Sonya Gwinn & family

Hey there, I am Jessica Hardin and I am raising money for the Sonya Gwinn & family. She's got a long road to recovery and I would love to ease some of their financial stress. Whether it be hospital bills, family stays, food, bills back at home, etc.

Here is the story w/updates below from her daughter;

2/23/24 - Mom made it HOME yesterday evening! ❤️ She was originally going to be sent to Clive rehab hospital tomorrow for a couple weeks but she proved them wrong and started doing some more assisted walking and moving in bed on her own, even a few stairs! Considering all she has going she is making great progress although still a ways to go. We are working on getting her settled and working on some things in the house to make things easier. She will start in home therapy next week. She has to have someone with her at all times, if you plan to visit please let us know ahead so we can plan a schedule that works best for her as she still needs lots of rest ❤️ thank you all for the continued support and help, we appreciate it so much.

*update - they’ve moved surgery to tomorrow (Tuesday 2/20)

• 2/19/24 -Today marks two weeks since Mom’s ruptured aneurysm. She undergoes another surgery today to place a shunt in the ventricle of her brain to help with drainage since her body is having a hard time doing this on it’s own. The plan is to take out the drain tube while she’s under also as the shunt will take place of this. The neurosurgeon will be doing the procedure on her brain section and then a GI surgeon will be doing the stomach portion where they will tie the shunt into. She’s had great care at U of I and we have faith they will take great care once again. Please pray everything goes smoothly and this is the next step she needs to recover

• 2/17/24 - Mom remains in the Neuroscience Intermediate Unit here in IA City. They clamped her drain tube again this morning and she made it a few hours without much pain and her pressure levels sitting really good until they spiked again and she began having a bad headache. This was progress from the other day but they did have to open it up again for the day. She will have another CT at 4am and then doctors will evaluate again on Monday and decide if another surgery is needed to place a shunt in the ventricle to help with this. She is taking a few assisted steps still, eating more and is still very sleepy which is what she needs right now is rest. Thank you all for the continued support ❤️

• 2/14/24 - They clamped her drain tube this morning to see how her body could handle the fluid and pressure. She was in quite a bit of pain so they came and unclamped it to let fluid off, they then tired clamping again. It sent her into a significant amount of pain and she had to be given an added pain med through her IV. They then sent her down for another CT to check the ventricles and see what may be going on. She is also scheduled for another CT at 4am. Prayers things look okay and tomorrow is a day of new progress.

• 2/13/24 - They moved Mom to a new floor/room yesterday afternoon. It’s a step below the SNICU she was in but still not a regular hospital room. They had to do two more CT’s that were not routine/planned due to increased head pain but they needed up looking good They are working on her sodium levels as they’ve been on the lower side so that her body can continue to pull blood off the brain. She still has the drain tube in along with the 12 staples from that surgery last week. She is ready for a new hair do after they had to shave almost half of her head and then laying in bed and she doesn’t let us forget it each day lol. Big improvement as she stood up with assistance and took some assisted steps today! As well as sat upright in a reclined chair for a few minutes! Every little improvement is a step in the right direction ❤️

• 2/11/24 - Mom is having a rough day of pain and very tired. She’s still opening her eyes a few times a day and can feed herself a few bites. She is still in her bed laying down with the drain tube doing it’s job. Still in SNICU. There’s not a lot of change the last couple days, they say she’s on track and tomorrow will be a big day as weekends are slow.

• 2/9/24 - Not a lot of new updates but she is eating a little more now and still talking to us. Getting lots of little naps in, which is what she needs right now. Still monitoring pressure of the brain and all other stats which are staying in a good range.

•2/8/24 - Making more progress today! Eating a little, brushed her own teeth in bed last night, and with PT’s assistance she even stood for a minute today while they changed out her bedding! Stats are all Looking good as well as her brain pressure for where she’s at in the recovery process. A few labs that have been off have been supplemented and brought back into range each time. Her long term memory seems to be excellent but still a some struggles with short term. Time will tell on that but her team is confident it will come back. Thank you for the prayers, still a long road but WOW is she amazing us.

•2/7/24 - Mom is talking/asking questions and moving her arms and legs well in bed. Her short term memory is still having some trouble but that will hopefully come with time. She is hooked up to the EEG. She has also had a couple EKG’s done today. She was able to take a few of her meds orally and drink through a straw. Her stats have been good but she is currently having some trouble with low blood pressure and heart rate. They have given meds to help try and increase them, we are praying they work and get her to a good stable place again. She has been able to rest on and off also. She has made so much progress in 24 hours.

•2/6/24 evening update - Mom was taken off sedation and they removed her breathing tube. She slowly started to wake up and then started talking. She knew Dad, Levi and I and asked questions. She’s aware of what happened now, her short term memory is still struggling but they stated that is a normal side effect as she comes off sedation. She is still in a significant amount of pain and they can only give some lower dose pain meds due to having to watching for the brain spasms. They have to watch her closely for any regression for these. She is going to be hooked up to the EEG at some point throughout the night to monitor for seizure activity. We played her favorite song “The Greatest” by Kenny Rogers, she told us his name and then started whisper singing over half the song. She then wanted it again and sang again, this was amazing ❤️ very long road to go but we felt a huge weight lifted hearing her voice.

•2/6/24 afternoon update - Surgery went well and they were successful in repairing the rupture, it was a large hole and very severe. They placed a coil and didn’t find any other areas of concern on the brain. She is back in her SNICU room and has to keep her leg straight for three hours where they went through the artery, after that they plan to do a CT again, remove her breathing tube, hook up an EEG and take her off of her sedation. We will then see how responsive she is. The biggest concern to watch after that is for brain spasms. She is on medication to try to help with this and preventive seizure meds also. Thanks to everyone for reaching out, keep those prayers coming! She’s one tough gal!

Please pray for our Mama Sonya Gwinn

We have decided it will be easiest to update here. Yesterday around noon she called the neighbor who then called 911 for her. She was screaming in pain of a bad headache and not feeling good and then started going in and out of consciousness. She was then loaded into the ambulance and given meds for relief and was stable as we headed to LCHC. The plan was to take her there to access more but her heart rate dropped to the 20’s on the way. Along with her symptoms and history of high blood pressure in the past they made the call to life flight instead of admitting her. She was air lifted to Methodist downtown where she was then accessed and immediately had a CT scan of the brain. It was discovered that she had a severe brain bleed. They immediately made the call to life flight her onto Iowa city from there. She landed and was accessed and scanned again and then taken into emergency surgery to place a drain tube to relieve pressure, blood and fluid off the brain. That was successful and she was brought to a bed in the SNICU. She was then scheduled for another emergency surgery for first thing this morning. This surgery is a type of angiogram to go in and repair the ruptured aneurysm. It will also be to check the brain for anymore aneurysm spots that can be fixed to prevent a further rupture. She went back to the OR at 8:30 this morning and is currently still in surgery. They had her fully sedated with a breathing tube as well last night. They wake her every 2 hours for neuro testing and she did respond to us with opening her eyes squeezing our hand and wiggling her toes last night. The drain tube will remain in to monitor pressure and drain for a minimum of two weeks while inpatient.

Thank you to everyone who has been here and helped us in last 24 hours. We will continue to add updates to this post as we can.