Today

The one thing that we do not want to hear is that our Mother will not be the same again. Sometimes in life, you have to face reality and come to reason with bad situations. That is where we find ourselves now. Mother had an EEG performed, and the deciphering showed minimal slowing. The doctor said that Mother has a severe brain injury. He said that Mother's brain function was dysfunctional and confused. Trinity's staff is giving her the benefit of the doubt and caring for her deeply.

The roller coaster ride is on the downhill fast pace like the mindbender at Six Flags. At times like this, we surround ourselves with Friends, Family, and most importantly, God.

Lord, we are Your hurting children crying out for You. Please Lord, we ask for miracles. We praise Your work. Heal and comfort our Mother and Family. In Christ's name, Amen.

Thanks to all,

Keith and Family

Today

Mother is more calm now. The staff has given her some medication for sedation. Her vital signs were more normal yesterday and today. Two drains were removed yesterday and she did great with that. The ventriculostomy is still in. I called and check on her this morning, and the nurse said she had a good night. She is resting today. He said that the plan was to reduce the level of the medication today to see how she reacts. God, we are praying for our Mother and her healing. Amen.


Thanks,

Keith and Family

New changes

It was a testy day today. Mother suffered a seizure and bit her tongue pretty bad. The doctor said that seizures are something common with brain injured patients. It is very scary. It is not what you typically think a seizure is. She was not shaking her body at all. Her breathing rate went up. They had to settle her down with a medication that calmed her down. They said her brain was and is going through some changes that it cannot comprehend.

The neurosurgeon did say that he saw improvement in her CT scan that he performed this morning. This means that what he did, with surgery, created an improvement from where she was. This is another little stride in the good way. Praise God! Everytime that I see or hear something that reminds me of my Mother, I say a prayer for her. So I am asking everyone to please say a prayer everytime you think of our Mother.

Thanks,

Keith and Family

Today

Mother was doing good this afternoon. She really senses us being in the room with her. Her heart rate and respiration levels increase when we are in there with her. Lori asked her to move her mouth if she heard her, and she did. This may sound very small, but it is huge for us.

She had her eyes open all day. This nurse said she was more alert today. They placed three drains in Mother's brain to constantly monitor the pressure. Once the fluid turns a more clear color then two of the drains will be removed. She is settling into her new "home". We praise God for another day with her. We cannot wait until tomorrow, because it will be another one.

The accident is a life changing event for all of us, and God has taken this opportunity for us to get closer to him. Mother is his precious child. He said that we cannot comprehend His ways. Our ways are not the same as His ways. Lord, we will trust and pray that You are working for us as we are working for You.

God bless,

Keith and Family

Today

It seems that Mother is resting fairly good today. All of her vital signs are good. She had her eyes open some today. Her ICP is down to an acceptable level. Kyle, Lori, Dad, and I visited with her at lunch. There really is no change to her today.

I will update again after I see her at 430.


Thanks and God Bless,

Keith and Family

The move

Mother is a new resident of Birmingham. She was successfully moved to Trinity yesterday. Upon her arrival, the new doctor completed several scans of her. He studied the results, and discussed his plan with us. He told us of the four problems areas that he discovered. In his opinion, he wanted to do another brain surgery to relieve the problem areas. It was tough to swallow, but we wanted the problems he identified fixed. We prayed to our Father, and he gave us the comfort to go ahead with the surgeries. She was scheduled for this morning.

Today was a long, anxious, and tiresome day. Mother was taken to the OR around 1140 am. She underwent the anesthesia, and was in surgery for approximately 2 hours. The doctor came out, and discussed what was performed. He tackled the areas of concern, and she did well. It was was a relief. Praise God! The doctor removed a blood clot that was on the left side of the brain. He relieved an enormous amount of pressure from her brain. He relieved a pocket of fluid that was collecting under her skin but above the skull.

This is the first step, and it was a big one. It is amazing how powerful the work of our Lord is, and He has told us that if we believe, we can move mountains. We have to wait and see how this new environment and how the procedures will help Mother. We thank you all, and we Glorify God. He is great.

Thanks,

Keith and Family

Today

There is no real change to Mother today. The only thing is that she had to put back on the ventilator yesterday. This is considered a set back, because she was only on pressure support. She was breathing at a higher rate than she needs to be.

