I'm Sandy Guillaume's Daughter
9 September 2004
Hi Everyone! I'm Sandy Guillaume's Daughter, Charyn! Some of you already know me, and if you've read any of Mom's Narrative, you've most likely heard a little about me! =) I figured now was a good time to finally post a narrative on this Wonderful Site!! I've been wanting to do this for quite a long time, but just have never gotten around to doing it! I know, shame on me! =)
First of all, I would like to take just a moment to thank "Family" for having this incredible place for AVM/Aneurysm Survivors and Loved Ones to post messages on, gain support and meet new people. Some of which, in turn, do truly become lifelong friends. My Mom has made some of the best friends here at "Bills World" as she calls it. You all know who you are, and I thank You all, as well. I am Soooo very Thankful that she has all of you to rely on for love and support... Especially now.
As you know, Mom is scheduled to go in for her second Craniotomy this Friday, September 10th, to remove an AVM... and an Aneurysm, this time. How this aneurysm suddenly showed up is beyond me... there was only an AVM the first time she had Brain Surgery. I suppose this is a common thing?? I don't know! What I do know is, following her pre-op appointment, last Wednesday, she's feeling rather positive about the whole thing, which I am VERY happy to say. A lot of times I feel that Mom just puts up a front to make everyone think she feels okay about something, but this time I really do think she's feeling relatively positive! =) She's got the utmost confidence in Dr. Breeze, and that he will do a great job! They told her that this procedure will be so much simpler due to the fact that this particular surgery is not under emergency conditions, as her last one was. There is no swelling, no bleed, and they KNOW what they're going after this time, whereas last time, they really had no idea until they got in there.
So, this is a good thing!!! I keep telling myself that! I just hate that she has to go through this again! The brain... it's what makes us 'work!!' I don't want them going into her brain again! =( Her neurosurgeon told us, after her last surgery, that she was "All Clear!" So, when they told her that they saw "something" in her MRI awhile back, that really came as quite a shock!!! Shock first... then anger!! That was NOT supposed to happen!
It was strongly advised to her that she have this surgery though. They say the aneurysm is 'ballooned' so she is a "Rupture" risk... or something like that- I can't remember exactly how they phrased it. I really wish she didn't have to though. I don't want anything to happen to my Mom! She's the only one I've got!! I plan on keeping her around for a long time!!! =) However, since Mom is being so positive, I'm going to be positive too!! At least as much as I can! I just never in a million years would have thought that she would be going through this again!
But, rest assured, no matter what happens- I will be there for her every step of the way! All of you that are close friends with her, I promise you ALL that!! ... And Mom, I promise YOU that!!
I Love You - With All My Heart & Soul!!!
Update: 22 September 2004
This is Charyn, Sandy's (SDartz) Daughter! First of all I would like to apologize for not writing sooner. There was High Speed Internet access in the hotel I stayed in... but obviously not in the room I stayed in. I was so frustrated, that I could not send you all this e mail sooner! I'M SORRY! The last several days I've been spending with Mom at home!! Several of you have gotten some Updates from Rachel, this e mail is for those of you that have not. =)
Well, first things first... the surgery went as planned. They started at approximately 7:45 am, and it was all over, including an angiogram, and out of recovery at about 6:30 pm. Dr. Breeze said he was "pretty sure" he got it all. Another Angiogram will be performed in about 3 weeks, when she goes in for a followup visit.
Mom didn't come out of the anesthesia for almost 3 days. She would NOT respond at all! Had us all a tad bit concerned... Okayyyyy... A LOT concerned! Dr. Breeze really had NO explanation for that, except for "some people wake up faster than others!" Wrong answer, in my opinion.
She was not a very good girl, for the first 36 hours or so! What was happening was she was having some irregular heart rhythms, which was causing Mom to sorta stop breathing about every 30 seconds or so, which in turn made her VERY agitated. It was almost like she was awake, because she kept trying to pull leads off, toss and turn, scratch her head or eyes, etc. They wound up having to put some huge mitten type things, that looked like boxing gloves on her and restrain her just so she couldn't do any of those things. Ohhh myyyy, she did NOT like that at ALL! Understandably so... unless you're into that sort of thing, I suppose! LOL Ü
Anyhow, Her nurse said it really seemed like she may have Sleep Apnea. She asked Donny, Mom's Hubby, if she did that at home, and he said "Oh Yeah." Sunday afternoon they had someone from Respiratory come in and put a thing on her (I can't remember what they called it) which forced her airways to open completely, when she exhaled, so she didn't miss that breath. It wasn't a respirator, because she was still totally breathing on her own, it just helped to keep things going like they should!! After that thing went on, Mom rested MUCH more comfortably! Thank GOD! They took the restraints off of her after that, too.
During this entire time, we stayed with her, tried to keep her relaxed when she got agitated, talked to her a lot, put chapstick on her lips, swabbed out her mouth, all the while telling her it was really, really, reallllllyyy time to WAKE UP!! =)
Monday morning when I got to the Hospital, her Nurse, Grace, told me that they were ordered to not give her ANY meds/drugs, said she has GOT TO wake up today!!! Finally, around 11:30am she started to sorta come out of it. Tony, David and I were in there with her. We were soooo happy!! Tony said "Hi there!" and she sorta waved to him. WOOO HOOOO!! I called her nurse in. Needless to say she was pretty 'out of it,' but did well, when answering the standard questions... her name, where she was, etc.
