Tuesday Update #1 -- noon

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay between posts -- the wifi at the hotel wouldn't work, so we are just now getting hooked back up at the hospital. I wrote out a 15 minute blog at the hotel this morning and then it wouldn't post, so I am going to try it again. :)

ICU closed from 6-8 last night, so we all went back to the hotel to eat and chill for a bit. Dad and Bo went back to the hospital at 8:00 and us girls went back to the room. We were all pooped and we wanted to get Brooke ready for bed. Brooke was AMAZING yesterday at the hospital. She was such an angel and we were all so proud of her. Dad and Bo got back to the hotel about 9:15 and said that mom was much better. She was getting more like 'Tina' again. She was settling down and the nausea from the surgery was subsiding. So we all crashed hard last night after a hard day and were so thankful that she was okay.

Dad and Bo were back with her at 8:00 this morning. She didn't rest much last night -- she had a CT scan at 2am and blood work at 4am, so they didn't leave her alone much. She laughed about ICU -- she said they were constantly saying "I see you." Brooke, Lolo, and I slept until about 9:00 and got ready and came up to the hospital about 11:00. It was so good to see mom and to get to talk with her. Her right eye is completely swollen shut and it bruised, so she looks pretty rough. The side of her face is swollen as well. They said that the fluids from her incision will pool in her eye, but it will go away in a few days. She was having more pain in her head today, but they were keeping her on the pain meds regularly. She gets very dizzy every time she moves, due to the loss of the nerve that takes care of her balance. Then, she gets nauseaus when she gets dizzy. PT and OT are scheduled to come this afternoon. They will be getting her up and around. The nurse said that the only way to alleviate the dizziness would be to move her around and re-train that left ear. Mom cringed at the thought, as I know it will make her feel terrible. But hopefully it will help the dizziness go away faster. They put in an order for a regular room this morning and they will move her to the 5th floor as soon as a room is available. Her hearing in the right ear is still questionable. She is hearing a few things in that ear, and they are hoping that when the swelling goes down, that her hearing will continue to improve. So we are here, hanging out in the ICU waiting room. They gave her more pain meds and nausea meds about 20 minutes ago, so we are trying to leave her alone and let her rest. We have lots of family and friends who have been stopping by -- we are so appreciative

We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the amazing outpouring of love and support. Our cousin in Beaumont, who is a nurse, sent mom the following message: "The recovery of the patient is in direct correlation to the number of the people in the waiting room." We had the most amazing support system with us here, both in body and in spirit. We know that God is taking care of our sweet mom and we are so thankful for all your prayers and thoughts.

I will post again once we get her moved to a regular room and will let you know her progress. Thanks again for all your love and support!

*Also, I heard from Kyle last night. They had made it up the mountain to Cordova and were trying to get settled. So two major praises from God yesterday -- mom made it through surgery and Kyle made it up the mountain! Please keep praying! Love!