November 12, 2009 PM

It was two weeks ago today that Erika was taken by ambulance to Plaza Hospital after suffering a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage two days earlier. This afternoon Erika walked without help and climbed in the Toyota for the trip home without as much as a limp. After a stop at Corner Bakery for a loaf of her favorite bread, at her request, we are finally home. Halleluiah!!!

The following are 10 observations I made during the past two weeks.

10) The phrase, “your wife has a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage” causes instant nausea even if you don’t know what it means.
9) The top and bottom of PJ’s must match even when you are deathly sick.
8) The adhesive that they use to attach the body monitor probes with is very hard to remove without sandpaper.
7) Hair de-tangler is an awesome product.
6) Life events such as this one are very effective at jump starting a spousal weight loss program.
5) Long hair is a lot of work.
4) To many flowers in a hospital room smells like a funeral home.
3) I can sweat and have goose bumps at the same time.
2) Nurses are a gift from God and appear more useful then Doctors. (Good thing I’ll have both soon)
1) God still does miracles!

If you doubt #1 then copy, paste, and read from the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subarachnoid_hemorrhage

I read it for the first time this afternoon and have been in amazement every since. I saw Erika’s brain scan from when we first arrived at the hospital and it looked just like the picture. I also saw the one from Sunday. It was as different as night and day. This is because of your prayers. I hope this has increased your faith as much as it has mine.

I know you all have several questions that you would love to ask. So I’ll just answer them. What caused this? I don’t have a clue and from what I can tell neither do the Dr.’s. Will it happen again? From what the neurosurgeon told me, the likelihood of the vessel doing it again is next to “nil.” Where was the bleed? Answer number one applies.

So where do we go from here? The outpatient brief was to return to normal activity and see the Dr. in a week and a half. Erika called and scheduled the appointment for next Friday while we were still at the hospital. Why so soon? Well, because she is planning to be in Oklahoma City for her next rotation in a week and a half. I’m just shaking my head.

So you think you have great co-workers? Try to top this one. My co-workers have paid to have a professional Chef prepare our meals for the next two weeks. Erika and I thank them so very much. Especially Erika; I think she would get tired of Chick-fil-A pretty quick.

I probably won’t be updated as often now since I will have to be getting mind back into work. However, Erika told me that she wants to do a personal update in the next day or two so please check back.

I give you a big heart filled thank you for all your love and mostly your prayers. Somebody’s prayers made it through. Please continue to pray for us. I need to know when to pull the reigns and when to loosen them. Erika is going to need a lot of strength and the head pain to totally go away.

With much Love!!!!

Tim & Erika

P.S. The porch light is off now. I just went looking for Erika. She is planting flowers in the front yard. I’m not kidding.