Kaiser Neurointerventionalist Visit
Today we woke up super early to be at Kaiser Fontana by 8:15. Traffic was light so we got there with plenty of time to spare.
On March 24, Neurointerventional Radiologist Dr. Charles Stout of Riverside Community Hospital saved Michael's life. He will forever be a hero to our family. Today we saw Kaiser's equivalent, Dr. Mazen Noufal. He carefully studied the medical records from Community before coming in the room. After the exam he said the most awesome thing. He said, "With the medical records I studied I thought the patient in this room would be far worse off than you are, Mr. Canon. You are doing very well for the damage this stroke caused and I have no doubt you will continue to improve." It was music to our ears. ❤
Here is the lowdown:
1) M will have a CTA of the head and neck for Dr. Noufal to see how the artery Dr. Stout enlarged during the Thrombectomy is doing. If it appears it has narrowed again at all, they will put a stent there to keep it open permanently.
2) Another Echo-cardiogram will be performed in the very near future to see if the heart doing ok and if there is any evidence of a thrombosis (clot) Dr. Noufal does not believe the clots were from the heart as the cardiologist assumes. He thinks it was due to plaque in the neck which is more common for this type of stroke. Especially through narrow arteries. So, he believes M is on the wrong medication for anti-clotting. He said there is more success with a higher dose daily aspirin. This is not what the cardiologist thought, but he confidently said, "I am the stroke doctor and I will discuss this with the Cardiologist." I trust him and believe he will find the best course of action. We both liked him very much and he really took an interest in Michael's case.
After Kaiser we had a couple of hours to kill before Therapy sessions at Ballard. So this has been the longest of the marathon days so far, but Michael held up great. He's super tired now and will probably sleep and sleep tonight!
A positive day for certain.
On March 24, Neurointerventional Radiologist Dr. Charles Stout of Riverside Community Hospital saved Michael's life. He will forever be a hero to our family. Today we saw Kaiser's equivalent, Dr. Mazen Noufal. He carefully studied the medical records from Community before coming in the room. After the exam he said the most awesome thing. He said, "With the medical records I studied I thought the patient in this room would be far worse off than you are, Mr. Canon. You are doing very well for the damage this stroke caused and I have no doubt you will continue to improve." It was music to our ears. ❤
Here is the lowdown:
1) M will have a CTA of the head and neck for Dr. Noufal to see how the artery Dr. Stout enlarged during the Thrombectomy is doing. If it appears it has narrowed again at all, they will put a stent there to keep it open permanently.
2) Another Echo-cardiogram will be performed in the very near future to see if the heart doing ok and if there is any evidence of a thrombosis (clot) Dr. Noufal does not believe the clots were from the heart as the cardiologist assumes. He thinks it was due to plaque in the neck which is more common for this type of stroke. Especially through narrow arteries. So, he believes M is on the wrong medication for anti-clotting. He said there is more success with a higher dose daily aspirin. This is not what the cardiologist thought, but he confidently said, "I am the stroke doctor and I will discuss this with the Cardiologist." I trust him and believe he will find the best course of action. We both liked him very much and he really took an interest in Michael's case.
After Kaiser we had a couple of hours to kill before Therapy sessions at Ballard. So this has been the longest of the marathon days so far, but Michael held up great. He's super tired now and will probably sleep and sleep tonight!
A positive day for certain.
