Joanie's had a serious brain hemorrhage.

On Tuesday evening Joanie arrived in Sacramento after two weeks in Europe with her sister, Brenda, and Dad. She slept on and off on the ride back to Twain Harte and went to bed as soon as they arrived home. At 3am she woke Dad up because she needed to go to the bathroom. She fell in the process of trying to get out of the recliner. Dad helped her get into the bathroom. An hour later she called out again because she was nauseated. A few minutes later she started complaining of a headache and an upset stomach.

She seemed disoriented and had trouble using her arms so Dad called our neighbor Nancy (a former head ER nurse) to help him with her. Mom slipped out of consciousness and they called 911. Three fire engines and an ambulance arrived.

Mom was transported to the hospital in Sonora. They did a CAT scan and saw lots of bleeding in her brain. They decided she needed to be moved to a hospital with a Neuro/Trauma center. The doctors searched for an opening at several regional hospitals. Memorial in Modesto had an opening and she was flown by helicopter to the hospital. Dad tried to talk his way onto the flight but there was not enough room. He headed home to pack and drove down with Bonnie Peterson.

Mom was first taken to the emergency department and evaluated there. She was then moved into the ICU, where she is right now. The hospital staff have been wonderful and she is, coincidentally, in the same room in which she was admitted when she took her tumble down the train steps.

At this point, her brain functionality is very minimal and she is on a ventilator. We are not expecting her to recover. The family is all here and Brenda, Dad, and I are consulting with her doctors for the next steps.

At this point, we'd like to request that you not come to the hospital to visit. The waiting room space is minimal and only two people can be with Joanie at any time. Please remember that flowers are not permitted in ICU.

We appreciate your concern and ask for all of your prayers.