Tracheotomy & G Tube

One week and a day after Mom's stroke, she went into surgery for a tracheotomy, so that she could breath through her throat instead of through a tube going into her throat from her mouth. The doctors insisted that this surgery was necessary for Mom to make progress. This surgery would aide her in mobility later also. When Dad called me, he had just heard that the surgery was a success, barely. They had lost Mom twice, when she went into a-fib, but were able to "re-start" her heart both times. Dad was a wreck, so was I, Thankfully Todd and Greg are my saving grace, they are able to find the silver-lining of even the darkest cloud. Often this characteristic is helpful - especially during the darkest days.
When I saw Mom the first time after her first surgery I was excited to see more color in her cheeks, but still beside myself because of the countless times I felt that I took my Mom for granted, and now I was praying everyday for another chance to show her how much I love her and how much she means to me.
Thankfully,  the surgery for the gastric tube was much simpler and Mom pulled through easily, and now had no tubing in her mouth which solved the problem of gaging on the tubing ever-so-often and allowed Mom to rest through the night. Rest was one of the top priorities for her at this point.

A Blur

The next several days are a blur. Todd, Dad, Ann and I rotate time in the ICU. It's hard to leave Mom there every time. Not knowing if she was aware that we were there, or if she knew where she was and what had happened. She was unresponsive, and they had her on an "ice blanket" because her temperature was so high, she has tubes everywhere, for air, for food, for blood pressure and even oxygen. The staff is amazing.  They appear to be just as concerned for Mom as we are, and they allow us to be with her at all hours of the day and night. They allow and even encourage us to bring in cards and flowers and pictures for her, in case she opens her eyes, that way she'd se things that were bright and happy as well as familiar hopefully.
We all sit with baited breath, hoping and praying for a miracle. Hoping that each time she stirs that she is pulling through. That she may pull through this mess and come out on the sunny side. We all try to split up the family to make sure that everyone is aware of what is going on, and to be certain that we are taking care of ourselves, each other, Grandma (my Mom's Mom) and helping my dad with concerns around the house and such. But right now, there is no guarantee that anything will go the way we hope for it to; Mom is unstable and unconscious most of the time. In the meantime, we're praying for the silver lining to suddenly appear.