On May 13, 2018, 95 year old Patricia fell down the stairs in the entryway of her Brampton home. Thankfully, her daughter Linda had been the one to drop her off. When Patricia didn’t come to the front door to wave goodbye as she normally did, Linda knew something was wrong and came inside, immediately calling 9-1-1. It was Mother’s Day.
Patricia was rushed to a neighbouring hospital and then to a trauma centre. She had sustained extensive injuries: fractured ribs, a C-spine injury, a left elbow dislocation and a wrist fracture. However, Patricia had overcome many challenges in her life since emigrating from the Ukraine during World War Two, working as a cashier to raise her two kids.
She had surgery to repair her arm, spent a number of weeks in ICU, and then several months between two hospitals. Linda was hopeful when her mom was finally transferred to an inpatient rehab facility to continue rehab therapy. That’s when a physical therapist on staff noticed Patricia seemed unstable on her feet.
A CT scan determined she had an acute-on-chronic subdural brain haemorrhage, or brain bleeds. This buildup of blood in the brain is extremely dangerous. If left untreated, the blood starts to compress the brain, and can lead to impaired cognitive functioning or death.
“I was told that she’d eventually be bed ridden because her cognitive decline would be so extreme that she’d eventually would lose her ability to walk at all,” says Linda. The only treatment is something called a bi-frontal burr hole drainage – a process in which a neurosurgeon drills a hole on both sides of the patient’s skull, inserting a tube with a balloon that blood can then drain out and into. The procedure is not without risks and many surgeons Linda spoke to were not willing to perform it on her mom; someone at greater risk for complications due to her age.
An emergency room doctor at her mom’s local hospital connected Linda to Trillium Health Partners’ (THP) Dr. Eric Marmor, Head of Neurosurgery at Mississauga Hospital. He was personable and frank, and agreed to do the procedure. He felt Patricia was a good candidate given she had lived independently until this point. On Saturday, June 30th her mom went in and the surgery was successful.
Patricia was then moved closer to home for rehabilitation when just five days later on July 5th, she fell while unattended in her room. A CT scan showed that once again she had suffered a brain bleed. Since the fall wasn’t as bad as her initial accident, staff decided to keep a close eye on Patricia and monitor her to see if the brain bleed would resolve itself.
“I started to think this was the beginning of the end,” says Linda. Her mom began cognitively declining again, and toward the end of August Patricia had another concerning fall. She was taken back to THP’s Credit Valley Hospital for an assessment and, because of her most recent brain bleed, the health care team decided she would need surgery again. The team called Dr. Marmor and on August 30, Patricia went in for a second burr hole drainage.
The procedure was successful and on September 18, Patricia was discharged and moved into an apartment in a Ukrainian retirement home. Since Mr. Marmor’s second surgery she has not had any issues with falls and is back to living independently.
Patricia even took up a brand new hobby, enrolling in painting lessons. Recently, she participated in an art exhibition held at the retirement home, and even sold her artwork to one of the gallery visitors.
“She never painted before and here she is selling her work. It’s amazing how far she’s come,” says Linda. In May 2022, Patricia happily expressed that it was the best Mother’s Day she had ever had!
“Dr. Marmor and the team at Trillium have given my mom another four quality years, for which I will always be deeply grateful.”
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