SHE CAME HOME!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Margaret is out of the hospital. She called us yesterday morning and told us to come get her as they were discharging her. We were shocked, needless to say. Denise and I headed down to the hospital as Doug was teaching CPR classes. We wanted to find out exactly what was happening as it was a lot sooner than they had told us.

We found out that she had been doing really well. She wasn't eating much and was still pretty sleepy, but they thought it was because she was bored and needed to be home. There isn't much she needs to do at this point. She can get up and about, read, light stuff. They want her awake during the day rather than laying in bed, so visitors might be nice!

She is staying at her sister Vicki's husband's parent's house. (yeah, that is a long one) They live very close to the Roundrock Building. I will try to track down and post the exact address.

We are all excited that she is doing better and hope that she continues to improve. The doctors are very impressed, as are we.

Keep her in your prayers!

She's out of ICU!!!

Yeah, I am really behind on getting everyone updates. I'm sorry! Here's the scoop as of yesterday. I haven't heard any updates today.

On Sunday, we got word that the plan was to move her out of ICU on Monday. No time was set and she seemed to be doing well. On Saturday night she started using her Nikkan Magnets again and found instant relief. On Sunday they let her use all of her stuff and her improvement was amazingly quick. She was more alert and doing better physically as well.

Monday morning they moved her to room 526 on the 5th floor. They took the cerebral drain out, the IV out and whatever other miscellaneous tubes she had coming out of her. She was able to get up and walk around, eat more food, and generally seemed to be doing well. She is still tired and was really looking forward to getting a great nights sleep. She was still sturggling with names, but the hospital said they had therapy for that stuff, so that was encouraging.

Ok, so that's all I can think of right now. I will try and post updates faster!!

Teamwork

As I visit Margaret in her very sleepy state, I have lots of time to sit and think. That doesn't happen very often... time to sit and think I mean. It has occurred to me how important it is that everyone work together. It is continually amazing to me the amount of people that it takes to pick up from one person not being there. Doug's sister and parents (in Wylie) have done so much to help, especially those first few days when everyone was a mess. Margaret's parents and sister have come in to help as well. Obviously there have been a few close friends who have been working tirelessly as well. When I added it up, it was like 8 extra people all trying to take care of what Margaret did on her own. That is pretty amazing!

It also helps me to realize the importance of family. Margaret and Doug are pretty darn blessed to have such amazing support. I know anyone who knows and loves them would step in instantly, but it sure is wonderful to have their support. It makes me wish my family were close by.

The most important thing though, is that even if we were all working our hardest, if we were doing it alone, it would never work. It is when we work as a team that we actually accomplish amazing things. The same thing happens for Margaret in the hospital. When she works with her nurse and doctor, that is when she starts to progress. It is truly important that we all work together to achieve the best results.

Just some random thoughts to close out the day.

Donations Part Two

A donation accout has been opened in Margaret's Name through Capital One Bank. The account allows those desiring to donate cash to use it as a tax deduction. As tax season is right around the corner, you won't even have to keep your reciept for very long!

We will also be setting up a paypal account that will be linked to the donation account for those who wish to donate and are long distance. More to follow on that.

Here is the info you need:

Capital One Bank (www.capitalone.com)
Locations all over DFW
Her branch:
4024 14th St Plano, TX 75074
972-364-6120

The account Number is:
3312997117

Simply stop in any branch and ask to make a deposit to that account. They will advise you on how to fill out the check if you are writing one. Your deposit slip should act as a reciept for tax purposes, but if you need something different, please contact Tom privately and he can get you something from the bank. He is handling this end of things.

I think that is all for now. A special thank you goes out to those who have given so generously already. Every little bit helps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. Oh how we are all grateful for the things we have, our health in particular.

Went down to the hospital last night. Margaret had an Angiogram yesterday and they did see a vasal spasm. They said it was small and so they just increased her blood pressure to support the artery so that it wouldn't collapse. Layman's terms as I understand them. They may or may not have to do another one and it sounds as if that meant it would be the full 14 days in ICU. Again, so many things are unclear.

After the surgery, she had to lay completely flat and still for 6 hours. This proved difficult. Denise, her sister, was down there until about 7pm and Margaret was still restless and moving. They said when she moved, her 6 hours had to start over again. I offered to go down and sit with her. By the time I got down there around 7:30pm, she had fallen asleep. She rested very peacefully until about 10pm when the 6 hour mark was up. The nurse came in and woke her up. She was happy to sit up and stretch a little. I got her to eat about 10 bites of food (we normally max out at 6) which was great. She gets very tired chewing. We chatted and laughed for a bit. Then I read to her out of Prelude to Glory. She is in the 7th or 8th book and on like chapter 40, so I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the book, but get this... that chapter there was childbirth!! Yep, childbirth on the prairie with a midwife and a wet nurse and everything. She thought it was pretty funny that I was excited. OK, enough side tracking. Sorry! Anyhoo, we read until about 11:30pm when my mouth was going to fall off and she was pretty tired anyway. I left her dozing with her classical music playing in the background.

