2008 Woodie Awards
Mother relearns life skills after coma
Alma Aguinaga
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
|
The woman was Carmen Salazar, education major, who said it all started with headaches which she associated with her hectic workload. As the headaches progressed, she decided to check with a doctor and was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. This is caused when a fluid-filled sac in a vein causes the vein to fill up and eventually burst.
Salazar said she had to find a surgeon who would take her high-risk case.
When she did, the doctor told her she had three different aneurysms in three separate veins in her brain.
The doctor scheduled her right away and Salazar went in for a nine-hour surgery.
Salazar said she remembered the nurses asking if she wanted to say anything before they sedated her.
"I can say anything I want to say?" she asked with a smile. "I started singing that song 'I Will Survive.'"
Salazar said it all seemed well 24 hours after the operation until her boyfriend at the time, Jason McKemie, said he noticed something odd about her.
One of the clamps they put on her vein had snapped.
This caused a brain hemorrhage, which had to be taken care of in emergency surgery.
Salazar underwent a 14-hour operation, which was performed after inducing her into a coma. She said she was comatose for two months.
When she finally regained consciousness, Salazar said she didn't remember any of her past and she stuttered badly.
Her youngest daughter Isabella Perez, who was 5 years old at the time, said she remembers seeing her mom for the first time after she regained consciousness.
"I hid behind the ATM machine when I saw my mom because she had all these bruises on her face. … She was trying to say I love you but I couldn't understand it when she said it," Perez said.
Salazar said she had to endure an intensive two-year rehabilitation, which included relearning how to talk and walk, as well as how to perform simple tasks like picking up a spoon to feed herself. She said she had completely forgotten how to do everything.
"I had to learn reading all over again with Dr. Seuss books," she said.
Salazar said she came out of rehab a completely different person.
"It's not about work; it's not about money," she said. "It's all about family now."
Her daughters said Salazar is a better mom now. She takes time to listen to them and shows them how caring she is.
Salazar said part of her rehab is to repeat college, and that is why she is attending Brookhaven College. Prior to the operation, she had obtained a degree in electrical engineering.
Salazar said she is glad she went through all of this because it has made her a stronger person.
She said she hopes her story will help people with hardships
"Things work out in the end; God has a plan for everyone," she said.
Be the first to comment on this story