| | 12-29-2008 @ 10:11:42 AM |
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Jerrimy and Stacy Walker are Cyber friends of mine in Colorado. A truck pulled in front of their motorcycle on 12/28/2009. Jerrimy died at the scene and Stacy is in intensive care. She has a lot of brain swelling and neck injuries...
Please throw up some prayers for Stacy's recovery and for their entire family..
Shoot me an e-mail via "Contact Us" if you would like to be kept up to date on progress.
Local article on the couple
http://www.gazette.com/articles/elliott_45962___article.html/walker_jerrimy.html
(Updates are copied from other people’s comments, so “I” or “we” does not indicate involvement by Hootmon Harry.)
Latest update to the oldest…
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03-05-2009, 12:30 AM
Stomach tube was removed yesterday. Yeaaaah. It caused her a little pain when being removed but even she thinks that it was worth it. Nothing is hooked up to Stacy now. She is improving each and every day still. They "Green Tagged" her today. What that means is that she can now get up and go to the bathroom or sit in a chair without having to call a nurse. Also, they will not secure the net at night. They are still monitoring her very frequently to make sure that nothing happens to her. Although she is resigned to having to remain in the hospital until Monday, it does not stop her from asking to leave now. That's my girl! The Dr & Staff have advised me that it would be best to keep visits to a very minimum for the first 4 or 5 days until she can get used to being in the home environment again. Her out-patient rehabilitation testing is on 11 and 12 March, they will evaluate her during this time to determine how much and for how long her rehab will last. Obviously, day to day home rehabilitation will last much longer. Not a problem, that's what Dad's are for!
03-03-2009, 12:52 AM
Stacy's release date has been changed to March 9th. Her stomach tube for feeding is supposed to be removed tomorrow (3 March). Starting today, the net on her Posey Bed only needs to be secured at night. She does need to notify the nurses before she gets out of bed. If she does for the next few days, then they will be able to put her in a regular bed. She is doing great. Everyone is amazed at how far she has progressed
03-01-2009, 10:37 PM
We saw Stacy shortly after Ash did. We brought her some roses that she had texted me about this morning. She really liked them; she was very talkative and laughing. She says oops a lot which makes us laugh kinda like oh did I do that? oops... lol. She looks great and is excited to go home. She was very happy today.
Texted her a little bit after we left. I commented that we all felt very lucky to have her and that we would never forget that...her response was she feels the same way about us.
It’s amazing to see her after seeing where she was just a two months ago...... basically she rocks!!!!!
03-01-2009, 08:11 PM
Hey everybody! Got to spend a good hour with Stacy today, had a great time! She was quite talkative, was about at the same level of speech as the last time I saw her. Messing up some words here and there, mostly when she tried talking too fast or got excited. Definitely could understand what she was saying tho.
We hung out in her room till her physical therapy nurse came, then walked down the hall and sat in the sunlight and tossed a 5lb medicine ball back and forth about 15 times with breaks in between. She still has some soreness and stiffness in her right shoulder but is doing much better. She did not complain at all about any pain in her ribs.
She did bring up Jerrimy a few times; I let her take the lead talking about him. We reminisced about some funny stories and past rides that reminded us of him. She seems to be doing well with her grief, but it is also hard to tell.
She is still very excited to get home. We talked about things we wanted to do this summer to give her some things to look forward to. She is all about going up to see the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, as well as teaching me how to bake! All of this of course depends on how she's feeling, but she enjoyed talking about goals and things she wanted to accomplish. Hopefully gives her something to look forward to and work towards.
I left about an hour and 15 minutes after I first sat down with her to meet up with everybody else for lunch. She said she was going to try and sleep, as it has been coming in bits and spurts. She's enjoying getting text messages as it gives her something to do during the day, but didn't say that she needed anything.
02-26-2009, 02:39 PM
Rob, Karla, Stacy and I spent about a half hour hanging out in the lobby last night. She seemed to be doing better today than last time I saw her. Less persistent about leaving the hospital (but still very ready!) and her short term memory was a bit better. I understand her memory will be in and out probably here for a while, but she remembered that Karla and I had gone camping last weekend and asked about it, along with several other things. She laughed hard at our camping stories and told us how the kids were doing and what they'd been talking about. She's getting excited to sleep in her own bed and cook in her own kitchen, was happy with how therapy was coming. She rarely confused her words and was putting sentences and ideas together very well.
