The REAL event

What we thought was the event in fact was not. At 4:00 PM on Saturday, March 24, Michael suffered what was actually THE EVENT. He looked at me and said, "Left side tingle, I'm OK." and then started looking like he was having a seizure. Frothing at the mouth, shaking uncontrollably. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen.

I pushed the nurse call button, then ran to get them. Before long I was being rushed out of the room, and all of the medical personnel came in.

The thing that freaked me out was the calmness that everyone had. I know it is their job and they encounter this daily. You want to scream  "MOVE FASTER!!!!!" You notice other people walking by with their lives in full tact while mine is falling apart. I'm sitting in the hallway across from the room watching the activity the best I could....I just knew it was bad.

They took him down to ICU to consult with the stroke team.

They got my belongings and took me to the downstairs waiting room. All by myself....nobody even in the main waiting room. So I just started chanting my usual...You are strong! You are here. You WILL come home to me.

My brother and sister in law showed up within 25 min. and I was able to hold someone and cry.....Ben and Jake were visiting my parents for a little while and they rushed back as well.

They took me to him in some treatment room and I was able to talk to him, tell him I loved him and that I'd see him at the new hospital, Riverside Community where they had a team waiting to remove what they thought was a clot in the back of the brain.

From 7:45 pm until 9:15 pm we were on pins and needles. If they did not get the clot, there was only a 10% survival rate. If they did, he had 48 hours of waiting to see if he had a bleed.

About 9:30 p.m. the neural interventionist Dr. Stout came to us and showed us the procedure. He had a complete occlusion of the main artery to his brain that was clotted. By going through the groin all the way up to the back of his head the clot was able to be removed and the vessel somewhat widened. However if that vessel tries to close again, we will most likely be having a stent put in. But that is a little ways down the road.

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday Update

Our final Saturday as an inpatient. Yay! M is doing his one hour of OT right now with our buddy Jean from Haiti. He rocked the bike thing again for 20 minutes this time. He had another entirely choke-free lunch and had me laughing a couple of times with his facial expressions..reactions to a couple of things that happened while there. He is expressing his excitement to go home. The nurses are already telling him they are going to miss him. ☺
Read more

All is well

Image
Things are going well. We just hit the FOUR year post-stroke mark last week. IN-FRICKING-CREDIBLE! Seems like a lifetime ago but other times it seems like last year. Michael continues to do well. He had a CT of the brain last month and all looks good. Doc just wants to repeat every few years to be sure blood flow is normal and the stent in the vertebral artery is holding up. Gym, twice a week and walking are our main activities.  We went nearly 3 miles just today. M is strong and wonderful!! Most importantly he is happy and positive. Here he is on a recent walk in our neighborhood. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. We LOVE our slice of paradise.
Read more

March 28 - More awake today

Image
When I arrived this morning, Michael was much more awake. He had both eyes wide open and gave me a great smile. His voice sounded even better than yesterday. As with all hospitals they continuously poke and prod all day and night long and he's such a champ through it all. He is still often sleepy and needs lots of rest. Ups and downs...that is the norm. They did an Echocardiogram this morning and did not see anything abnormal. They want to do another type that is more thorough. Clots originate in the heart, so we need to find anything that might look suspicious. They will compare all of the Echos he has had (we are going on 4). His vitals are maintaining normal readings. But they have all the time, so that's nothing new. He is on blood thinners, so hopefully the clots stay away. They have also recommended him for acute physical care, so when he can be released medically he will most likely enter a facility for intensive treatment due to his age and good body strengt...
Read more