I haven't heard of any updates today. My plan was to go down tonight, but the tritophan and a cranky baby are mostlikely going to keep me home. I will see her tomorrow for sure and update any changes at that point.

Lots of love and thanksgiving!

Monday evening update and pictures!

Here she is, being her regular self! The bruising and blood shot eye are from the surgery. The shiny stuff on the top of her head are the staples from her surgery. The circular thing in her neck is called a pick line and is in place of her IV. The tube for her spinal fluid isn't showing.

Her pictures and poster. Still plenty of room to fill up!

Margaret being silly again with Bethany and I.

She is giving me the "You better put away the camera or I will stick you with my IV" look. LOL

Went down to the hospital yesterday after church and this evening. I'll start with yesterday...



Raechal, Bethany and I were down there yesterday. Her swelling had gone down and she seemed more alert. She was listening to us girls as we chatted and participating in the conversation as best she could. I think we were talking too fast for her. She was joking around with us, so that was fun. We brought her some books on tape so she could have something to listen to. We are still looking for the Prelude to Glory Books on tape or CD. She has been reading them. She is on book 7 or 8 (I can't remember- I'll check). If you have them and are willing to lend them out, we would love it! Overall, she did well. She was wanting to sit up, but the nurse said she had 1 week before they would let her sit up. Her parents arrived from Mexico and her sister came in from Washington. They were able to see her last night and will stay for some time to help out around the house and take shifts at the hospital.



Tonight I went down and spent some time with her. She again is doing well. We were able to get some more information, although at this point it is still a little unclear. Here is what I know! They will go in and do an angiogram (sp?) to determine if she is having vasal spasms. They will enter through her femur artery and go up to her brain where they will inject a dye and see how it flows. If there appears to be any blockage, they will do an angioplast (sp?) to clear it. If everything is great and stays that way, she will be in ICU 10 days. We aren't sure if that means 10 MORE days, or 10 days TOTAL. If there are vasal spasms, that add 5 days to her ICU stay for each one. The other concern is mini strokes at this point and I have no idea how they check for those. The nurse indicated that once they move her to the 5th floor, she will most likely be there for as long as she was in the ICU. Again, best case senario. The nurse said tonight that her spinal fluid drainage has slowed. This means they may be able to remove the drain from her head soon. It is really bothering her. Once they remove it, there is a chance that the fluid could build up again and it would result in more sleepiness and confusion. If that happened, they would go in and put the drain back in.



The nurse indicated that every 24 hours that she is in bed, she loses 3% of her muscle mass. I don't have time to verify that statistic, so I am just going to believe her. What that means though is that once she comes home, she will be very weak and tired. They said that she will need help daily with normal stuff for 6-8 weeks before her mobility is back to "normal", whatever that may be. Nothing was said about any other level of functioning.



She was still pretty confused about some things and clear as a bell on others. They are not keeping her sedated, but she is on pain medicine and they wake her every hour, so the nurse said she is probably pretty tired. She was complaining tonight that her head hurt, so I imagine any residual pain meds from the surgery have worn off. She recieved pain meds before we left tonight, and was planning to go to sleep. We left her listening to the classical radio station, which she seemed to really enjoy. Hopefully it will drown out the other noise.



Doug and Tom got a donation account set up through capital one today. It is tax deductible and hopefully we will have a paypal account set up tomorrow for those who want to donate long distance. I will post all the details tomorrow.



Thanks again for everyone who has donated time, money, or items needed and for those who are not only looking out for the Johnson family, but for Tom and I as well. We love you all.

To Donate...

There have been several requests for information on donating to the Johnson Family. There are several ways this can be done. All donations should be mailed or delivered tothe address below unless otherwise indicated:

Elizabeth Boyce
2401 Kentfield Lane
Plano, TX 75074

For Cash Donations:

If you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Plano 7th ward, your donation can be done through your fast offering. Please simply include it there.

Otherwise, you can mail or deliver your check or cash to the above address. We are working on setting up an account. More soon to follow.

For Gift Cards:

They are in particular need of gift cards from gas stations, fast food restraunts and for parking at the hospital. The nearest fast food is McDonalds and Wendys and the parking garage does accept visa or mastercard donations. Any gas cards are appreciated. These can be mailed or delivered to the above address.

For Services or to donate items in need:

If you would like to help with meals, childcare, laundry, or other types of service, or are interested in donating needed items, big or small, please contact

Margaret Havenar (sohpy2blds@yahoo.com 972-516-8316) or

Geniel Crandall (genielcrandall@gmail.com 972-423-6710)

Thank you for your kind and generous hearts.