02-25-2009, 07:35 PM
Meeting with Stacy's Dr's, therapists, nurses, has been postponed until Monday due to scheduling conflicts (Not mine). They are putting an ankle alarm on Stacy because she is getting around more and still has a fixation on getting out of the hospital now. Everyone is sort of waiting for "The Big Break-Out". Poor girl. The alarm goes off if she gets too near stairways and elevators. I feel bad for her, but it's in her best interest to stay where she is right now. She is still improving every day and trying to eat what she can to get her feeding tube removed.
02-24-2009, 11:06 PM
I just left Stacy tonight. She sends everyone her love. She is in a pretty good mood. We talked about how much improvement she is making and how she would be able to take care of her kids better if she stayed for a little longer in the hospital. Long story short, she is content to spend the night tonight. Don’t know about tomorrow. When I left her tonight, she was busy trying to decide where she wanted to go on her birthday. She seems totally flabbergasted at her age, and can’t believe how old her kids are. Again, we talked some about Jerrimy – absolutely NO SPECIFIC DETAILS. She is not equipped to handle the details yet. Her Occupational Therapy is going good. She made Muffins today. I wish everyone could have seen how proud of herself she was that she could do that.
02-23-2009, 09:32 PM
Hi, Folks. Rob again. Not too much to report. Stacy is continuing to improve her speech and walking. With her speech improvement, her current memory loss seems more apparent. It’s to be expected. Her walking is improving a lot. She was able to walk about 75 feet more than last week. I’m grateful for any and all improvements. I have a meeting with the doctor and staff concerning Stacy’s progress and prognosis on Thursday afternoon. I will be posting what I find out on Thursday evening. Everyone, please keep praying and keep your fingers crossed for Stacy. Thanks!!
02-23-2009, 03:52 PM
I am sitting in Stacy's room posting this. Stacy is doing wonderful. She is talking a lot and we took her for a walk down the hallway in her wheel chair. When we came in to see her she started talking about Jerrimy. She advised us that she knows that Jerrimy is gone. We acknowledged what she was saying and she stated she’s been texting Jerrimy. After hearing this I called Rob (her dad) and advised him of this. He stated that Matt (her brother) talked to her a lot yesterday about this. Rob wanted me to post a note to anyone that visits Stacy that even though she knows about Jerrimy he doesn't want us giving her too much information. He would rather be the one to talk to her about this. Stacy is doing wonderful she is talking and getting up on her own.
Stacy says Hi to everyone. (I asked her if she wanted me to tell you all anything and she said tell everyone hi.)
02-23-2009, 01:29 AM
Hi guys and gals, this is Stacy’s brother Matt. I spent the weekend with Stacy and she is doing great. She looks and sounds amazing. Her speech is improving daily. We carried on a couple of hour long conversations with only a few minor mistakes that she usually corrected herself. She is having a little bit of trouble with her short and long term memory but that is also improving daily. She has a tendency to fixate on one thing (going home!!!!) but that is normal at this stage. She is also texting quite a bit and is counting the days, hours, minutes...until she can come home. She has started eating more so hopefully it will be no time at all before she can get that bothersome tube taken out of her stomach. Only 18 days before her projected release date :) She continues to amaze everyone on a daily basis. If anyone talks to her please let her know it is really important to stay until the doctor’s release her. I continually talked about the sabrehood crew and pass on all of your love thoughts and prayers. You all mean the world to her and i cant thank everyone enough. Thank you for being there for her.
02-21-2009, 01:42 AM
Rob said Stacy is steadily improving. She made easy bake cookies today in physical therapy, added the eggs and oil and baked them and everything!! She is pushing VERY hard to leave the hospital although she's made it clear she understands when he release date is.
So, not much news but what there is to report is good.
