Mom,
I went up to the hospital for a bit tonight. You look just great, although you're really puffy from the fluids they've been giving you. They were giving you extra fluids to keep you blood pressure up. Tonight it was around 220/90. I find that phenomenal! At my doctor's appointment last week, mine was 110/60 or something. I can never remember the bottom number. I guess you'll be getting out of ICU tonight or tomorrow.
The girls on Unit 22 are looking forward to seeing you again. It's nice that all you have to do now is recover.
I didn't start these letters when all of this started, and I don't know how much you'll remember, so I'll try to piece some of it together.
You 1st aneurysm burst on November 7th. They kept you on painkillers (morphine) that night and then took you in for your operation. It took them about 4 hours. You became alert quite quickly after that operation, although you were fairly tired. They then did another CAT scan and another angiogram. (By the way, they also clipped a "started" aneurysm during your 1st operation.) After the angiogram, they discovered two more aneurysms: one on the right and one at the back of your neck. They decided they would operate on November 22nd. You weren't quite as perky, but you were recovering well. They had a lot of trouble with the aneurysm on the right side. Dr. Petruk said it was like wet tissue paper. They clipped it, but it bled farther down. They kept trying and it kept happening. They finally got it though. They also found another one what they termed a "daughter vein", and they clipped that one too. They had you under for 6 hours and said they couldn't keep you under anymore to do the one at the back of your neck.
They were worried about it bursting, so they kept your blood pressure under 160, and decided to operate again November 29th. They go the one at the back of your neck and they're confident that there won't be anymore trouble. They're keeping your blood pressure up now.
That brings us to today. They have some fear of spasms again and will be keeping a close eye on you for the next 3 weeks. It's encouraging to know that you didn't have any before, so I hope you won't have any this time. The reason you are at risk for spasms is because they lost some blood this time. When blood is around your brain, it becomes toxic and poisonous. It can cause contractions or "spasms" around the veins that results in a stroke. I'm sure you won't have any.
Well, I should be signing off for tonight. I'll write more later.
I love you. Twyla (11:00 PM)
I went up to the hospital for a bit tonight. You look just great, although you're really puffy from the fluids they've been giving you. They were giving you extra fluids to keep you blood pressure up. Tonight it was around 220/90. I find that phenomenal! At my doctor's appointment last week, mine was 110/60 or something. I can never remember the bottom number. I guess you'll be getting out of ICU tonight or tomorrow.
The girls on Unit 22 are looking forward to seeing you again. It's nice that all you have to do now is recover.
I didn't start these letters when all of this started, and I don't know how much you'll remember, so I'll try to piece some of it together.
You 1st aneurysm burst on November 7th. They kept you on painkillers (morphine) that night and then took you in for your operation. It took them about 4 hours. You became alert quite quickly after that operation, although you were fairly tired. They then did another CAT scan and another angiogram. (By the way, they also clipped a "started" aneurysm during your 1st operation.) After the angiogram, they discovered two more aneurysms: one on the right and one at the back of your neck. They decided they would operate on November 22nd. You weren't quite as perky, but you were recovering well. They had a lot of trouble with the aneurysm on the right side. Dr. Petruk said it was like wet tissue paper. They clipped it, but it bled farther down. They kept trying and it kept happening. They finally got it though. They also found another one what they termed a "daughter vein", and they clipped that one too. They had you under for 6 hours and said they couldn't keep you under anymore to do the one at the back of your neck.
They were worried about it bursting, so they kept your blood pressure under 160, and decided to operate again November 29th. They go the one at the back of your neck and they're confident that there won't be anymore trouble. They're keeping your blood pressure up now.
That brings us to today. They have some fear of spasms again and will be keeping a close eye on you for the next 3 weeks. It's encouraging to know that you didn't have any before, so I hope you won't have any this time. The reason you are at risk for spasms is because they lost some blood this time. When blood is around your brain, it becomes toxic and poisonous. It can cause contractions or "spasms" around the veins that results in a stroke. I'm sure you won't have any.
Well, I should be signing off for tonight. I'll write more later.
I love you. Twyla (11:00 PM)
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