Prayer request

[erinl]

Hi everybody,

A week and a half ago, DH's 32-year old cousin suffered a brain anuerysm. She's married with 3 young kids (5,3 & 1). She's stable, but she's got a long, hard road ahead of her. CAT scans show the possibility of severe brain damage, although it could take up to a year to know what is permanent. For the complete story, please check out this website: www.jeannegetwell.org (http://www.jeannegetwell.org) Obviously, it has been tremendously hard on the family. So, we could use all the prayers, guardian angels, etc that you all have to offer.

Thanks, Erin

[DmOrtega]

I believe in the power of prayer and I am sending prayers to Allison from Shoreline for a full recovery. Also for patience and strength for her family.

[funnybone]

How sad! My heart goes out to her and her family. Sending lots of thoughts and saying extra prayers on their behalf.

[KathrynY]

You've got it - prayers of strength and healing for Jeanne and her family. What a beautiful young woman she is, and so fortunate to have such a close and loving extended family. I hope the days to come bring encouraging news for you all.

[lhall]

One guardian angel on her way. Her name is Ginger, and she's my mom. She's a great comfort.

I read the whole site and now I need a tissue. I saw the mention that children aren't allowed, but you can take pictures. This can help, especially as she starts to come out of her coma. My dad had a very strong reaction to a picture of DD1 when he was in his coma. He couldn't talk, but he recognized her as some he knew, and he gave the therapist a look like "who are you and why do you have a picture of my granddaughter!!"

Prayers will continue. Thanks for the update, I am glad to see that she has opened her eye, and is coming off the life support, if slowly.

Leigh

[jjsooner73]

How awful--prayers coming from Lewisville, TX.

[Beth]

Oh, Erin, I always send my thoughts and prayers, even if I don't post, but especially today. Even though we still don't know why I passed out last week, I drove 3/4 of a mile across a highway and into the trees out cold and no one was hurt, and your DH's cousin was just straightening costumes or whatever and is still in a coma. My emotions are all over the map right now. I will gather them and send my prayers and best wished for strength and peace.

Meanwhile, know that amazing things are possible, especially for the young and strong. My niece had cerebral menegitis when she was in high school. It was a very aggressive B-strep and they lost her vital signs while air lifting her to another hospital. She stayed in a coma for a while. When she woke, she could not speak or write. She did not know who we were. This was in February and early March. She was able to finish the year with her classmates -- taking a few tests in the week or two after school ended, and she's had no continuing symptoms. Amazing things are possible. Be strong.

[Shirley Panek]

Prayers coming to you from Maryland. I hope she recovers quickly. How hard for the children as well! ((:())

[LaraW]

Erin, I am so sorry to hear about this. My prayers are with Jeanne and the rest of your family.

[clairea]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Claire

[yorkshirepud]

Prayers on their way from Canada. My thoughts are with her family and I hope for her a speedy recovery.

[slknight]

Sending more prayers and positive thoughts.

Susan

[ShanaG]

Erin, I just read the website. What a sad story. My thoughts and prayers are with Jeanne and her family. She seems like a truly remarkable woman.

[linsleyd]

Erin, sending my thoughts and prayers.

[Guest]

She and her family are in my thoughts and prayers. Reading this thread and the website makes me step back for a minute and contemplate how lucky I am that I and my family are in good health and that all of it could change in a blink of the eye and I will keep praying for Jeanne's recovery and for her family.

[sneezles]

Erin,
Just wanted to add my prayers to the growing list here. I'm so very sorry this has happened.

[maizeyoats]

Erin,
If ever a family needed prayers this one sure does. I am praying and hope this list keeps growing.

[Mareli]

Good thoughts and prayers are on their way!

I have been working with patients like this for several years now. Jeanne has a few things going for her: youth, an excellent surgical team who specializes in this type of problem, and lots of people praying for her. Those are three powerful positives! She certainly has a rocky road ahead of her, but miracles happen every single day, and with all of the positives here, I hope for the very best for her.

P.S. If I may add one more thing.....bring tons of pictures of her kids and family to hang in her hospital room....8x10's, snapshots, collages....I believe that those pictures will be the most powerful medicine she can get as she starts to wake up.

[bluestocking]

Prayers from Oswego NY.

[Melman]

Erin, Prayers are also coming from SC. This is one particular medical condition that hits me pretty hard.

My mom had a brain aneurysm at Easter 6 years ago. Hers was about as sudden as your DH's cousin. She was on the phone with me about 11:00 one night a few nights before Easter, hung up because she had an incoming call, and seconds later said to the person on the phone that something was wrong. She tried to walk down the steps while my dad was on his way up the steps and she collapsed. He called EMS. Fortunately, they lived about a mile from the hospital. TWO EMS units showed up. They transported her to the emergency room, did one or two of those same scans, and had her in a private room before my dad even called me. He called shortly after 5:00 a.m. that morning.

All my dad could do was to tell me something had happened in around her brain...maybe a stroke...they didn't know. I specifically asked if the doctors had said the word aneurysm. He didn't think so. By the time we got to the hospital, they had confirmed the aneurysm. The worse thing was that the doctors said it did not look good at all. He gave her a 35% chance of survival. Talk about shock!! To add even a little more seriousness to the situation, my sister AND my sister-in-law were both pregnant. My mom thrives on these grandchildren.

They kept my mom in a private room for WEEKS. The lights were kept down low, they didn't want loud talking in the room, no television or radio....basically nothing that would stimulate her brain. She had those same spasms that were mentioned in the website. Her doctor didn't want to do surgery until the spasms stopped. The way doctors treat aneurysms depends entirely on the doctor. Some operate immediately...some like to wait til things stablize. It was about 6 weeks or so before they decided to risk surgery. The doctor performed 7 hours of brain surgery on my mom. Within a couple of days, they had her out of ICU and back in a room, transferred to the rehabilitation side of the hospital just a few days after that, and was at Applebee's (as part of rehab) trying to order off a menu barely a week after her surgery.

