybe a heavy seizure) about 11pm Tuesday night. She became irrational, agitated & verbally combative, and had to be forced into the ambulance. For the first 18 hours, she was completely nuts. Really disappeared as a person.

She has since come back far enough to be merely confused, forgetful, and mildly delusional, but at least rational and able to hold a conversation. I am pleased with the progress, but apprehensive about her prognosis. She has very slowly begun failing mentally for the past decade, to the point of mild dementia, but this has been ka-BOOM!

She has a 3.5 cm benign tumor of the meninges, the tissue covering the brain, pressing against her brain and optic chiasm. It's deep behind her left eye, and we have known about it for five months. This is NOT a brain tumor and it was supposed to have been there for a long time, stable, and not harmful, except for visual effects. Now we will have to reassess that. It can be removed, but with great difficulty.

Since I also take care of my much older father in my house, and he can not be left alone for long periods of time (mom has been checking in on him), I have had to take a leave from my day job. My blogging will have to be cut down for a while, too.

My mother is only 69.

My sincere apologies to the wonderful BWIR/Empowerment bloggers.

To all the wonderful BWIR/Empowerment bloggers,

As some of you are aware, I received a necessary and deserved slap-down from Khadija today, at her blog. I sincerely apologize for my transgression. I understand what I did wrong and I am ashamed. I believe the works being done at BWIR/Empowerment blogs are gifts from God [in as much as a humanist like me can express himself in that language].

I know I have caused harm, and I am very sorry about that.

The following paragraph is an explanation, not an excuse.

I work in a field that is totally about helping people, disabled adults in particular. It is an integral part of my makeup to nurture, and almost everything I have done in my life (49 years) has expressed that trait. I am also someone who has a hard time staying quiet. In my concern for a perceived (by me anyways) vulnerable group being criticized, I forgot my place and advised a different approach. My tone was not humble. This was received as a "dominance move", and upon reflection I realize that it was.

I will limit my participation in whichever BWIR/Empowerment blogs I am still welcome at, to providing resources, primarily links, and process oriented questions.

I hope I can be forgiven and trusted. Like everyone else, I am a work in progress, but I can improve.


Your Sincere Friend,

Aabaakawad