Day 10 Post Op

Good evening friends and family,

So here's the latest on my Mom. The past two days we have had very little response from her, but that is understandable. She had surgery late Monday night and we all know how you feel after surgery - so we cut that sweet lady some slack!

This afternoon I was able to spend some time with her and when I left, I was grinning from ear to ear! I saw several positive signs today - she was moving her right foot on command and she started moving her right arm. I was so excited to see this progress! Her precious nurse, Crystal was in the room with me while my Mom was responding and she was thrilled too. Her nurses are telling me that she is becoming notorious for only responding to family! ; )

Her team of Doctors and Nurses keep explaining to us that brain injuries can be very frustrating and difficult for the family to understand. {Oh so true!} A lot of the time it's one step forward, two steps back. Each brain injury is completely different. Our sweet Momma's brain stem not only went through one surgery, but went through TWO!

We know that her recovery is going to be full of lots of ups and downs over the next few months, but we are standing by her side with smiles! We are filling her brain with positive thoughts and energy - exactly what she needs for a healthy recovery. We tell her everyday how you all are storming the heavens with prayers for her, so please don't stop now. Our prayers are working!!

Thank you for all the love, support and prayers over the past week and a half. We couldn't get through this without you. Thank you!

Love, Rachel


This is Dr. Lee, one of her NSICU Doctors. We love him!

Day 8 Post Op

Hello all,

I wanted to give you a quick update on my Mom. Yesterday she had a very busy schedule - a tracheotomy and had a feeding tube put in!! Both procedures were successful.

Today she was not very responsive, but this was to be expected. However, we did see a few toe wiggles!

Unfortunately, we are still not out of the woods. Our Mom is so strong and we KNOW she WILL get through this. The hemorrhage after her first surgery was a major setback. We fully understand that her recovery is going to be very long and very difficult, but we are standing by her side cheering her on!

We ask that you continue to pray for healing and strength for our sweet Momma. We believe in the power of prayer and our Mom is the perfect example of God's great work.

Thank you again for all of your love and support.

Love, Rachel

Big John and Baby John

Weekend Update

Good evening friends and family,

I wanted to give you a quick update on my Mom. She had a good weekend, lots of hand squeezes, head nods and some right foot movement. We're heading in the right direction! One of her sweet nurses, Bonnie - french braided her hair so she is lookin' good!

Please keep her in your prayers tomorrow - she will be getting a tracheotomy and feeding tube put in. This is considered an operation and she will be taken to the OR, please pray for a safe and smooth procedure for her tomorrow.

 

John Chris started walking today! Grammy would be so proud of her little Cupcake!

 

John, John and John!

 

 

METRORail : Memorial Hermann Hospital stop

 

 

Nurse Kelly

 

 

Mom's Retirement Celebration!

Shortly after our Mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor she decided to retire so she could spend more time with her grandchildren and travel a bit more with our Dad. Our sweet Momma was a nurse for over 40 YEARS! It's crazy to think how many lives she has touched over the years. It may have been as little as a band aid or as big as saving someones life, she was devoted to caring for others.

 

In mid September, we threw her a little Surprise Retirement Celebration Dinner at Sorrento's in Kingwood. We were sneaky but we pulled it off and she was completely surprised! Below are a few pictures of the evening that I wanted to share. Enjoy!

 

Fun Nurse cookies from Miss Marie.

 

When Mom and Dad walked in, the little girls were wearing Nurse Caps! She loved it!

 

 

Get well soon, Mommy! We miss our Family Nurse!

 

 

Before the party, we came up with this list of all the places she has worked over the years, pretty impressive if you ask me!

 

 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Internship at The Pittsburgh Medical Center – Presbyterian Hospital

State College, Pennsylvania

Nittany Mountain Hospital

Night Shift Labor & Delivery

Atlanta, Georgia

Dekalb General Hospital

Emergency Room and Labor & Delivery

Houston, Texas

Basuldua and Heller, PA

Charter Hospital

Kingwood Minor Emergency Clinic

Kingwood Medical Center

Emergency Room, Day Surgery, PAT, Recovery Room, Pre Assessment

2915 Little Bear

Resident Nurse since 1983

 

Day 4 Post Op

Hello all,

Sorry for the late post tonight, I know many are anxious to hear about Mom's progress today.

Our prayers are working, today we saw many positive signs! Early this morning and late this afternoon she was very responsive. We saw lots of foot motion and felt several hand squeezes today. She also opened her left eye a few times for us!

This morning I was telling her how John Chris and I went to church the night before to light a candle for her because it was All Saints Day (so appropriate!). Well, in church there were several others quietly praying, I was sitting in the corner crying and John Chris was "oooohhhing" at the top of his lungs. (He loved hearing his echo in the chapel!) Needless to say, it was a quick prayer! After I told Mom this story she gave me a SMILE! My heart stopped!

Our family and her Doctors are thrilled with today's improvements. We covet your prayers for continued steady progress and healing. She is so tough and we are so proud of her, she is a fighter!

Thank you again for all the love and support. We couldn't have gotten through this week without the support of our wonderful friends and family. The outpouring of prayers and your generosity is truly amazing. Each one of you have touched our lives in one way or another over the years and we thank you for supporting us during this difficult time.

With sincere gratitude,
The Sedlak Family

The Power of Love

Good evening everyone,

I have to share a story with you that happened today in my Mom's ICU room. Well, it was more of a little miracle in my mind!

Every couple hours the NSICU (NeuroScience Intensive Care Unit) Doctors and their teams make the rounds to complete a neuro exam on each patient and track their progress. As you know, my mom had a rough night and morning with little to no responsiveness to Doctors and nurses. When I met my Dad at the hospital today, I was able to watch Dr. Lee and his team evaluate my Mom. As we sat on the couch and watched - my heart was breaking, she couldn't do any of the commands the Doctor was asking her to do{such as lift two fingers or give a thumbs up}. Dr. Lee, Dad and myself were all very discouraged.

A few minutes later, Kelly walked in. She joined in our conversation with Dr. Lee and then leaned down to tell my Mom hello and that she was there with her now. As soon as Kelly started speaking to her, she moved her foot back and forth! Dr. Lee said "this almost brings me to tears, I have to go call Dr. Kim!" It was exactly what we needed. We know she can hear us, the power of family and the gift of love is truly a miracle!

Thank you, Mom!

Day 3 Post Op

Hello friends and family,

Last night and this morning have been rough. Her responsiveness is not where it was yesterday. At 2am they did a cat scan to see if there was additional bleeding at the tumor site, fortunately there was not. The doctors keep assuring us the recovery is very slow and to expect ups and downs - especially since her surgery was so traumatic. We are also in the peak post operative swelling period which hampers her progress.

Please pray for the swelling to go down so that we can see more responsiveness. It is so hard to have a tough day after yesterday. All we've seen today is a right leg toe wiggle and a very weak right hand thumbs up.

Our Dad has had a hard time pulling himself away from his wife of 41 years. He spends every day and night with her on the couch/bed in Mom's ICU room. Here is a picture of us and Dad sitting on his bed. {Definitely not The Four Seasons or built for a 6 foot 7" man!}

Please keep the prayers coming, they're working!

Love, John, Kelly, Michael and Rachel