She recovered almost completely!! She's probably agree that she's about 95% back to where she was. Her right side of her body doesn't have the same "feeling" that the left side does. If you unexpectedly put your hand on her arm, she may not feel it. She had to get used to that. The only other problem is that her speech is sometimes "delayed". She KNOWS what word she's trying to say...she just sometimes can't get the word verbalized. It drives her crazy, but she's extremely good natured about it. I keep telling her that she had 7 hours of brain surgery..missing a few cells is MINOR to give up with everything that was done to her.

About prayer...I believe! OH MY! Like you wouldn't believe. I felt like I kept getting signs from up above that everything would be ok. The day after the aneurysm, I was in the room with her and she turned toward me, sort of squinted her eyes, and as plain as day, she said my name. That was it. A few days later, I was looking out my window where I had just had put a finch feeder. All of a sudden, two of the blue finches flew to the feeder. My mom was always thrilled when the blue ones would find her feeder. I thought this was another sign that everything would be ok.

The biggest thing was that she honestly had prayers being said for her all over the country...and even into other countries. She received get-well cards every single day. My dad would faithfully take them to the hospital and tell her who sent every one of them. She even had two Catholic friends who had her name being prayed for by Monks!

Be conforting to your DH's family. See if you or your hubby can sit with his cousin so her husband can go home for a while. Having someone sitting with my mom for all those weeks was definitely one of the toughest situations. Fortunately, our family is a decent size and my mom has friends all over this area.

I'll be thinking about your family. Hang in there.

[Mamasue]

Prayers coming your way.....

[KristaMB]

Erin, I didn't reply when I initially read your post, but I wanted to let you know that I am continuing to keep Jeanne and her family in my prayers.
~Krista

[nori]

Erin, I don't know what to say, but Jeanne and her family are in my thoughts and prayers. I pray that she'll recover as much as she possibly can.:(

(((((Erin)))))

[lindrusso]

More prayers....

[shoefling]

My thoughts are with you and your family. I pray that she will make a full recovery.

Hugs, Sarah

[jjsooner73]

It looks like the last few days have been optimistic.

I'll keep praying...

[erinl]

Originally posted by jjsooner73
It looks like the last few days have been optimistic.

I'll keep praying...

Yes, they have been. I'd like to say a big thank you to everybody who has said a prayer for Jeanne. I'm sure it helps. Also, thank you for the advice. DH was very touched by all of the thoughts and good wishes. We'll be printing out the thread and keeping it with all of the e-mails that Jeanne has recieved through the website.

Thanks again!

Erin

[Natasha]

More prayers coming your family's way...

Natasha

[Beth]

I hadn't checked for a couple of days and am so glad to here Jeanne is making good progress. I think of her often and say a prayer each time.

[ErinM]

Thoughts and prayers from South Central Nebraska...

[syzygy]

More prayers from Massachusetts.
May Jeanne continue to show improvement.

[JennieL]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I had a good friend suffer a brain aneurism at 37. It was a long, tough haul, but she is doing great 3 years later.

[Laura]

I will offer up prayers for Jeanne and your family.

[JenniferJJ]

You can count on prayers from Michigan.

[jmarie]

I don't want to give you false hope, but I have to. The same thing happened to one of my friend's wife. It was slow, tedious and really difficult. She isn't who she was....but she is still great!

At first, they thought she would be blind...her vision is impaired, but she is not blind. (Corrected by glasses)

They didn't know if she would walk,...She does have to have a cane.

They didn't know if she would be able to speak, she does just fine.

But it took about two years of continuous therapy. It wasn't easy...But we are all so proud of her. Prayer was a driving force in her recovery...I truly believe this. And I will pray for your friend.
Joyce!

[Beth]

Erin, just wanted to let you know that I have been checking the website and continuing to send my thoughts and prayers. Looks like a tough road, but one day and one step at a time....

[jmarie]

Me too. I was wondering how she is doing and how her family are doing?
Joyce

[dcornelius]

I am sending my Mom Judy as a gaurdian angle as well. She will be able to to empathize with Jeanne as she had a similar experience when I was five years old and lived to watch her grand children grow. She later died for other reasons but will be glad I am sure to keep watch over Jeanne from above! Prayers raised up to the good Lord from AZ!

[jmarie]

Diane, I am sorry and what a sweet response.

[Wendy w]

More prayers here. A friend of mine had one 10 years ago and is alive and well now.

[Jessica]

I must have missed this thread earlier, but I wanted to send my prayers for Jeanne's continued healing.

[lorilei]

I absolutely want to second Jessica's thoughts. I know how important such support can be... and I want to share all my good thoughts and optimistic wishes/prayers with you.

[JoanneOR]

Erin, I missed your post originally, but wanted to offer my prayers and support to your family.

[erinl]

Hi everybody,

I got an e-mail from Kevin (Jeanne's husband) over the weekend. He was following links to see where people were visiting his website from and found this thread. He was very touched and wanted me to give a big thank you . Jeanne is finally in rehab. She is talking a little and eating a little. Progress is slow, but at least we're moving forward.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. They really do make a difference.

Erin

[lhall]

Erin,

Thanks for the update, and I'm so glad to hear she is improving.

Leigh

[Beth]

I was following her progress for a while, and guess I lost track when it seemed she was out of danger. Thanks for the update -- glad to hear she is continuing to improve. :)

[granolagirl]

Great to hear that she is improving! I'm sending more prayers her way because I know it's a long hard process. Rehab is an amazing thing!