02-18-2009, 11:03 AM
Got to see Stacy yesterday, Rob was there so got to hang out for about 30 minutes. Man, she is still improving! It's amazing. She's getting less frustrated when her brain can't figure out the right word. Instead of getting embarrassed or upset, she slows down, tries to figure out the right word, and if one of us is able to come up with it for her she says "yes" and then repeats the word to get it in her head. Was honored to help her walk down the hall. Got to see her stand up and down and even walk a little bit completely on her own. She really enjoys being able to wheel around the hospital with Rob, loved going outside day before yesterday. Weather was crappy yesterday, and said she can't wait to get outside again. She was in very good spirits, laughed hard at a few of the pictures I had printed. She is VERY ready to leave the hospital. Anyone who visits here please encourage her to stay until her release date, I can tell it's wearing Rob down. Can't wait to see her again!
02-16-2009, 09:28 PM
Hi, again. Rob here. I just left Stacy a little while ago. I was able to talk the Dr into letting me take Stacy outside for a bit in a wheel-chair. She loved it. We sat outside for a little while, toured the Rehabilitation Center on the first floor, back outside for a bit, then upstairs, after hanging out in the lobby for a bit. Unfortunately for Stacy, when we got back upstairs, it was time for Therapy and she was bushed. But---she did all of her therapy without raising a fuss. The Dr sat with us for a little while this morning and was extremely pleased with Stacy's progress. Reaching her Target Release Date (11 March) will be absolutely no problem if she continues to progress like she has been. Her stomach tube can come out after she consistently eats at least ½ of each meal. Stacy is beginning to Text a little bit; please don't overwhelm her with mass quantities of Texting. Word recognition, short term memory, vocabulary, attention span and concentration are improving at the expected pace. Walking, coordination, and math solving abilities are really zipping ahead. I'll continue to post as things progress. Again, thanks from the bottom of my heart for everyone’s help and support.
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Stacy was moved out of ICU into her own room.. She tried to get out of bed on her own about the 2nd night and the nurses found her on the floor.. They changed the type of bed she was in, so she couldn't get out.. They finally took the tube out of her neck..
The moved her again into a rehab section of the hospital..
She took several strolls up and down the hallways with assistance of her motorcycle friends.
According to her dad, she remembers everything (which is surprising to me). She remembers the accident, and she knows that Jerrimy is gone...
There has been a lull in updates over the past couple of days.. But tonight's update is long, and shows how much progress Stacy has made and is making...
(Side commentary) - I believe (and could be wrong) that because Stacy was induced into a coma with drugs, that it just takes a while for all the drugs to get out of her system.. Then just lying in bed for a month can really take a lot of strength out of your body.. OK.. On to the update from ASH (Smash)
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Alrighty guys, here's a long update. I have no idea how long she's been doing this well, as I haven't seen her in a week and no one has been posting detailed updates since the last time I saw her.
Karla and I went down tonight, took a lot longer than I'd expected due to weather, however we were able to just barely make it in time to spend 15 minutes with her before 8pm.
First thing. The difference in her is like night and day! I mean, Stacy has definitely been IN there all along, unable to get out and communicate. Well, boys and girls, she's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!! For the first time I was able to hold a true conversation with her. She is able to hold her attention completely on the person she's talking with. She's able to move all her limbs, sit about 3/4s of the way up on her own. She was adjusting her sheets, blanket and pillow with no assistance whatsoever. She no longer has that far away look in her eye. Her skin looks great, no more rashes (altho I think it is still a little dry as she was itching occasionally). She looks like herself and is absolutely more comfortable.
Here's the run down of the high points of the 15 minutes as best as Karla and I in our euphoric state could recall:
When we got to her room the door was closed and lights were off, so we asked a male nurse at the front desk if we could go in. He said yes, and knocked on her door and led us in.
nurse - "I think she's sleeping but I'm sure she'll wake up."
Stacy - "AH-HUH!!" [very loudly! LOL]
me - "Hi Stacy! are you awake?"
Stacy - "ah-huh!"
me - "how are you feeling?"
Stacy - "awesome."
