my mom

My mom had a stroke this morning some time between 7:30am and 9:30am. My dad left for work a little early today and said goodbye to her at 7:30am and she was totally normal. My mom’s friend, Judy, was fortunately coming over to take her to the U of M luncheon and she fortunately came a little earlier than usual, around 9:30am. She found my mom laying on the ground, unconscious. She called the ambulance, my mom was brought to U of M and by 12 noon, we had to make a decision to try a procedure that was time sensitive to try to take out the clot (a risky procedure but our only option) or we could do nothing. We decided to try the procedure and it helped a little, the doctors got one clot out but another remains. They couldn’t take a second one out fast enough and the risks for another stroke were too high.

She cannot talk or move so much or respond and the next 3-5 days are still touch and go because there will be increased swelling in her brain. They also started her on heparin which is risky either way because if they do not give her a blood thinner, she will probably develop new clots and with the heparin, there’s a risk of increased bleeding in her brain. You may visit if you’d like. If all goes well, she will be here for at least 10 days before going to a rehab center. All this on top of her cancer. Are strokes common among people who have cancer?