In 1972 I suffered a broken back as a result of a fall. After undergoing six back operations and having several vertebra fused I came out of it pretty good. I figured I had been blessed with a miracle having survived that ordeal and still able to walk and function pretty normal. Then in 1993 I was diagnosed with COPD. Again I was Blessed to be able to get around pretty well. The greatest Blessing was the family support I have had. Especially my wife Peggy. She took care of me day and night all these years. Never complaining about one thing. It was really tough raising our two children on S.S.D.I. But she or our children never complained about the things we did not have. They just seemed to be happy for the things we did have, which was each other.
In 1999 my world fell apart when on Nov. the 26th, the day after Thanksgiving my wife was admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Ten minutes later she was in a coma. She remained in the coma for eight weeks. While in the coma she suffered a blood clot in her lung, and a type of filter was put in place to protect her from further harm. They operated on her the day after she was diagnosed., removing a 3X5 inch piece of her skull to clip the aneurysm. After the piece was removed her brain had swollen to the point they could not replace the piece of skull. It remained off for three weeks.
To protect her from more problems they had to put a shunt in place to drain the fluid from her brain. After eight weeks she was showing no response to stimulation of any kind. And very limited brain activity. The Dr.'s kept telling me she would remain in this vegetative state, and was never going to improve. They said if she did come out of the coma she would never function in any manner.
After several days of talking to me and convincing me there was no hope. I finally agreed on Wednesday to unplug the life support. This was to take place on a Friday. I called our children, our friends, her father and everyone I could think of to tell them of my decision. Peg's brother was on his way to see her and would be there on Friday.
I hadn't gone to church in several years, but felt it necessary to stop in the chapel at the hospital, and have a conversation with the Lord. I said God, she isn't very big and don't take up much space. Please just let me have her for a little while longer. Right now I need her worse than you. I left there and went back up to her room. I sat down by her bedside and turned to look out the window, and God as my witness, she reached over and grabbed my arm.
After coming to my sense I ran out and found the closest nurse and told her. It was really hard to convince anyone what had just happened. As the hours passed They continued to run tests to get her to respond, with no luck. I began to think maybe I had finally snapped. I found the Dr. and told him I felt like the decision for her to go was between her and the Lord. I was not going to make that decision and didn't want anyone else to either.
In a couple of days I came to the hospital, and she was awake. She was on the life support machine for a total of fourteen weeks. I'm very happy to say that today she is doing really well. She has no paralysis and seems to improve daily. Believe me she has had set backs and things get rough at times, but if you could see the smile on her face when the grandchildren (five of them) and (1) great grandchild come around, you would know how she enjoys life.
This winter I had a problem with my illness and spent four weeks on life support, and being blessed again, I'm doing fine. I am so thankful that I am able to take care of Miss Peggy, after the years she spent doing without and taking care of me. The only thing I feel is not fair is she does not qualify for disability because she did not work the required quarters to qualify. She worked in a factory for awhile but we needed her at home worse.
Please just remember things can look really bad, but somehow those guardian angles find us and make it ok. Keep The Faith!
Update: 6 Nov 2002
Several months have gone by since Miss Peggy (my wife) had the aneurysm. She has spent several weeks in the hospital trying to control seizures. I was told she was seizing 24 hrs. a day. Keppera was prescribed to control them and increased over a period of several days to a dose of 3000mg. daily. I understand this is not uncommon. Seemed like a large dose considering the fact she only weighs 100lbs. After several days of this and her having every reaction imaginable to the meds, I finally convinced the Dr. she could not tolerate this massive dose. He sent her to Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minn. for further evaluation.
The Dr. there suggested I taper her off of the medication because it was his feeling the probes were placed on the indentations on her head from the previous surgery, and that they must have been getting a false reading from the EEG's. She was given one there and had no seizure activity. I think the previous Dr. thought he was right and couldn't blame him for the mistakes that were made. It makes me sick just to think of all she had to go through before it was discovered.
It has taken almost a year to get her safely off of the Keppera. I'm very happy to report she is Medication free and we are on our way to Florida for the winter. The only affect she has from this ordeal is short term memory and her speech has been affected. We have been blessed by God and many wonderful friends and family who have been continuously praying for her recovery. Their Love has given us both strength to go on. I read these Narratives and cry for those who suffer, and are less fortunate. This site has been God Sent as well as this family. THANK YOU ! I only wish we could all be so blessed. Please try to KEEP THE FAITH!