Update On Emily

They operated on her at about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. She had two brain bleeds which is a type of stroke. They cut out a section of her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain. When they opened her skull they could see the clot on her right temporal lobe, which was the largest one, and were able to remove it. The other one was on the frontal lobe and they could not see it, so were not able to remove it.

After the surgery, they did an angiogram to make sure there were no other weak spots. None were found, so we asked what could have caused this in such a young woman. The answer is, that she just delivered a baby via C-section. She is 37 years old, she had preeclampsia, and placenta previa. Any one of those factors increases risk of stroke after delivery of a baby. Add to that that she had a C-section and her risk of stroke is 67% higher than if she had a vaginal delivery.

I was allowed to see her around 7 p.m. When I arrived in her room, although I knew it would scary, it was horrible to see her like that. There were two technicians putting EEG monitors on her head, and you could tell by the way she was grimacing and struggling to get away that she did not like it. I rubbed her shoulder and held her hand and talked to her and she calmed down, so I definitely know she knew I was there.

While she looks horrible to me, I know she is getting better. She was able to respond appropriately to basic commands just hours after the surgery. Late yesterday afternoon, they removed the ventilator tube and she was able to whisper and give short answers to questions. The doctor still says she is not out of the woods yet, but she is definitely improving.

She will have a long recovery. She will stay in the hospital for 10 days to two weeks, depending on how well she does. After that, she will spend a month in rehab. She will have to go in for a second surgery to replace the piece of her skull that was removed. They save her bone and put it in deep freeze saving it for the time it can be replaced. This all sounds like Frankenstein to me, but it what they do routinely.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and concern for my daughter and her family. I really appreciate it.