She will be moved tomorrow to Trinity in Birmingham. Please continue praying for our Mother. She is still in a dark place, but she has Our Shepherd looking over her.

Thanks for all,


Keith and Family

This weekend

It seems to us that this weekend was more of the same from a neuro standpoint. Mother was very constant with her breathing and heart rates. She did get a little excited when the Alabama/Arkansas game was on. Roll Tide!

We have decided to intiate a move to Trinity Hospital in Birmingham. Mother will be transported by a critical care unit on Wednesday morning. She will be seen by the neuro group that resides at Trinity neuro ICU. We are pleased that this is happening. We are very thankful to the Doctors, Nurses, and staff at Baptist. I fully believe that they had a hand in saving my mother's life. They have been so kind and gentle with their care of Mother. She has made many new friends with her stay there. Thank you to Baptist.

We stand very faithful in the Lord, our Father. He is showing us this path, and we are going to follow his instructions with this move. We still ask for the continued prayers and we will continue to update this site.

With our blessing from the Lord,

Keith and Family

Update for Today

Words cannot express the overwhelming love we feel from all of you. Your prayers and words of encouragement help us every minute of every day. We feel so uplifted from all of you who love us and my mom. God is working through this horrific tragedy. I can definitely feel it! I had someone tell me the other day that he didn't pray much but he had definitely been praying for Mom and our family. I can only hope this will bring him closer to God.

Mom has had a fever last night and today. They think it could be an infection in her lungs. She is a little congested, but the nurse doesn't think it is too bad. They are terrific about suctioning her and trying to keep her clear. Mom's blood pressure and heart rate are a little high. She is such a fighter! Please continue to pray for her. My dad also needs your prayers. She has been the love of his life since they were 15 years old. This is unbelievably hard on my dad, my brothers, and me. We are at a lost without her. Also continue to pray for my Aunt Deb (her sister), my grandmother, and her brothers, Tommy and Jackie. They are all hurting as well. She is loved by so many people.

In Christ,

Kena and family

Today

During times like these, there are swings in emotions. You find yourself content sometimes and very depressed other times. We lean on the Lord to pull us through the depressed times. You could say today was one of those depressed days. After spending a few minutes with Mother, we had a serious discussion with the staff at the hospital. The neurosurgeon does not think, medically, that Mother will progress anymore. We try to stay as positive as we can, but it gets hard sometimes. I will not reveal much of the negative side as I would like, but I can tell you that our Mother desperately needs all the prayer that she can get. We pray for the complete restoration of our Mother. She is very precious to us, and our love for her is overwhelming. She is very proud of her children. She raised us, cared for us, nourished us, hugged and kissed us, and cared deeply for us. That is one thing that can never be taken from us. That is something that we could always count on. We pray that we can feel that one more day.

Prayerfully,

Keith and the Family

Update

Mother rested very well last night. Her breathing patterns were down from this weekend. She is a little congested this morning, so the staff is testing her fluids this morning to make sure she has the correct antibiotics. It seems that we are holding on to every little change. Times like these are when we lean on our Father the most. God is good. Mother is His child, and His hands and the Holy Spirit are present with our Mother. We continue to ask for His miracle.

Keith

This weekend

To all,

It was a real uneventful weekend. Mother had her eyes open sparingly. She was breathing at a higher rate this weekend, so the nurses had to give her some medication to slow this down. She seemed to rest very well. My aunt Denise did tell me tonight that she was real alert and had her eyes open wide. She said that was the best that she had seen her. More fluid was drawn from her on Friday. The protein count was still high. There was also another CT scan performed on Friday, and we should know if there was any change this week. We continue to pray daily for this horrible situation to improve. It is very hard for us to see our Mother in this condition. We still are asking for everyone to continue praying for her. We appreciate it.

I was given the book 90 minutes in Heaven written by Don Piper by my boss (Thanks Debbie). I completed it this weekend. It was very inspiring. He talks about his encounter with death and how people, not him, prayed him back to life. God says that if you ask for things, in my name, you will recieve. Lord, we and many others are asking. Please bring our Mother back to us.

