My Uncle: Long Overdue Update

Last summer, Uncle O -- my dad's younger brother who lives in the Washington D.C. area -- had brain surgery to remove a large but benign tumor (a meningioma). The tumor was discovered accidentally because Uncle O had fallen and broken an arm in an accident that suggested he might had had a stroke. We had seen him for the first time in two years the weekend before the fall and we were struck by how slow he seemed, particularly to walk -- he didn't lift his legs, just dragged them. These were all symptoms of the tumor which might have been growing for five or more years, but since he'd never had a sudden and powerful headache (like Jo(e)'s uncle), the tumor had gone undetected.

After his surgery he remained in the hospital for over a month and was then moved to a rehabilitation center. The next part of the story was the most outrageous and I wrote about it here. My mom was in really bad shape (clinically depressed) when my parents got back to Brazil after helping care for Uncle O for a month. She was treated and is much better now. At least I hope she remains well because they are caring for my uncle again.

The thing is, months before the accident, aunt and uncle had decided they were going to Brazil for Christmas and New Year's. After the disastrous aftermath of uncle's poor care here, she and her sisters decided that it would be a good idea to bring him to Brazil anyway and try to find people and facilities to care for him there. They went and during the holidays at my aunt's sister's house, her nephew, who is a physical therapist, started to do physical therapy several times a day in my uncle with the help of a young lady (who's a massage therapist).

Then, on January 4th, Uncle O came to spend two weeks a facility close to my parents' house (it's like a health spa, only with doctors, nurses, physical therapists and various hydrotheraphy and other natural treatments facilities). The young lady who was helping with the physical therapy came too, to help him, since he's still in a wheel chair, adult diapers, and does not move much. The intense therapy began to strengthen his muscles, but there's still a long way to go.

A week ago my parents took him to see a neurosurgeon who's a friend of the family. He saw the brain scans from after the surgery and examined Uncle O. He thinks that O will be able to recover most of his motor skills (such as moving and walking), but that it will take time for the brain to re-learn certain things as well for the muscles to recover from such extended immobility. My parents and my uncle were elated.

The biggest problem, aside from the physical disabilities is that Uncle O is usually quite confused. His awareness of the "here and now" is almost non-existent -- he doesn't know which day of the week it is, which year, etc. Sometimes he even momentarily forgets where he lives (in the U.S.), but his memory of past events and people is perfect. He can still speak Portuguese, English and French.

My parents decided that it would be a good idea for Uncle O to stay at their house for a few more weeks (or months) so he could undergo physical therapy twice a day. They hired a nurse's aide to help them during the day and a cleaning lady/cook. I hope they don't overdo it and, especially, that my mom doesn't get depressed again. They are happy to be able to help my uncle and I hope he can recover as much as possible.
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I was motivated to write this post when I read Jo(e)'s post about her own uncle's brain surgery. I was struck by one big difference in this case: how much harder it's been for my uncle to have family support. The biggest problem is the fact that he is an expatriate with no family nearby. His youngest sister lives in Nashville and he has a sister- and brother-in-law in Toronto, but all his other siblings and siblings-in-law live in Brazil. He has only one daughter who came to help for a month after the surgery, but who lives in Vienna, Austria. I couldn't really help because I have two young children. Thankfully my parents were scheduled to come visit us and arrived a few days after the surgery. They subsequently postponed their return for a month to be able to help more and now they're helping as much as they can in Brazil. Now I hope Jo(e)'s uncle can have full support from Medicare and/or his health insurance so he can undergo the needed therapy and fully recover. That is not happening with my uncle -- my aunt and her relatives are paying for the care themselves in Brazil, it's way cheaper and more efficient, though. Sigh.

P.S. Karen in NC asked about Brazil's healthcare in my previous post about my uncle and I'll try to write about it sometime.