Support Tammy McDaniel Coaker's Recovery From Stroke

Our mother, Tammy McDaniel Coaker, suffered from multiple large strokes on Thanksgiving night. Once brought into the hospital, she then had a seizure which deteriorated her mental stability quickly. She was put in the ICU and had to be intubated, where the doctors told us to prepare for her to not be able to move or talk after, as the strokes were so significant in the back of her head.

She is the strongest woman we know and had so many prayer warriors, the next day she was moving, talking, and even smiling. The doctors have stated that her recovery has been remarkable, and we told them it’s because she’s so stubborn. Her personality has shown through this whole process, and we are so grateful for her being in good spirits. One of the most powerful moments for us was when she was doing the command test, where they asked her to try and raise her hand, and she not only raised it but completely lifted it over her shoulder.

She’s recovering better than anyone thought, but we still have a long road ahead with rehabilitation and physical therapy, especially during the holidays. One of her greatest worries is about her twin daughters, Jenna Louise Coaker and Jordan Renee Coaker, as we have always struggled with finances. Mom always made it happen, no matter what she sacrificed, and we are wanting to help her the same.

She just started working here at the hospital at the welcome center, and since she will not be able to work now, we are starting a savings to help with what she would be making, in order to pay for bills. Anything you would be able to contribute would help so much. We understand struggling and know during hard times you may not be able to help with money, but we appreciate prayers just the same, as all of them so far have been answered.

Her daughter Jordan Renee Coaker is 35 weeks pregnant and is engaged to Dylan Erik Vann, as they are expecting a baby girl named Alana Marie Vann very soon. Her other twin daughter Jenna Louise Coaker is with Zebadiah Anderson McCullers, helping with the funds for the bills and any questions or prayers that you have. We thank you so much and want to help Tammy as much as possible during this, as she would do the same for everyone else.

UPDATE 12/5/24:

After a few days, mom was extubated and taken from the ICU to a regular room where she was a lot more sleepier and not talking as much as before. Then, yesterday morning she was rushed back to the ICU as she had aspirated and fluid was in her lungs. We got many stories on everything from different doctors and their answers were not even close to being the same, so we were all brought into a family room to get a clear answer about what happened. 

The neurologist explained from the beginning that mom had acute strokes on the top of her head and a large stroke in the back of her head, and the swelling of the stroke is what is causing her mental stability to not be there. He explained that it takes about five days before the swelling will go down and is known as the danger zone, which she got through. The fifth night for her was the worst of it, which is why she was moved to the ICU and everything came down. She does have pneumonia from all the fluid in her lungs, but they are already treating it with antibiotics. When we first got there, she did have bleeding, but every CT scan after that has shown no bleeding. My grandma was in the ER with her when she noticed something was wrong and got one of the nurses. The nurse came and told us it was a seizure, and every doctor from then on told us that’s what deteriorated her mental stability. They are now not sure if she even had a seizure, but they are sure that if she did have one, it’s not what caused her mental stability to go down, It was the swelling of the stroke that did.

The neurosurgeon said the CT scan from last night and this morning look the same for the swelling meaning it didn’t go down or up, which is a good sign but we need it to go down in order for her to start being more awake. He says they have not used all the medical options and medication to their full potential yet as they have to slowly do it, so they will be continuing that and once they do, if it still is not helping, they will be doing surgery. He said that surgery is the last resort after all the medication but they are going to be upping her sodium, and then see after that. He said he will be here for the rest of the week if anything emergent happens with her, and they will get her in an OR. 

Both the neurologist and neurosurgeon said with her condition and age, she will be able to bounce back from this. She has been showing signs of being able to move and talk, so it’s a good sign for her recovery, but she will have some balance and speech issues that will need therapy and rehabilitation. 

If anyone would like to be updated daily, I’ve been doing big text updates and I’m sending them out to people, so just reach out to me if you would like to be one of those people, and right now it’s just the easiest way to let everyone know what’s going on. We thank you so much for the prayers and all the help from the GoFundMe, we appreciate it so much and are so glad to know that mom has her people that’s always been there for her, as she was for them.

UPDATE 12/17/24 

Mom did not end up needing surgery as the sodium helped the swelling, which is why we are seeing more of her mental stability come back. After this was improving, they then worked on her respiratory problem. She is breathing on her own, but she’s not able to swallow or know when to cough, as she cannot feel her throat and secretions just go down and build up. To get the secretions out, they had to use a bronc, which basically swoops down in her throat and can be traumatizing to it. 

Our options to have something that’s constantly getting the secretions would be to intubate her again, or to get a tracheotomy. The intubation is not a permanent fix as it can only be in there for a certain amount of time, and it causes scarring. The tracheotomy is where they do a procedure where they make an incision in her throat and have a tube constantly getting secretions, where it could be a permanent help or it can be reversed once she recovers. We decided to go with the tracheotomy as it will help her the most, and be more comfortable than the intubation. Once she got the trach, we were talked to about rehabilitation for her to start therapy. In order for her to be able to go to one, she would have to get the feeding tube from her nose, changed to a peg tube in her stomach, which is also a permanent or temporary option, as it’s reversible. We chose for her to have this procedure done as she would be able to start rehabilitation and it would be more comfortable than through the nose, as it would be going straight to her stomach. 

She’s currently at Select Specialty Hospital in Tallahassee, where she will be getting speech, occupational, and physical therapy. This is a long-term facility, and they are still seeing what she will be able to do and recover from. This is a slow process, as they make sure the patients take their time and they don’t rush them into anything. We are so grateful for all the continued prayers and help with mom, as she’s waking up more she’s aware of a lot more things, which can be hard during this time of having a long recovery. She’s been currently sleeping a lot, but when she wakes up, we are so blessed to see that the same person on the inside is showing on the outside.