Keith and Family

last night

After a nice dinner at the Prattville United Methodist Church with Kena and her kids, I went to see Mother. She was doing about the same. She did seem to me a little more alert. She had her eyes open. I felt a little movement in one of her fingers. She looked great, and I was pleased with the visit. She was yawning and had some new facial expressions. Her vital signs were good. As we were about to leave, she seemed to settle in for her nightly nap. We are expecting these little things to change throughout this journey. As the new friend to the Family, Junior Riley, states, "If the little things keep coming, soon we will have a big ol' pile of it". We are counting on and looking forward to our "Big ol' Pile".

Thank for everything,

Keith

Update

I have the understanding that a lot of people rely on this website for updates. We will try to do a better job with this. It seems that Kena updated the site this morning. To some who do not realize, Mother was severely injured, and the Doctors did not expect her to live very long. Today is the 32nd day removed from the accident. We feel blessed to have her one day at a time. God can move mountains, and we believe that this mountain will be destroyed.

As you can read from Kena response, Mother is fighting every day to "shake it off" (she would tell us this when we got hurt). With God's love and our support, she will shake it off. We are honored that everyone is concerned with her condition and are praying for her healing. We appreciate it.


Keith and the entire Family
Psalms 118:6

Update for Today

Mom is doing about the same. Dr. Kendrick doesn't think the bacterial infection in her spinal fluid is "real". Meaning, there could be an infection on her skin not in the fluid. He says her white blood count and glucose level are good. If it was a "real" bacterial infection, the bacteria would "eat" the glucose up. She is being treated with an antibiotic. Her protein level is still high, therefore they still can't put the shunt in. The doctor says that will just take time. After the shunt is put in, we will be moving her to Birmingham.

Last night when we saw her, she was very alert. She had her eyes open almost the entire time. I was rubbing her hand with some lotion and she curled and stiffened her fingers. She also curled her fingers around my Aunt Deb's hand night before last. She's not "squeezing" our hands just simply gripping them a little. We are hoping that is some sort of response.

Please know that we appreciate your prayers tremendously! Thank you for the meals, cards, calls, and prayers you have given my family and me!
We are asking everyone to continue to pray for Mom. We know that there is nothing God cannot do! It is truly a miracle that she is here today!

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

Kena and the Tatum family

This weekend

There is no real change to mother this weekend. The only thing is that the spinal fluid that was drained Friday came back positive for a living organism. They think it came from the lake water. They have started a stronger antibotic to treat this. This may be the reason for the high count of protein. She has opened her eyes more this weekend. She seems to be a little more focused when she has them open. Mother is still in a really bad place, and we are praying daily that God delivers her back to us. We continue to thank everyone for what you are doing.


Keith and the Tatum Family

Please continue to Pray for Mother

Today there is no real change in Mother's conditions. The shunt has not been placed yet. The doctors are waiting on her protein levels in her cerebial spinal fluid to decrease. The levels are up because of the injury or inflammation. The doctors have drained the accumulated fluid and sent it off for testing. The ventilator is still giving Mother pressure support. They are doing Trac collar trials for one hour increments daily. These are to try to ween her off the ventilator. Her breathing elavates during these times, but she calms down afterwards. The nurses have said that Mother lungs sound clear.

We continue to ask for prayers for her, because she is still in a horrible place. We are very grateful to all, and thank you for all that you have done. The support tree for our family is tremendous, and we are blessed to have you all.

Mother

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a tough weekend for us. Emotions have varied for all of us. The precious person that we have all relied on for everything now needs us to care for her. The doctors informed us that Mother's spinal fluid is not being absorbed by her body. This means that her head still has fluid being produced, but it has no where to go. The doctors have said that they need to place a shunt in to relieve this pressure. This will require another surgery. This will be a set back to Mother's recovery short term, but will obviously help her. We still are asking you to help her with your prayers. She still has rocky road to travel.

Kena, myself, and Kyle have always had our Mother to comfort us. This is a difficult and brand new place that we find ourselves in. We just continue to ask the Lord for peace and strength to guide us through these extraordinary times. Words cannot describe the enormous challenge we are going through. We want to thank everyone for the support throughout this situation that we are trying to deal with.

Sincerely,

Keith