Friends,

 

My Dad had a bad fall down some steps at home on Thursday night (27 May) and hit his head pretty hard.  He's been in Suburban Hospital's (Bethesda, MD) Intensive Care Unit since then in a coma.  He had surgery Friday morning to remove a clot on his brain and insert a drain to remove fluid which causes pressure on the brain.  That procedure went very well and the doctor said Dad's brain/head looked good (except for the obvious trauma).  Or at least there was nothing he saw to indicate things were worse than expected.

 

Since the devastating news I received in a call from my Mom and a nerve-racking first day, things seem to be getting better.  His follow up CAT scans show improvement, he is responding to stimuli like a pinch or if you tickle his foot.  He coughs, yawns, etc.  He grips my hand tightly too and we speak to him and speak in his presence as if he can hear and understand what we're saying (he looks like he's asleep).  All these responses could be reflexes or voluntary but we'll take what we can get.  We're just waiting for him to open his eyes at this point, which we expect to happen at any moment. 

 

As I write this email it's been less than 48 hours.  Lord only knows how things will go but please keep my Dad in your prayers.  It doesn't seem as if his life is in danger but his brain just needs to gradually wake him up.

 

Thanks,

 

Jim Lampe

 

"I wanted a perfect ending...Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next."

-Gilda Radner