Updates on Mom

We figured the easiest way to update everyone on Mom's condition was to just post updates on the blog. As we have updates, we will post them here. We appreciate everyone's love and prayers as we wait and hope for her recovery.

Dec. 26 - 12:45 pm
We said are goodbyes to Mom earlier this morning and she offically passed on at 12:45 pm today. The test that was run this morning confirmed that there was no blood flow to brain due to swelling. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. We will post information regarding the funeral on the blog as we finalize the plans.

Dec. 26 - 8:30 am
They've run the test. We're just waiting for the Doctors to review the results. They will be talking to us around noon. Mom is still holding stable with machines and meds.

Dec. 25 - 9 pm
The status is unchanged at this point. The machines and medicine are what are keeping her alive. Tomorrow morning a test is scheduled to determine the extent of any brain damage that has occured. We will update her condition again sometime mid morning. Thank you all for your prayers and support, we trully feel the love and support and it is a great comfort to us.

Dec. 25 - 5 pm
Mom just took a turn for the worse. The swelling is increasing and her blood pressure has dropped. They are working hard right now to get her blood pressure up high enough to continue getting her brain enough blood. Things are very critical at this point. We are all gathered around her bedside and probably will be for a while.

Dec. 25 - 9:30 am
Mom is still holding stable this morning. All her vitals are good and the pressure has come down just a little bit. They monitor her Inner Cranial Pressure(ICP) and yesterday it was up to around 28-29, now it is down to around 24-26. This is a slight improvement, so we are hoping that maybe the swelling has peaked, but we will not know till they check the ICP throughout the day. The doctors and nurses are satisfied with the progress, but continue to remind us that it could take a while. At this point, as long as things progress as they have been the last day or so, we will just post updates 3 times a day. Once in the morning, once in the late afternoon and then once at night. If there are any other changes outside of just the basic status update, we will post as soon as possible. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas morning.

Dec. 24 - 10 pm
Mom had another catscan around 7pm tonight to check on the condition of the swelling. The catscan was very similar to the one they took early this morning. This means that the swelling seems to have stopped getting worse, at least for now. All her vitals are still stable. Thanks for all your prayers and support. May you all have a Merry Christmas tomorrow as we celebrate the birth of the Savior. What a comfort it is to know that He lives and that He has made it possible for us to live again together as families. May we all take time tomorrow to ponder the many blessings that are afforded each of us because the Savior was born and sacraficed so much for us.

Dec. 24 -
We have been warned by Mom's kidney doctor that we need to be able to tell them Mom's favorite Christmas song tomorrow. So we wanted to let all of you have input on this. So what is Elaine's favorite Christmas song? Let us know what you think by either posting a comment to the blog or send us an email at mthompson@broadweave.net.

Dec.24--5pm
Sorry that we were delayed in posting additional information since 9am this morning. We know alot of you have been checking the blog on a regular basis(every 2-3 hrs) for updates. We appreciate all your continued prayers and support.

Nothing much has changed since this morning. She is still experiencing the swelling, and the ICU staff is monitoring that closely. They have scheduled another CAT scan for 7pm this evening, so we hope to have results by 9pm (MST). We did learn today that sometimes it takes up to 4-5 days after surgery for the swelling to peak. Until the swelling goes down, she will remain in the state she is currently in.

Her vitals signs all remain good and stable. She also reacts (moves)to the stress tests whenever they pinch her fingers and toes on both hands and feet. At this time we ask that you specifically ask that the swelling will subside when offering prayers on her behalf.

Dec. 24 - 9 am
We didn't receive any phone calls through the night, so things stayed stable. There is no real change in the swelling. They are planning on increasing the dosage of medicine to help with the swelling from every 8 hours to every 4. We are awaiting a visit from the doctor this morning for more details on her condition. She is still really unresponsive with just occasional movement in her arms.

Dec. 23 - 11:30 pm
Mom is stable and resting. We are all at our homes now to get some rest. Dad is spending the night here at our place in Provo, which is just 10 blocks from the hospital. We are all sleeping with our cell phones next to our pillows. The nurse said as we left the hospital tonight that "no news is good news". We are hoping that will be the case tonight.