She was very very happy to see is, really lit up. I told her I had gotten all moved and that some RMSers had pooled together with Dank as the initiator to get me a motorcycle dolly, I described what it was and she said "ooooh NICE!" [This was me trying to feel out if I could talk about bikes, she was definitely interested]
Told her the move went great, and the house warming party was coming up this weekend. "oh that's cool" Stacy said. I asked her if she would like it if I brought photos down next time of the move, and later of the party, and she said "yes."
I told Stacy I wasn't sure what to make for the party. Basically I'm terrible on a grill, unless I'm cooking steaks, and hell if I'm buying steaks for everyone. That it was supposed to be cold and maybe snow a little, so I was back and forth between corn chowder and chili con carne. I asked her which one I should make, she said, "you should concarne chili."
me - "how is the physical therapy going? Is it really hard?"
Stacy - "yuck!"
me - "Rob told us about what happened when the nurses asked where your pain was coming from and you pointed at Ethan. Everyone had a huge laugh at that! Good going!"
Stacy - *HUGE grin and shrugged her shoulders, "oops?"
me - "so how are you doing really?"
Stacy - "ready to finish." [She said this several times over the course of the visit]
I told her about the Ride for Ryan plans, as she was very attentive and wanting to hear everything. Told her that Roofer was going to come out and pick me up, and I was gonna ride on the back of his teal flower-mobile all the way to Arizona. Oh man she had a good gut laugh at that!
Me - "what can we do for you? What do you need? Do you need some movies?"
Stacy - "no"
Me - "ok, well you've got to give me something I can do to help you!"
Stacy - "I need a night's full."
Me - "a full night's rest?"
Stacy - "yes"
Me - "so now that I live closer, I will be able to come down more often. Is that ok?"
Stacy - "no problem!" [i asked her this question a few times, or something similar, over the course of the visit. she responded the same way every time.
Karla and I - "ok Stacy, we have to get going. We love you very much! Goodnight."
Stacy - "night!"
The improvement in her is like night and day. It's beyond belief. If you believe in God, you better believe the prayers are working. She was happy to answer questions about how she was doing. For instance, we were able to determine that her rashes are gone and that the only things bothering her are her ribs. However, she really enjoys it when you talk about what's going on outside in the "real world." What your life looks like, what you're up to. I can totally get this; I wouldn't want to talk about me either!
Anyways, enough of my own inflection into what transpired. Needless to say, I'm absolutely floored and will be filling her request of photos and more stories on my next visit.
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01/23 Update –
There are a lot of updates today... The good news... Stacy is out of the ICU!!!
Looks good!!! Lots more movement in RIGHT ARM and LEFT LEG!
First went in she was asleep, heart rate was as low as I've seen it!!
She's up in her chair, breathing better. The nurse only had to come in once to clear out her trach tube. Usually I would've called the nurse in a few times to do it to help her to breathe easier.
She's opening her eyes wide and looking up at us. Watching both of us as we walk around the room. She was looking at me at one point, Fish was standing on the other side of her chair and said "Stacy, hey I want to ask you something." She turned her head to Fish and looked up at him.
I've been reading Marley and Me out loud to her, Fish says she's been going back and forth from watching Survivorman (on mute) on the tv and watching me read. Before we turned on the tv, she was watching me as I was reading. Seems to be keeping her heart rate down.
She still does not seem to be responding to simple yes or no questions, but we continue to talk to her and ask things.
She is making more facial expressions than I've seen her do before and she has pursed her lips in a pout a few times.
Woohoo they're gonna move her. Room 426, private room, they're prepping her to move now. It'll take a bit before they can actually move her, as there is a lot of equipment setup, but it'll definitely happen this afternoon.
EDIT: Fish and I just went and checked out the new room, MOUNTAIN VIEW!!
Stacy has been moved to her new room!!!
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01/22 Update –
Ash just texted me this update.
He went in and she was sleeping. Heart rate was good, nice and low. She seemed to be visibly breathing easier. Nurse came in to clean her up so he left so Stacy had some privacy. Nurse woke her up, she was coughing; definitely time to clean out her tubes. She tried to cover her mouth with her left hand while she was coughing.
Ash will go back in after about 15 minutes.
