Update 1/3/2013 By Richard

My dad put together an email update about my mom's status and happenings at the hospital. I thought it was important to share. The truth about Carla, On the day before Thanksgiving, the Dr. told us that Carla's spinal cord was severed. I saw the MRI. I saw a lot of swelling and it looked like they where correct. They compared the spinal cord to a cable that has a thousand wires in it. Her spinal cord would have maybe two of those cables still connected. It was my hope that the spinal cord was not totally damaged. There would be a chance for some recovery if the cord was not cut all the way through. Will she recover???? That being said, Carla is making baby steps of improvements. Her eyes are getting more steady by the day, and farther left and right movement. The eye Dr. said she is doing amazing in her recovery. She is moving her mouth more every day. I try to massage her jaw and neck muscles every night. They try to ween her off of the ventilator almost every day. She can trigger the vent to give her a breath 8 to 15 times a minute. There is some hope that she may get off the vent, or maybe part time. There is a device that can be put in to make the diaphragm work to take the breath for her. Will she ever breath again on her own???? She can mouth words and tries to get us to guess what she is saying. She no longer likes to use the buzzbar. She can`t talk, or make any sound. They can make out some sort of recognizable sound when they push on her lungs at the same time the vent breaths and she forms the word "hey" with her mouth. She does laugh at us when we try to read her lips. At least for a while, until she gets frustrated and then upset. I try to keep things as dignified as I can for her. She had a tough time at Christmas. She was having a lot of pain and cold in her legs. She also had spasms all day in her neck and mouth. She had them for three days, and gets them when stressed. She does not like to go to bed because she has a lot of pain in her legs when in bed. The way they took care of her over the holiday was horrible! The alarms from the vent to the nurses station was not hooked up all night two times. Four times total they did not hook it up. She had four vent plugups because she was dehydrated. I had to bag her three times. Twice she turned blue. After three days they rehydrating her..... And more. I have to watch them at all times. As of now we come home on 1/9/2013. I think it is too soon, She has a long way to go and is progressing well. Her blood pressure is all over the place (high and low) I am afraid I will not be able to care for her and keep her moving forward in her rehabilition. I have a ton of things to prepare for her when we get there. I am just trying to set the stories straight.