our world: My little mommy's Aneurysm

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

My little mommy's Aneurysm

Karen, the day after her brain surgery. "Thumbs up", my mom and dad speak the same language.

It's still a blur in my memory. I still feel the panic that became adrenaline. But, I have to record my thoughts from my heart about my little mommy. Late February, My mom and her sweet husband Larry was out visiting my sister Andrea and her fantastic kids. She had a severe headache that had been making things difficult for about a month. Before she left on her trip, she visited the Doctor and had a clean CT scan and was cleared to fly to Georgia. Little did we all know that the headaches are a warning sign for something that is wrong.

After being at Andrea's for a few days, Andrea was smart enough to take her to the emergency room because the pain was so excruciating for my mom from her headache. We learned it was an aneurysm and that time was critical that she be moved to another hospital where the entire hospital specialized in brain aneurysms. As our Heavenly Father always watches over us, the specialty hospital was only 30 minutes away.

Transported by ambulance, she began the consults and decisions with specialists. During this time, Kris and her husband Wade, Quinn and I were headed on a cross country road trip. We drove 18 hours straight and finally rested at a hotel 1 hour away from the hospital because it was past visiting hours. Driving for long stretches of time was a benefit because Wade used to "drive truck" with is trucker talk for, driving a big rig... which means long hours of driving and knowing where you are going. This skill calmed everyone and we settled in for the roller coaster awaiting. My mom requested a blessing and my wonderful friends Angie and Wade happened to live 30 minutes away from the hospital. They dropped everything and drove to serve our family with a Priesthood blessing. Angie brought a lot of peace to my soul at this time, because she has had a lot of family crisis... she could relate and it helped me so much.

My mom had her aneurysm 4 hour surgery where they somehow took a device thru a vein in her upper leg and into her brain. They clipped the brain vessel before it burst and told us that her recovery could take within 8 months. The blood vessel was behind my mom's eye and so they gave her a patch to wear for the first few days. Soon she was recovering at Andy's and I am so grateful for the quick thinking of my little sister who knew something was terribly wrong. She saved my mom's life during this scare. I'm grateful for Kris and Wade who helped to organize the road trip and kept everyone calm. I'm grateful for Quinn who helped me feel grounded and made a great DJ on the way home during our rounds of "name that tune". I'm grateful for Larry who supports my mom loves her. I'm grateful for Scott, my kids and several friends who made it possible for me to leave only a few hours after we learned about my mom's condition. But most of all, I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who know's each of us personally. Who blessed me with strength above what I normally have. I recovered each day and was strong enough to face the next day. Many prayers were offered on behalf of my mom.

A week later, my little mommy and Larry were on their way back to Utah. My mom was amazing during her recovery and began to have strength and energy within days of her brain surgery. Her vision continues to improve, and we will see how much her vision is restored; especially since she has macular degeneration which has taken much of her eyesight.  During the follow up dr appt 2 days after her surgery, emotions for my mom came to the surface as she was reassured there was no additional brain damage. All of the sudden, the relief and the weight of what she had witnessed swept over her. My mom thanked the Dr multiple times and mentioned that it had been a miracle. I am so Grateful to have witnessed this.

The week after she arrived home, we were discussing the emergency. My mom and I saw many miracles during this time and my mom said that she had always felt peace, even when she wondered if it was her time to die. One of the miracles my mom related to me was, "the miracle was not that things turned out the way you wanted them to. The miracles happened when so many people who don't know each other, were asked to pray and did." Mom asked one sister in the ward to pray for her, she called everyone in the ward. Some knew her, some did not. But the miracle my mom said was that so many people together for one purpose, praying for her.

This is why I've called her "little mommy" but she's one of the strongest women I've ever known.

Soon, I'll share my little mommy's "marble story".

my Christmas poem

"Being only one star, what can you do When there are millions and millions and millions like you? 'I may be one, but I'm not all alone. Prophecies have declared my work written in stone. Many are waiting for what I am to give.
Looking for direction wherever they live. Everyone has something important to do, Your work may help one person; or even two.

Be a light to the world, no matter their view. Let love of the Lord reflect in you. And then it was time, our star couldn't stay. It's light announced the Savior, our first Christmas Day." ~ marci sargent, 2014 ~

"In our day the spirit of giving gifts plays a large role in commemorating the Christmas season. I wonder if we might profit by asking ourselves, What gifts would the Lord have me give to Him or to others at this precious season of the year?
~President Thomas S. Monson

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity". ~president Margaret D. Nadauld

"And we continue past the point we feel tired.
And we work past the point of our abilities.
And we remember who we are raising.
And within the warmth of hope,
we begin with the next day, to do again."

~marci sargent

"Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives. The future is as bright as your Faith." ~President Thomas S. Monson

"There are two important days in a woman’s life: The day she is born and the day she finds out why.” ~ Elaine Cannon

"The onslaught of wickedness against our children is more subtle and brazen than it has ever been. Building a strong family culture adds another layer of protection for our children, insulating them from worldly influences. God bless you goodly mothers and fathers in Zion. He has entrusted to your care His eternal children. As parents we partner, even join, with God in bringing to pass His work and glory among His children. It is our sacred duty to do our very best". ~ Elder L. Tom Perry

"My sweet young sisters, maintain an eternal perspective. Be alert to anything that would rob you of the blessings of eternity." ~President Thomas S. Monson

"I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by." ~President Thomas S. Monson

"Relief Society prepares women for the blessings of eternal life by awakening us spiritually to increase in faith and personal righteousness. Let us begin with ourselves. Let us begin where we are. Let us begin today. When we are spiritually awake, we will be better able to strengthen families and homes and help others." ~ Carole M Stephens

"Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness." ~Elder Richard G. Scott

"Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized." President Henry B. Eyring

"our faith in God includes faith in God’s timing."
"We do not control what I call “the great transfer board in the sky.” The inconveniences that are sometimes associated with release from our labors here are necessary in order to accelerate the work there. Heavenly Father can’t do His work there, with 10 times more people than we have on this planet, without on occasion taking some of the very best sisters and brothers from among us. The conditions of termination here, painful though they are, are a part of the conditions of acceleration there. Thus we are back to faith in the timing of God, and to our need to be able to say “Thy timing be done,” even when we do not fully understand it. " ~Elder Neal A. Maxwell Click to see full talk from 2002

"I ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He “would fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles of our] children’s children.” And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to “search diligently, pray always, and be believing. Then all things shall work together for [our] good, if [we] walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.” The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants."~ Elder Jeffery R. Holland, 2008

"Commune daily with your Heavenly Father who knows you best of all. He knows your talents, your strengths, and your weaknesses. You are here on the earth at this time to develop and refine these characteristics. I promise you He will help you. He is aware of your needs. He is aware of your unanswered prayers. ~Elder Marvin J. Ashton, May 1984

“To be a righteous woman during the winding-up scenes on this earth, before the Second Coming of our Savior, is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help to enrich, to protect, and to guard the home—which is society’s basic and most noble institution. Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife” ~President Spencer W. Kimball

I testify that by the Spirit of Christ and by the Holy Ghost, you may walk confidently in whatever difficulties will come. Because you are so valuable, some of your trials may be severe. You need never be discouraged or afraid. The way through difficulties has always been prepared for you, and you will find it if you exercise faith.When you walk in the light, you will feel at that moment some of the warmth and the happiness that will finally be yours when you are welcomed home again with the hundreds and perhaps thousands of others whom you will bring with you, who have walked in the light because you did. ~President Eyring, April 2008

"The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).¹ However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children." ~president Julie B. Beck