Update on Bernard

Hello to all and thank you for all of the meals and childcare help. We are indeed grateful.

Bernard was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is home embarking on his recovery. His neurosurgeon is planning to put Bernard's picture in the office's "wall of fame" because is it so rare for someone to emerge from this kind of trauma without significant deficits.

Bernard had a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which is a rarer type of stroke caused by a cerebral aneurysm. The aneurysm was the result of an unknown congenital birth defect, not high blood pressure or atherosclerosis. Of those that have an SAH, 1/3 die before they get to the hospital, 1/3 die at the hospital and 1/3 survive, with survival ranging from vegetative state to former self. You can imagine me trying to take this in as the neurosurgeon sat me down upon Bernard's arrival to ICU and delivered that to me while wiping my tears. They use a scale developed by two physicians named Hunt and Hess to assess the severity and rate of survival for a SAH. It goes from 0-5 (five being most severe). Bernard was classified at about a 3.

We received and are receiving amazing support from family and friends. I want to thank Jane Hagen and Sarah Gregory for offering suggestions about how to communicate via the web on Bernard's condition and for actually setting up this blog for us.