A Post From Brenda

Dearest friends and loved ones,

I want to share some thoughts with you this morning.
It is amazing how little time I have spent in the past
years of my life actually sitting and contemplating
God and His amazing universe and the relative
importance of all the little things that occupy our
time and thoughts that are of such little cosequence
in the overall picture of life from birth to the
grave.

I now believe that the only truly important things
worth our time and efforts are found in the form of
the people we meet and interact with all the days of
our lives. All the time we spend gathering things and
then disposing of those things seems to be as dust in
the wind compared to spending time walking and talking
with those we love and cherish. For example, I now
have the opportunity to be with Lee and each of my
family members and talk with others on the telephone
as never before and that time is now the most precious
of all life's blessings to me. Do you think I spend
much time contemplating how glad I am that I watched
some movie or read some book -- many of these things
have been enjoyable, but I would not exchange any for
watching the children dig in the dirt or read a book
aloud or give me a helping hand when I'm havig
difficulty with seemingly simple tasks.
When I first woke from my stroke, I remember feeling
that I had been brought back from death to life and
wondering if God had some grand plan for me and He
brought me back to accomplish that. Some dear person
who visited me soon after I realized this feeling
suggested that perhaps I have been placed in the lives
of those I meet so that I can provide others with
opportunities to help and encourage me. That thought
has brought me such peace and pleasure in being alive
and sharing my life with others.

My sincere and earnest prayer is that each of us will
sincerely worship God by presening our lives to Him in
all we say ad do. Our reward will be beyond our hopes
and dreams in this life and the world to come.
Please take advantage of each chance to be God's
"hands and feet" and "light" today and every day that
you are given.

Love and warmest greeings to each of you.

Brenda

Additional Surgery July 26th

Mom is doing very well in her recovery, and we continue to be amazed at her healing God has generously provided. As a part of her recovery, they will be replacing the missing piece of her skull which was removed during the craniotomy. The surgery is scheduled to take place early in the day on July 26th, and she is expected to stay in the hospital at least one night and maybe two for observation. As I understand it, this is considered a fairly uncomplicated, safe surgery, but there is always risk, of course. Thank you again for your continued concern and prayers on Mom's behalf.

Message From Brenda

Mom asked that I post the following on the blog:

I wish to thank each one of you for your prayers andexpressions of concern during my recent illness. InHis boundless love and mercy, God has granted me aspecial chance to continue my walk on this Earth. Each of you had a special part in bringing me to thispoint. I think my current condition is a livingwitness to God's amazing power to heal and comfort intimes of trial. I ask you to continue to pray for meas I begin a special therapy program this week torestore some of my lost capabilities. With God's helpand the continued love and support of all my friends,I am confident that my wonderful progress willcontinue. - Brenda Westbrook (5-14-07)

Update as of 5/10/07

If you go to the hospital to visit my mom, you will be disappointed ... because she went home today! I don't know what kind of care she will need at this point, if any. She is doing very well, and we are all so very thankful. Many of you were reminded this week of the frailty of life with the passing of our dear friend Megann Shepard. We are routinely reminded that we do not know what tomorrow will bring, and what a great reason to make the most of today. These updates will be much less frequent now that mom is home, but I wanted to thank you all again for sharing this event with us through your prayer, concern, and friendship. For now, I leave you with a quote from the same Oscar Wilde essay Karol read from at Megann's funeral as a reminder of how important our friends have been to us in this difficult time.

Blessings to you and praise to our Father.

"If a friend of mine gave a feast, and did not invite me to it, I should not mind a bit. But if a friend of mine had a sorrow and refused to allow me to share it, I should feel it most bitterly. If he thought me unworthy, unfit to weep with him, I should feel it as the most poignant humiliation."

Update as of 5/7/07

Samuel, Benton, Lang, and I went to see mom yesterday and stayed about an hour. We had a good time, and she seems to be doing very well. She was up and walking around the room with the kids much of the time we were there. They aren't getting much information about it, but they are hoping she may go home later this week before the weekend. I think she is getting a little bored, because she called me to talk Saturday (you have to be bored if you call me to talk). Anyway, she is still doing the physical therapy routine but she would be glad to have any visitors. Again, thank you for your continued concern and prayers for her. Blessings.
Paul

