The girls and I have decided to create this blog so people can keep abreast of Chris' condition. We have received, and continue to receive, calls, texts and emails from so many people offering their best wishes and we are so grateful to you all.
We are new to blogging so we may stumble a bit with it but think it a good way to share what's going on and will update it as we can. I believe it is set up so we can post updates but you won't be able to post. That said, please feel free to call/text/email us though if you want and we'll get back to you as we can. Thank you and please keep her in your prayers.
Overview-
On Jan 4 Chris suffered a hemorrhage of a blood vessel in her brain while she was at work. She was rushed to Fairfax Hospital and after several tests it was determined that an aneurism on a blood vessel in her brain had popped, bled, then stopped bleeding (thank God). On Jan 5 she underwent a long (about 6 hrs) and challenging surgery to clip the aneurism so it will not bleed again, and was sent to the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit where she will probably be for the next two weeks.
The next few weeks will be difficult. It's not possible to remove the blood from the aneurism that leaked into her brain and it is an irritant until it can dissipate on it's own ( hopefully two weeks). Until then it will cause some swelling and something called vasospasms, which are a constricting of the blood vessels when the leaked blood comes in contact with the outside of the vessels. This constricting does not allow the blood inside the vessels to flow normally and can cause other bad things to happen if it gets too severe. The Drs. have methods to help through this period and we are just hoping the vasospasms don't get too bad.
Since the surgery she has been pretty out of it. Drs. and nurses come in every hour to wake her up and check her but she is mostly asleep. Seems like when she does wake up for brief periods on her own it is due to bad headaches, which we are told are to be expected for the next couple of weeks. She does get pain meds and they help. If you shake her out of her sleep she will answer if you ask a question but quickly doses off again. I'm guessing it is the body trying to compensate for the trauma and also the pain meds.
More later.