After a while they got her to sit up and try to get out of bed. She was VERY weak and not able to do much of anything. The PT Nurse had her try to take a couple of steps toward the sink, which she did in a lot of tiny little steps... her balance was not too good to begin with, needless to say. She had a very hard time talking too. They attributed a lot of that to how incredibly dry her mouth was, all that time, and said her tongue may have been swollen too. She wasn't really in too terribly much pain, thankfully. Her head hurt, but that was to be expected! They kept her in the Neuro ICU all day Monday.
Tuesday morning, when I got there, she was sitting up, attempting to eat some jello. What a wonderful thing to see!!! I was SO surprised!! The reason I say 'attempting' is because she was having a really difficult time with her coordination... as far as getting the spoon into her hand the right way, jello onto the spoon and the spoon to her mouth, without making a mess. Which as you can imagine, was rather frustrating for her. She told me that she was just certain that she had a stroke during the surgery, because she was having a very difficult time with her coordination and also her speech seemed like it had also been affected. She said that she kept asking the Nurse if she had a stroke, but they wouldn't answer her. I assured her that we had been told that both CT Scans were clear, as well as the EEG. Thankfully, all of that got MUCH better as the day progressed!
Later that day, they moved her into another room in the burn unit, while they waited for a room on the 5th floor to become available. At about 7 pm that evening, she was moved up to the 5th floor. I made some phone calls and let everyone know where she was. She filled out her meal menu thing, and she talked to a few members of the family!! Ü At about 9:00 pm I told her it was night night time, and I'd be back in the morning! She was exhausted at the end of that day! Good progress!!!
Wednesday morning, I get to the hospital early, and there was Mom sitting on the edge of her bed, filling out her meal menu thing. She looked great, she sounded good.... and said she felt pretty good too!! Donny, her Hubby, showed up around 11 or so. A PT Gal came in and was doing some things with Mom and said she just could NOT believe how much better Mom was, in comparison to the day before! Not long after that, Amanda, Dr. Breezes Nurse Practitioner, came in and was just amazed at Mom's progress too!! She looked at Mom, asked her how she was feeling, and such, then asked her if she would like to go home. Without missing a beat, Donny, with a chuckle, pipes in "Well, that's a no brainer!" Mom seemed a little hesitant, but said, "I can lay in bed at home as easily as I can here." I looked at her and asked her if she was really, really sure... said she could stay one more day, if she was more comfortable with that! She said she was ready to go! Amanda stated she would get the paperwork processed for her release and hopefully have her outta there in about an hour or so! I REALLY was thinking it was much to early, for her to go home!! (Several people agreed with me!)
I went to my hotel, gathered up all my stuff, and got back to the hospital just in time. Donny brought his truck down, and not long after that they were bringing Mom out the door!! She was loaded with flowers and such and was on her way home!! I followed them from Denver to Colo. Spgs. with one stop in Castle Rock, because Mom wanted a Pepsi. =) They had mentioned to me that they were going to make a quick stop at Donny's folks' house to pick up a walker that his Mother had used previously, so Mom could use it, once home. So I killed a little bit of time, and showed up to their house right after they did! Mom was inside sitting on the couch and was not allowed to move! =) She was still a wee bit unsteady. Needless to say she was also pretty exhausted.
Heather and David had no idea that Mom was going to be home... they were thinking they were going up to visit her after school that day... so imagine their surprise when they got home from school!!! =) Mom just rested that afternoon, and took it easy!
Thursday morning I went to Mom's house early. Mom was not feeling all that great! Said she didn't sleep too good the night before, and had vomited first thing that morning and her head was hurting. I had her just be still and relax. She took it real easy, slept for a while, and didn't do much of anything at all. I had my brother Tony, get Mom's prescription for Vicodin filled, for the pain. Mom did NOT want them, said she'd just take Tylenol. The way I see it, at least they're there if she needs them... if she has a bad day she can take one, for the pain. She was sick again later on that afternoon again. Her Mother In Law, Joyce, tried to get her to eat some toast, but Mom said "BLECK! Didn't taste good." Of course, that wasn't a surprise. She relaxed all day that day too, for the most part!
Mom has been feeling a little bit better with every new day. She's not doing too much... cause she's not allowed!!! LOL It's only been 12 days since the surgery!!! We all watch her closely, checking on her nonstop, to see if she needs anything! =) Her pain is basically a dull ache on the right side of her head, but nothing too horrible she says. She's still the same wonderful person she was before! Nothing has changed... her memory is Great... everything is good!!
Well, that's all for now!! Mom can keep ya updated from here on out, I just wanted to give ya a 'heads up' and let ya know how things went, and have been going for the last several days!! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to write and let me know!
Rachel, thank you SOOOO muuch for keeping most everyone posted for me!! XOXOXOX
Hugs & Love — Charyn
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