I'm coming back.
Donation protected
I am writing this on behalf of my beloved wife of 9 years, Maegen. Maegen and I's quiet, happy life of cats, crafts and movie nights changed forever this year. In just four months we have changed cities, homes, jobs, and worlds. Our life will never be the same. That all began with one phone call.
June 9th, 2021 at 3:42pm, life flight paramedics called my cell, "Is this the spouse of Maegen Lane? Sir, your wife is having an obvious stroke here at Prairie View A&M, we are transporting her to Memorial Hermann downtown for immediate treatment. We have administered a paralytic to stabilize her. Meet us there."
Only 13% of all strokes are hemorrhagic. Of those, most do not survive. At age 34, Maegen went from a regular work meeting to being admitted into the O.R. with a blood pressure of 270/200 to undergo a 5-hour surgery. Saving her life required stopping the internal bleeding and decompressing the intracranial pressure on her brain by removing her skull's left bone flap. She was then placed in Neural ICU, intubated and unconscious. She experienced seizures for the first few days and our first referral was to a facility that takes care of long-term coma patients.
All her family and I knew was that she was still alive, so we took turns talking to her, reading to her, playing music, letting her know we were there.
Only 13% of all strokes are hemorrhagic. Of those, most do not survive. At age 34, Maegen went from a regular work meeting to being admitted into the O.R. with a blood pressure of 270/200 to undergo a 5-hour surgery. Saving her life required stopping the internal bleeding and decompressing the intracranial pressure on her brain by removing her skull's left bone flap. She was then placed in Neural ICU, intubated and unconscious. She experienced seizures for the first few days and our first referral was to a facility that takes care of long-term coma patients.
All her family and I knew was that she was still alive, so we took turns talking to her, reading to her, playing music, letting her know we were there.
Then she started coming back.
There were 16 days at Hermann. The next 50 days were at the TIRR, a fantastic rehab facility run by Hermann Hospital. Maegen was nonverbal for 18 days. Until, amazingly, she began to use words again, starting with "Okay" and "Yes". She struggled severely with Apraxia and Aphasia, which affects her motor skill planning and her expressive communication. She needed a PEG tube installed in her stomach for nutrition and couldn't eat or drink regular food and water (her favorite drink) for 55 days. At the beginning, she was half paralyzed, split down the middle, on her dominant right side.
While at TIRR, she worked with Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapists daily while specialized Rehab, Stroke, Wound Care, and Hospitalist doctors strove to heal her. Her mother and I provided 24/7 care there as well. On account of her communication challenges and Covid restrictions, we did whatever was necessary to be her voice when she had none and to ensure that she was able to get help when she needed it.
She quickly regained symmetry to her facial expressions and smile. Her right leg began waking up with repeated exercises, she also fought each day to retrain her body to eat food and drink liquids again. The PEG tube came out and she was discharged on August 12th, 2021. Maegen and I left our home to live with her parents out near San Antonio and immediately continued with at home therapy through Rehab Without Walls. She continues to progress steadily, beating goals made by her therapists week after week.
On September 21st, on the last day of summer, Maegen triumphantly took her first post stroke steps and walked with assistance. She is blowing away all estimates of recovery. On September 28th she underwent cranioplasty surgery to put her skull back together and is showing immediate improvements both cognitively and physically.
Maegen is an organized, hardworking soul that loves giving to others. An avid lover of crafts, she has created cross-stitched designs from scratch to celebrate the birth of our friends' children. She enjoys sewing, quilting, baking sweets for coworkers and cooking fantastic meals for loved ones. She shops all year round for Christmas and Birthday presents for everyone but herself. Her sense of humor is such a hallmark of her personality that her father has coined the phrase, "Laughing Through It" as a good future book title.
There were 16 days at Hermann. The next 50 days were at the TIRR, a fantastic rehab facility run by Hermann Hospital. Maegen was nonverbal for 18 days. Until, amazingly, she began to use words again, starting with "Okay" and "Yes". She struggled severely with Apraxia and Aphasia, which affects her motor skill planning and her expressive communication. She needed a PEG tube installed in her stomach for nutrition and couldn't eat or drink regular food and water (her favorite drink) for 55 days. At the beginning, she was half paralyzed, split down the middle, on her dominant right side.
While at TIRR, she worked with Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapists daily while specialized Rehab, Stroke, Wound Care, and Hospitalist doctors strove to heal her. Her mother and I provided 24/7 care there as well. On account of her communication challenges and Covid restrictions, we did whatever was necessary to be her voice when she had none and to ensure that she was able to get help when she needed it.
She quickly regained symmetry to her facial expressions and smile. Her right leg began waking up with repeated exercises, she also fought each day to retrain her body to eat food and drink liquids again. The PEG tube came out and she was discharged on August 12th, 2021. Maegen and I left our home to live with her parents out near San Antonio and immediately continued with at home therapy through Rehab Without Walls. She continues to progress steadily, beating goals made by her therapists week after week.
On September 21st, on the last day of summer, Maegen triumphantly took her first post stroke steps and walked with assistance. She is blowing away all estimates of recovery. On September 28th she underwent cranioplasty surgery to put her skull back together and is showing immediate improvements both cognitively and physically.
Maegen is an organized, hardworking soul that loves giving to others. An avid lover of crafts, she has created cross-stitched designs from scratch to celebrate the birth of our friends' children. She enjoys sewing, quilting, baking sweets for coworkers and cooking fantastic meals for loved ones. She shops all year round for Christmas and Birthday presents for everyone but herself. Her sense of humor is such a hallmark of her personality that her father has coined the phrase, "Laughing Through It" as a good future book title.
Maegen is fighting for a return to independence. We celebrate every new word she can say and every twitch she can make on her affected side. Her memories, intelligence and personality are strong and present. She is actively fighting through her Aphasia, which is clearing, very slowly, as her brain rewires itself. She remains determined and pushes her therapists and caretakers constantly through success after success. She hits a goal and immediately says, "More!" She is coming back.
So why does Maegen have a GoFundMe page? Like many of you, Maegen and I are a couple that rely on two incomes. Maegen knows that she will work again at some point to be the other half of that equation, but that may take a while. We have already received so much during this adventure in the form of prayers and encouraging thoughts from family, friends and strangers. Now we just need some practical help to replace the income that Maegen would still be making herself if she were able.
The Stroke Team at Memorial Hermann already are referring to Maegen as 2021's Miracle Patient. Let us prove this difficult world wrong and show that miracles are still possible. Help us lift Maegen up so that she can hit the ground running at the end of her recovery comeback.
So why does Maegen have a GoFundMe page? Like many of you, Maegen and I are a couple that rely on two incomes. Maegen knows that she will work again at some point to be the other half of that equation, but that may take a while. We have already received so much during this adventure in the form of prayers and encouraging thoughts from family, friends and strangers. Now we just need some practical help to replace the income that Maegen would still be making herself if she were able.
The Stroke Team at Memorial Hermann already are referring to Maegen as 2021's Miracle Patient. Let us prove this difficult world wrong and show that miracles are still possible. Help us lift Maegen up so that she can hit the ground running at the end of her recovery comeback.
Co-organizers (8)
Michael Lane
Organizer
New Braunfels, TX
Michael Benedetti
Co-organizer
Tracy Benedetti
Co-organizer
Matthew Sikes
Co-organizer
Becky Camp
Co-organizer