Two weeks after suffering a ruptured cerebral aneurysm, World Pediatric Project Country Director Milagro Garel is showing small but encouraging signs of progress.
This is according to a series of updates shared by her husband, Joe Garel, with family, friends, and supporters following her recovery.
Garel, a twenty-year advocate for children’s healthcare in Belize, was air-evacuated to a hospital in Guatemala after being stabilized locally, where she underwent high-risk surgery in early August. Her husband has since been posting nightly updates chronicling her condition as she slowly regains consciousness.
In an update dated August 9th, Joe described a difficult day with limited progress despite consistent efforts to stimulate her. “The ICU has visitation for the first 15 mins of each hour from 9am until 12 midday and again from 4pm until 6pm. We made all seven visits allowed into the ICU today. We talked to her, played some of her favorite music for her, played a few voice clips from family and close friends, held her hands, massaged her feet. While all her vitals remain stable and she continues to breathe on her own, today we got no movement. A bit disappointing, but we try again tomorrow.”
The following day marked a turning point. In his August 10th update, Joe described small movements, yawns, squinting, shoulder shrugging, and head movement, along with a significant moment that afternoon. “The big win today came this afternoon when she peeped out her right eye for a bit and very weakly blinked when we asked her to.”
Doctors opted to keep her on a ventilator a bit longer despite her breathing independently, wanting to ensure she had built up sufficient strength to sustain it on her own. A CT scan showed eighty percent of the blood from the rupture had cleared, and the family was awaiting results from an EEG and a Doppler scan checking for vasospasms.
“Her vitals and body are strong and stable. Now it’s just to wait and see how she progresses as she continues to slowly wake up. At this moment we’re cautiously celebrating the smallest wins knowing that this is a long winding road to recovery, but as long as she’s on it, we’ll be there with her.”
By August 12th, Joe reported a significant medical development. Doctors found Garel was draining less cerebrospinal fluid each day, prompting them to close her drainage tube and monitor for pressure buildup, a step that could eliminate the need for a VP shunt procedure entirely if it goes well.
“Clarity quells anxiety,” he wrote, describing renewed alertness that evening. “She wasn’t very active this morning, but this evening we got lots of movement. Opened the right eye a bit, moved her eye from side to side as though looking around. When we were talking to her she turned her head slightly from side to side as though trying to face us. This has been the longest she has been alert thus far.”
A neurologist explained that EEG results showed slow brain activity but no signs of seizures, attributing her gradual awakening to lesions visible on her CT scan that are expected to heal over the next ten to fifteen days. The family also observed physiotherapy sessions aimed at preventing bedsores and deep vein thrombosis, including a specialized mattress, compression socks, and inflatable compression boots.
“We left contented this evening with a bit more knowledge about what is happening on the neuro end of things and a better understanding of what her timeline looks like. So now we wait and continue with encouragement and music, giving her time to heal these lesions, then start rehab once we see how she’s recuperating.”
The most recent update, from August 13th, brought further encouraging signs. Joe described Garel appearing to track her family with her eyes and respond to their voices for an extended period, the longest period of alertness recorded so far.
“As we walked into the ICU for the first visit this morning I noticed her eye was open. We went in and spoke to her and you could tell she was trying to track us. Whenever we were out of her eyeliner she would slowly move her head toward the direction of our voice, moving her mouth a bit, and more shoulder shrugging. This continued for the entire duration of the visit and has been the most time she’s been alert so we are grateful to have gotten that interaction to start the day.”
Doctors also tested whether Garel could be taken off the ventilator entirely, removing it for thirty minutes to assess her ability to breathe unassisted. She was able to sustain it, and doctors planned to repeat the test the following day to determine if she’s strong enough to be extubated, potentially avoiding a tracheotomy. Medical staff also planned to insert a gastrostomy tube to support her nutritional needs as she continues her recovery.
A CT scan that morning showed no brain swelling, a positive sign doctors planned to confirm with a follow-up scan, with the possibility of removing her drainage tube entirely as early as next week.
“All in all she is on the right path, getting stronger and getting all these tubes and such removed. Slowly but surely we are seeing progress. Thanks for being here with us as we inch forward toward recovery.”
Fundraising efforts to help cover Garel’s medical expenses, estimated at one hundred and forty thousand US dollars, continue through a GoFundMe campaign, direct donations to the Garel family, and community events including the “Movements for Milagro” dance fundraiser scheduled for August 16th at the Bliss Centre.
