Her son, the 10 hours of surgery will be much tougher for you than for your mom. When I regained consciousness after that same length of time, I had a trach to breath, and was not ever in pain because the nurses were on top of it. It will be your job to make sure she is not in pain, and to act as her advocate if she is. I would suggest that you have a pen and paper, or a magic slate, or something for her to write on as soon as she is awake. I was trying to ask questions by pantomime, and that did not work well. Be prepared for her to be very, very swollen, and to have many drains and bandages. She will look much worse than she feels, belive me. The second day I was up and walking the halls, trailing an IV, and although I felt pretty good, I scared so many people that I went back to my room. In a day or so the trach will be changed for one that she will be able to talk with by covering it with her hand. Generally, the trach is removed before the patient goes home. This is just covered with a small bandage and usually heals very quickly.

This is no small thing, but is something your mom can get through. I was scared and it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She will surely have questions, so if she cannot access the internet herself, please relay them so we can answer them for her.