A chat with Dr. Singel

An update post-CT scan.

We finally caught up with Dr. Singel today about 1pm. The nurse retrieved us from the waiting room to make sure we didn't miss him. He was very happy with the CT results. There was no bleeding. There was also no indication of stroke or other issues within her brain. He feels confident that this many hours after surgery (about 36+ hours) if something were developing we would see it by now. Of course if she has any changes in her "numbers" ie cranial pressure, or has a seizure we would get another CT right away. He is considering doing another scan in a few days just to check because "I don't trust her." My mother has very much challenged her physician, and he is careful with what he assumes she will do. She has defied all odds already, and that blows him away.

He also "brought" her up a bit again, just enough to see if he could get another physical response again. We did. Some of her movements seem deliberate in direction, but others are "posturing" or movements in the wrong direction. IE she will stretch her arms away, towards her toes, when she is pinched near her armpit. Although this is NOT what we want to see, he still seems hopeful, as it is so early in recovery.

We decided to keep her sedated/asleep for another day or even two for a couple of reasons. 1) she has experienced a lot of trauma, and her brain needs as much time to heal as we can give it. If she was awake, it would be a tremendous strain. 2) The CT showed some slight swelling, probably due to agitation from the blood that was on the brain on Friday night, and now there is still some fluid there. So her brain is rather "ticked" to use Dr. Singel's words, and we should try to leave it alone.

We have found that she is more and more responsive. She seemed to move slightly while the Dr, Rhonda, Dad, and I discussed her situation at the bedside. Also when they were doing some suctioning of the tubes in her throat, her blood pressure rose tremendously and she seemed to reach towards her face a bit with her hands. Again very small movements and reactions, but very good signs. I want to also mention, that even though we are "irritating" her with pinches, pokes, etc. It does not bother her in the way it would bother you or me. It is more of a dulled response.

Dr. Singel goes into to see her at various times, often when we are in bed asleep. He will be doing some gentle rousing with her at these times to see how her responses are improving/changing. If she begins to wake up on her own well, he will allow her to come up completely. Only time will tell.

So we may be days away from seeing anything definitive. We are happy she has remained so stable, with very little complications. They were also able to (finally!) start tube feeding her late last night. She has had no problems with that. We need to nourish her brain!

Some more info on why the tumor bled:
Dr. Singel mentioned the tumor "infarcted" meaning the tumor used up all of its blood supply in one area and the tissue actually began to die. There was also a large blood clot that had formed along her tumor that he was able to remove. All of the tumor tissue has been sent to be studied. Hopefully in a few days we will know more about this tumor that could have been residing in my Mom for years or decades.

We're letting her rest, and getting some rest ourselves. As the days ahead will be tough. We need to be patient now and let her sleep, because when she wakes up, she will need much more attention and care around the clock.