Update as of 5/3/07

I found out yesterday that mom was moved to the rehabilitation area of Harris, which is in Richardson Tower. They expect her to be there 1-2 weeks. Her good progress continues. She will be involved with therapy from 7 am to 4 pm, so be aware that you may have a tough time seeing her if you try to visit during these hours. We are hopeful that her rehabilitation work will be effective in improving some of the issues she is having with her vision (the brain part of vision, rather than eyes part) and some short-term memory, as well as recovering some strength. Thank you again for your continued concern and prayers.
Paul

Update as of 4/30/07

Karol, Lang, and I went to see mom Monday at lunch. She was sitting up in a chair and is doing very well under the circumstances. I understand she was able to walk some earlier in the day with some assistance. She is completely unhooked from all medical tubes now. When we talked, her biggest issue was that her vision and depth perception were not quite working right. She is also having some minor issues with short term memory. I understand there is an expectation that all these things will improve in the coming days and weeks. We don't have anything definitive from the medical personnel, but we will not be surprised if she is able to go home within the next week or so. She is in a regular room in the Richardson tower at Harris Hospital downtown. Thank you again for your prayers and comments. I am glad to be able to provide such good news.

Paul

Update as of 4/28/07

Thank you all for your comments thus far. They are really encouraging and will be given to mom. Yesterday afternoon mom was moved from the ICU to a regular room. Though we don't speak with the doctors as often as we would like, it is certainly good news that they feel good enough to move her out of ICU. The thing we are most concerned about now is that mom continues to have periodic severe headaches, like migraines. They are medicating the headaches now, but we really need those to be resolved whether it's through treating the spasms or something else. Thanks again for your involvement in our lives. Your verses for the day are Romans 8:37-39. Love and blessings to all of you.

Paul

Update as of 4/27/07

Mom is making good progress. She is able to move all of her limbs with some strength. All of her breathing, feeding and other tubes have been removed and she is eating, drinking, and talking. She is still in some general pain and some head pain, and they are treating her pain with medication. The doctors are treating her vasospasm condition with steroids which may be having some side effects such as visions, anxiety, etc. There hasn't really been any news or changes from the doctors in the last two days. When I have been there, mom is awake, alert, recognizes us and has pretty good awareness and memory of who everyone is and other things in her life. Her short-term memory, such as today and the last few days, may not be particularly good right now. As with all of these issues, things remain somewhat unpredictable. We are very grateful for her progress thus far and look forward to more in the coming days.

Thank you all for your continuing concern and prayers, as well as the help many of you are providing with our work, kids, and other life stuff. Your verse for the day is Philippians 4:4-7. Look it up - you'll be blessed.

Background and Status as of 4/25/07

A little personal background first - If you didn't know, my mom's name is Brenda Westbrook. She is 58 years old. My dad, Lee Westbrook, is 59 years old and retired from TXU Electric about 3 weeks ago. My sister, Mary Nanny, works as an RN at Harris downtown in labor and delivery but spent about a year in the Neuro ICU. With this background, she has been an incredible help to us and the medical personnel.

Last Thursday (4/19), my mom suffered a brain bleed of unknown cause, which was preceded by a few weeks of sporadic migraine headaches. Dr. Diana Wilson performed brain surgery last Friday in which she removed the blood, found and removed an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which could have contributed to or caused the initial bleed, cauterized any bleeding areas, and removed a portion of the skull to permit some cerebral swelling. Yesterday (4/24), another doctor performed an arteriogram (much like an angiogram), in which they discovered that the bleeding issues and malformations had been well taken care of. However, they detected something called diffuse cerebral vasospasms, which means that vessels throughout her brain are spasming. The down sides of this are (1) potential restriction of overall blood supply, and (2) pain similar to a migraine. They are perplexed about this issue, because it is not typically associated with her other issues, and they are attempting various treatments at this time. There is not a surgical treatment. The treatments they are trying will take several days, and she will remain mostly sedated and tubed, with restricted visiting hours and us not wanting to agitate her condition unnecessarily. The spams could be the result of a specific condition called vasculitis, or they could just be spasms. They are testing trying to figure this out.

So, the long and short of it is that we are in a holding pattern seeing whether the current treatments will be effective for the new issues. There are a number of things the doctors are pleased with, and they are continuing to work to eliminate each issue. Mom will likely remain in Neuro ICU for at least 2-3 weeks. It seems every part of these conditions can change fairly quickly. I and my family appreciate your concern and your prayers throughout this time. Fortunately, my family doesn't merely believe in God - we believe God, and we are content that all of us, including mom, are resting in His compassionate, sufficient grace.