The good and the not so good

THE GOOD- Who walked with his walker out of the bedroom (with minimal assistance) and sat at the dining room table for the first time?  THIS GUY!!!
When asked how he felt sitting on the cafe style chair (taller regular) M said he felt like an eagle on perching on top of a tree. LOL Prior to this we had just pulled his wheelchair up to the table so it was much higher on his chest. This was an awesome event and we were both very proud!! After breakfast then, we used the walker to get him outside to the patio. He did great!

Now, the not so good. The Neurointerventionalist we saw recently who ordered the CT scan called this morning to let us know that they want to do an angiogram (via the groin -femoral artery) very soon to see the left vertebral artery more closely. This is the artery that was manually enlarged during Michael's thrombectomy. At that time Dr. Stout thought it had a chance of closing and wanted us to follow up with Kaiser. So, he was right...it has narrowed again. It's either partially blocked or completely blocked. So now we have another change of blood thinner medication to prepare for the procedure. If they find the artery is completely blocked, they might just leave it alone. They want to take the least amount of risk and the right vertebral artery can give the brain the blood it needs. If it is only narrowed they might do a stent so it will not close again. They won't know until they get in there. So in other words, narrowed is more dangerous than completely blocked.

Of course with all procedures there is a chance of problems...but the percentage is small, so that's good. At least they are on top of it.

The roller coaster continues...

This afternoon we will be going to Irvine to spend the night and then attend Jake's graduation tomorrow morning.

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