Dec. 23 - 10 pm
The results from the 9 pm catscan showed just a small increase in swelling, but nothing abnormal. All her vital signs are still very stable, we just have to continue to wait for the swelling to go down. This could potential be a day or so before it finally goes down.

Dec. 23 - 7 pm
They have stabalized Mom's swelling at this point but she now has a fever. She is scheduled for another catscan at 9 pm. Things at this point are still very critical. She has not fully awaken since surgery and the doctors are still watching her very closely to keep her stable. Some additional information that we have learned is that this morning when the bleeding got worse, she had actually stopped breathing for a little bit. Her heart never stopped during that time, but her breathing stopped until she was hooked up to the ventilation machine. We are still very faithful that all will be well, but she is still in critical condition. Her movement is off and on at this point.

Dec. 23 - 3:30 pm
Additional Information about the 3:30 post - When the nurses tried to wake her they were able to get her to open her eyes and hold up two fingers and wiggle her feet. She then when back to sleep. The key right now is getting the swelling to go down so she can progress with recovery.

We had left the hospital to get lunch and relax for a little bit. Got a call from the hospital from the nurses saying that they had tried to awake her. In the process they noticed that one of her pupils was larger than the other. They took her down for another catscan, but the catscan looked similar to the one right after surgery. They did determine that there was some swelling occuring and that her blood pressure was elevated again. They believe the sweilling is what is causing her to not be able to awake as quickly. They have given her meds to help with the swelling.

Dec. 23 - 1:20 pm
Just wanted to check in with everyone. There are no real changes to report. She is still asleep.

Dec. 23 - 9:43 am
Post Surgery catscan looked good. The doctor said there is slight bruising of the brain. Still waiting for her to wake from surgery. She is breathing on her own, but they still have the ventilator in just in case.

Dec. 23 - 9 am
The surgery is over. Everything went as well as it could. They were able to succesfully clip the Anuerysm. There wasn't much swelling so that lessend the risks of the surgery. They are going to run some more scans to check everything out. It is now a waiting game to see what type of damage has been done to the brain from the bleeding. All vital signs are still good.

Dec. 23 - 8 am
Just got an update from the nurse. All she said is that there is at a minimum 1 plus hour to go. All her vital signs are stable.

Dec. 23 - 4:30 am
We received a call from the hospital that Mom had gotten worse and that they were preping her for surgery. Matt, Laura and Leanna were able to make it to the hospital before they took her in for surgery. When they got there the doctors explained that she had been getting progressively harder to wakeup throughout the night. They moved up the presurgery catscan and found that the bleeding had gotten worse. They were then planning on putting a drain in prior to the actual surgery of clipping the anuersym. They took her into the operating room at about 5:10 am. Michael, Julie, Dad and Elise all arrived at the hospital shortly after she had gone into surgery. We are just hoping and praying that the doctors will be able to succesfully complete the things they need to do.

Dec. 22 - 4:30 pm
We all saw mom shortly before 5 pm and were able to communicate with her. She was heavily sedated so she was only able to really acknowledge our presence. Dad came back after 7 pm and stayed with her for a little bit, but she was still very sedated and out of it.

Dec. 22 - Early Afternoon
The doctors confirmed that there was an Anuersym and that mom would need to undergo surgery to stop the bleeding. At this point the doctors where 90% confident that all would go well without any lasting side effects.

Dec. 22 - Morning
They ran a catscan and found that their was bleeding on the brain. They later ran more tests to determine where the bleeding was and how bad it was.

Dec. 22 - 6 am
Mom was admitted to the ER and quickly hooked up to monitors to find out what was causing the severe headaches. Dad took her in and Matt wasn't far behind to assit in a blessing.

Dec. 22 - 5:30 am
Matt went to pick Mom, Dad and Laura up at the train station in Provo. When he arrived Mom was in severe pain and was vomiting. They quickly got in the car and went to our house.