Living with Neurologic Issues

My retarded daughter, age 51, (still a small child to us and very much loved) fell and had an injury to the back of her head. Being CP too, she had always had problems with balance and had fallen a lots since birth. I did not think too much about this fall but several days later, she could not balance herself and the next few days got progressly worse.

This particular morning she could not raise her head or sit up when she awoke. We took her to ER and the neuro surgeon said she had a very large subdural hemotoma and he would have to remove half her skull. If she made it through surgery, it might come back. I ask him if there was a possibility that it could arrest itself and he “no, it is too big”. Since she could not realize that she would have to take care of herself after surgery, we elected not to have it. The doctor told us later that he expected her to live 2 days. We had Hospice and brought her home to die.

Mama’s hands took over and she began to show signs of improvement. I started trying to feed her and she responded with moderate swallowing. She complained but was not able to tell me how bad her headaches were. She kept on improving and the neuro surgeron wanted another CT. The CT showed that 50% was gone and he said within 6-8 weeks the rest should be gone. It has now been 3 months and she is back to the level she was before except for walking. Her walking is improving day by day. I had prayed that she would go before me because I know no one else will take care of her as I do. We are living one day at a time and glad to have out loving, beautiful daughter back.