Wow, this was a surprise thread. I finally had time to log on to see what is going on in our little world, and you all know my news already. I have written a few emails today, filling people in on the events so if you don't mind, I will cut and paste one of them so you know what happened. I feel like the worst daughter in the world though.............you will see why.
So.............for those who are interested, this is what happened yesterday.
I went out on a few errands yesterday morning, and Dad wasn't up yet, when I
got home about 11 AM. Mom said she hadn't heard him stirring, so I went to
check. I could see that he was sleeping, and was coughing and spitting
so I just let him sleep. He had complained about not sleeping well
the night before so I assumed he just needed extra sleep. I am kicking myself for not just going in to check on him.
15 minutes later, Mom called me and had called to Dad through the door, and he told her he was
paralyzed. So I called 911 as I ran down the stairs.
He had awakened about 6 AM, and didn't feel well, so tried to get up, but fell onto the floor, where he said he lay for about an hour, not able to move. Finally he was able to pull himself onto the bed, where he waited for someone to find him, because he couldn't talk for awhile either. So 6 hours later we find him like this. He was nearly paralyzed on all of his right side, but by the time the medics got him to the hospital, his arm and leg were back. His face was very
distorted and his right eye wouldn't open. After several hours his face
looked more and more normal, but still a bit off. When we left him last
night about 7PM, he still couldn't swallow and they had given him a suction
thing to use by hand for his spit.
He is in the Critical Care area, all hooked up to tubes and machines, and is
doing much better today, and is beginning to swallow, but they have him on
IV fluids anyway. I knew they were going to be working on him this morning,
testing to see how serious his not being able to swallow is. The nurse said
depending on how well he develops his swallowing and if he can walk all
right, will determine when he comes home. He will be there a few more days.
They did many tests on him yesterday, and the last one was an MRI, which
would give the most information of all. They know the stroke was not a
bleeding one, and those do the most permanent damage. The doctor that
talked to us last night said he is thinking the stroke happened in the
internal capsule, just above the brain stem, and was likely a piece of
plaque that got loose and clogged a vein. He was a very sharp doctor and
questioned me intensely, and thinks Dad has had many strokes that have
erased little bits of his memory and doesn't have a true dementia, like
Alzheimer's disease. He didn't think his memory issues were consistent with
that kind of dementia, but lots of little strokes would cause the problems
he has. He is the first doctor to suggest that, and it makes perfect sense
when I look back on how his memory is and how some days he is more confused
and "spacey" than other days. He also said he looked remarkable for 90 (he looks about 75 I think) and was very strong for a man who had just had a stroke.
When I was there today, he was beginning to swallow some thick fluids, but was having trouble standing, so will need some physical therapy. He is in good spirits though, and I think he is relieved he isn't paralyzed now. His speech is normal and he looks pretty normal too.
Thanks for all the hugs. I am still kind of in disbelief, but I don't know why.