The nurse also said they're waiting on the doctor, but hope to move her upstairs in the next day or two.
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Hey! Just got a text-pic from Liz showing Stacy holding her arm up with her hand on the side of Ash's face!!! ( http://i39.tinypic.com/2j32oea.jpg )
Lord! What a way to give me an update!
Dang that looks good to sore eyes!!!
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She is breathing deeper and calmer, even when awake. More active with her left hand and arm, to the point where she reached up, grabbed Ash's arm, later grabbed his cheek (pic Liz took ( http://i39.tinypic.com/2j32oea.jpg )). After Liz left the room, Stacy reached up and played with his ear. Heart Rate is steadier and in a good range.
He spent a good 20 minutes cleaning her face and cooling her face and neck with a washcloth. She seemed to enjoy that, as well as him running his fingers through her hair.
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01/21 – Update
Stacy is officially out of the coma!
I spent about four hours with her yesterday, and she was using her left hand and moving her legs all over the place. She even covered her mouth when she coughed. In another few days the doctors plan to remove the trach tube to find out if she can talk. They'll also move her to a new floor now that she is no longer intensive care.
We're still looking at a LONG, HARD ROAD.
Another:
I just got back from seeing Stacy. I was thrilled to be able to see her and just sit there while she slept. She opened her eyes and looked at me. It will be a long slow process but promising. As Ethan began reading to Stacy, her eyes were wide open looking at him. I said good bye for now and she brought her left arm way up as to wave goodbye to me. God I wanted to give her a big hug. Prayer works people so don't stop.
We love you Stacy....keep getting better Baby!
Another
Their was also an update that stated she was sitting in a chair by the window, but I could not find it again..
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01/19 – Update
12am -
We spent the day at the Hospital again. Stacy is doing very good and is responding well. Brenda will post more in a few. She spent the majority of the time with her and can go into a lot greater detail. We where the only 2 there most of the day so we took turns seeing her. She is tracking and is recognizing us and is responding super well to Brenda. I think it’s a girl thang! She isn’t talking but there are times when she appears to want to talk but because of the respirator it doesn’t allow her to do so. She does respond by squeezing your hand if she is relating to you.
The big thing today was when Brenda asked her "Stacy if you remember me and know who I am squeeze my hand". Stacy then squeezed her hand for almost 2 minutes after that. We think she really wanted Brenda to know that she knew who she was. Brenda came into the waiting room with tears in her eyes and said Honey guess what happened..... in reference to this.
I took her in a fake flower wrapped in paper and it had a little teddy bear on it with a Tag that said Cutie Pie. (Cant have real flowers in the ICU) I said to her. "Stacy I brought you a flower today" She looked at it and I described it to her and teased her about needing another table for all of her stuff because with her table she has now it has a lot of stuff on it. I told her we are going to have to setup another table soon for all of your stuff.
12:20am
Got to spend a short time with Stacy tonight, unfortunately didn't get there until 6:15 and visiting hours are closed from 6:30-8pm.
Jada and I went in together, Stacy was asleep. First off, she looks amazing! Obviously she is much more comfortable without the neck brace on. We talked softly with her for a little bit, trying not to wake her; it was quiet in the room. It was 6:30, and I didn't want to be in the nurse’s way, so I softly told Stacy I had to go but that I'd be back as soon as I could. After I said that she moved her right leg, picking it up off the bed and setting it back down again. I turned to her; she opened her eyes, looked right at me and lifted her left hand. I came over to her, put my hand on top of her left hand and looked at her. She looked right at me with this sadness and almost a panic in her eyes. I swear I'm not making this up, I could see emotion. She kept looking at me. I talked to her for another few minutes, repeating over and over that she was doing great. That she was exactly where she needed to be. That I knew the tubes really sucked, but she needed to stop trying to fiddle with them. That I knew she was uncomfortable, but she needed to relax. That she was getting excellent care. And I repeated over and over that she was safe and not alone. I asked her to go back to sleep, to rest and let her body continue to heal. As I asked that a few times, she relaxed her left hand, closed her eyes, and fell back asleep.
