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On Friday, September 19th, my mom was in the backyard and a large tree branch fell and hit her head. The branch had been broken from a previous storm but it seemed to still be partially attached. She had gone outside to check on her dogs and we don't know if the branch came loose and fell or if my mom tried to pull it down on her own. We aren’t too sure of exactly what happened and my mom doesn't have any memory of the situation so we are trying to piece it together with the very little information we have.
My mom was able to go inside and have my brother call 911. She was taken to the ER at Lakeside where they found that she had a concussion and multiple brain bleeds including a subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hematoma, and intracerebral hemorrhaging. She was transferred to Bergan Mercy and later admitted to their ICU since they are better equipped to treat traumas.
Initially we were told that her injuries would heal with time, no surgery would be needed, and they would just monitor her overnight. Early Saturday morning I received a call from a neurosurgeon who told me they had just done another CT scan and one of the bleeds had gotten 8x bigger overnight, so they needed to do a craniotomy immediately in order to remove a blood clot and stop the bleeding.
The surgery went well, however the doctors and nurses were struggling to get her blood pressure under control so they made the decision to keep her sedated and on the ventilator. My mom has made some progress, but she is currently still on the ventilator. As of right now she has finally started to breathe on her own with assistance from the ventilator, but she is not ready to come off of it yet. She is also still sedated. She has not been able to follow commands even when the sedation is decreased. She opens her eyes spontaneously and moves her head and legs, but not with intention or when prompted. She will have an MRI done soon to make sure the CT scans didn't miss anything in her brain that would be causing this.
My mom is easily the strongest person I know. She has overcome hurdle after hurdle and has always been determined to keep moving forward. My mom doesn't give up and I know she will make it through this part of her journey. At the same time, the costs are already adding up. There's no way to know right now how much longer she will stay in the hospital. Because she has not been able to wake up, the doctors have not been able to assess her cognitive functioning. The bleeding in her brain was quite severe and it is likely that she will need some form of rehabilitative care once she can leave the hospital. The recovery process will be long and it won't be easy.
Our family decided to create a GoFundMe to help pay for my mom's medical bills so that she can focus on recovering and hopefully not worry as much about the bills. Any amount donated would be greatly appreciated.
As many of you know, my mom is brothers legal guardian. Due to her being incapacitated, I am taking over guardianship for my brother. Since all of this has happened I have not been able to work. Each day has been spent talking to doctors, lawyers, trying to figure out what needs to be taken care of - not to mention the absolute emotional toll this has taken. I don't love asking for financial help, however this situation is bigger than me. I need to make sure my brother, grandma, and my moms 3 dogs are taken care of. If you would like to send donations directly rather than on here, I will list my CashApp and PayPal.
$1908cash
We understand that so many people are also going through tough times financially - we aren't only asking for monetary donations, but also prayers and good energy (or anything else) for my mom.
I have also created a Caring Bridge page for my mom where I have been trying to post updates as often as I can.
Thank you all so much
Organizer