A generous donation

The Johnson's are getting a new washing machine! As Margaret has been hauling laundry to the laundry mat for the 8 people in the house for the last month, it was about time! An anonymous donation has allowed them purchase a new one and be able to get control of that laundry! It is being delivered and installed today.

THANK YOU!!!

After surgery update...

I would like to update everyone on how Margaret's surgery went yesterday. I was down there all day and got to see her. Yeah!

First, they did not have to shave her head. There appears to be some areas that will probably have hair loss, but for the most part, it is all there. The incision went from her right temple up and accross the top of her head and then down her left temple past her left ear(between her ear and cheek bone). There were staples running the whole length. We told her she got a face lift at the same time! She thought that was funny.

They have a tube running straight into her cerebral cortex to drain spinal fluid. Once they clamped the artery, the swelling started going down almost immediately. The drain is to allow the fluid retained from swelling to drain out effectively. They were seeing more drainage than they would really like, but right now that is ok. She is very tired. She comes in and out of sleepiness. When she wakes up, she immediately starts telling everyone all the things she is supposed to be doing and who to call to cover them! That amazing woman never stops. She is pretty ticked to be stuck in bed. She keeps asking to go for a ride in the wheelchair. She flat out hates her bed. Yesterday they wouldn't give her any water and she kept trying to get anyone who would come in to sneak her some! Man I love her! It'sa good thing I wasn't there. I would have given it to her.

Her parents and sister are coming into town tomorrow and will beavailable to be with the kids at home. That will be great as they have all been at seperate houses. Our church has supplied groceries for them and will for the next while. This should help while family is in town. Once the extended family leaves, our plan is to then pick up the slack with meals and childcare for as long as necessary. Right now, the major expenses that are being incurred are from gas, parking ($4 every day or more if you leave and come back), and eating out down at the hospital (Wendy's and McDonalds are right there). If anyone would like to donate gift cards for any of the above, it would not be turned away. Please feel free to contact me privately if you wish to do so.

From what I understand, Thanksgiving is covered. Margaret's oldest daughter is also planning her wedding, which is supposed to be in 6 weeks. At this point it is still a go on schedule and we are all hoping for the best. She has said she has everything under control for that. We just don't know about Christmas yet. I want to thank you all again for your emails, calls, and support. It was so nice to get to see her and I personally have my spirits lifted. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The second update...

Just thought I would update everyone on what is going on. Margaret will be undergoing brain surgery at 7 am tomorrow. In layman's terms, there are 4 main arteries that lead to your brain at the base of your neck.They then branch into other areas of the brain. These arteries are big ones. The neurosurgeon said that when one of these arteries bursts, people don'tusually survive the ride to the hospital. They are that fatal. The artery that Margaret had burst was the one that is closest to her ocular (vision) nerves. Her bleeding had stopped on it's own and the fact that she was not only alive, but awake (although incoherant) was a miracle by itself. Add that to the fact that her bleeding stopped and that there didn'tappear to be any more damage was amazing.They are going in and removing part of her skull to reach the artery that burst. They will place a clamp on it to prevent the bleeding from starting spontaneously again. There is some risk to her vision, but nothing will be known until she is recovering. She will be in ICU for 2-3 weeks and then will move to the regular hospital floor for an undetermined amount of time. The exent of her recovery is completely unknown at this point. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers. She has had a priesthood blessing. Her family is here and her extended family are on their way. Please continue to pray for the surgeon and a steady hand and comfort for her (she is in a lot of pain right now) and for the family and friends. All requests for help should still go through Geniel Crandall or Margaret Havenar.

EDITED TO ADD: This was written earlier today. Since then Margaret actually woke up and was doing great. She was able to eat dinner tonight and was talking and seemed much more aware of what was going on. Her vision was hazy and she tired very quickly, but it is tremendous progress in the right direction. Sadly she asked where I was and I ofcourse was at home holding down the fort (WHAAAA). I will be at the hospital tomorrow for sure! I just wanted to add thisas it was a very positive sign.We appreciate your love. I especially appreciate all of your personal notes of encouragement and prayer.

The First Notice...

Most of you know Margaret Johnson, mom to 6 homeschool kiddos and my best friend. She collapsed yesterday and lost all feeling in the leftside of her body. She was rushed to Presby Allen and diagnosed with a brain aneurism. They life flighted her down to Zale Lipshy at UT Southwestern where she is in ICU. She will be there at least 2 weeks. They have determined that the aneurism did rupture and that she has bleeding in her brain. It is unknown at this point if it cerebral or not. We are still waiting to here. They are going in through her main artery today to try and stop the bleeding. If they can't they will open up her skull. We are all a mess right now. The family's needs are taken care of by the compassionate service portion of our church. Emotionally, we could use your prayers and thoughts for the family and her quick recovery. I appreciate your support.