Jada was standing behind me monitoring her heart rate as this happened. When we went in, it was steady around 130. When she woke up, it spiked up to the mid 140's. As I talked reassuringly to her, it came down slowly, as she closed her eyes it was back to 129.
Guys, this was amazing to watch! I hope I've told the story well enough to get what happened across. She recognized me, at least as someone she knew and felt safe around. I believe she comprehended what I was saying, because she relaxed and fell back asleep. I cannot wait to see her again!!!
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01/17 – Update
11 AM - I've got an update. When I visited last night, she pushed her right arm. This isn't a very big movement, but I will say that two days before she could move her left arm, she was pushing that arm at me. In other words, she's coming from the shoulder and pushing the arm down. She also squeezed her right hand. She's tracking very well now, and her eyes also adjust to light on their own. We may be at this stage for a little while longer. I know it's hard to wait. I'll try to update people as things change.
10 PM - I just talked to Rob earlier. Stacy's MRI came back and the Doctor said she has mild to moderate brain damage. Doctor said with around 6 months physical therapy she will be back on track with her life. This is really good news. In perspective it could have been a lot worse. Brenda and myself and Mychal are going down tomorrow in the AM to visit her and send the weekend in Colorado Springs helping out with whatever we can.
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Updates between dates removed to conserve space..
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12/30 Morning Update -
For those of you concerned, Stacy suffered no other physical injury. Look at the multitude of pictures posted on this site - that's exactly what she looks like right now. She's just asleep, but just as beautiful as ever. I'll continue to post updates as they're available.
They did a new CAT Scan today and the results are markedly better than yesterday. She is getting stable, and the doctors are going to start giving her medication to reduce the swelling. They're also going to start feeding her through an IV today. More later.
Evening Update -
Stacy is now fully sedated. They lowered the lights in her room and are trying to keep any stimulus to a minimum. The medication they put her on to help with the brain swelling requires her to remain as still as possible. She has food going into her stomach to keep the plumbing up to code. Ash was able to get a few pictures to be put into her room, so when the time is ready, she can look at them.
The Docs say it will be a month before they can move her to a different area and two months before they can move her to a different hospital.
She will require some form of rehab, although the extent is still to be determined. Denver has one of the best rehab hospitals for this, Craig Hospital, so she may end up there for a while.
We have lots of RMS brothers and sisters in Denver and can put up any family members at that time.
There will be lots of expenses impacting the family over the coming months. If you can contribute anything, it would be much appreciated.
Follow this link and click on the Donate button at the top -> http://www.thesabrehood.org
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UPDATE: 12/29 - The last update I received was around 11:30 central time.
The CT Scan results looked better than expected, but Stacy did not like the CT Scan so she is heavily sedated.
There was no mention of neck or spinal cord injuries, but again, no mention does not mean there are not any.
The doctors hope Stacy begins to wake and come around within the next 3 to 4 days. They are unsure if it will happen, but they are hopeful.
News Article: http://www.gazette.com/articles/truck_45476___article.html/wife_crash.html
12/29 - 5pm update -
Hello everyone. As of 5:30 pm central time I have just spoken to Stacy’s Neurosurgeon and here is what he has said…
Stacy has a skull fracture behind her lower right ear that wraps around the base of her skull; she also has bruising around the fracture. Although this fracture is significant, it will heal normally on its own. This is not the injury they are concerned about.
Stacy has severe brain contusions on her left frontal lobe, left temporal lobe, and right frontal lobe. These contusions are the cause of the brain swelling and the neurosurgeon said contusions generally get larger as time passes. They are focusing on controlling the brain swelling and at this time he feels like the hospital has it under control.
Stacy WILL NOT need any sort of brain surgery and they see no signs of neck or spinal cord injuries.
At this time, Stacy’s recovery depends on the brain swelling. If they can keep the swelling under control for the next 4 days, her chances of recovery raise greatly, although it may be a very, very long road for her.
We will not know about permanent brain damage until the 4-day mark passes. At that time, he will go into more detail on that subject.
The neurosurgeon also said that the CT Scan that was done this morning looks much better than the scan done in the ER yesterday.
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