Friday, March 4

This morning, when I walked into Frank's room, he was awake and I asked him why he wasn't eating breakfast. He told me that he was having a test done, and that he couldn't eat. I was glad that he was able to understand and repeat what the nurse must have told him earlier before I got there. When the nurse came in I asked for details and she explained that he was having a TEE test done. They would have to sedate Frank, and guide a small camera in a tube down his throat into his heart to get a better picture. This shows more detail then a CAT scan can, since it gives better views of the back of the heart.

A little later in the morning the doctor stopped in to provide more details. He said that the CT scan from the day before showed that he has a small tumor on his adrenal glands. This would explain the high blood pressure due to the excessive amount of hormones that they are releasing due to the tumor. He also said that Frank's potassium levels are still low and he could possibly have Conn's Syndrome. My own personal research shows that Conn's Syndrome results in high blood pressure and loss of potassium through a tumor in the adrenal glands. It can also affect the kidney's, which would explain the higher levels showing in his kidney's through his blood work. The doctor also said we were in a sense, lucky, to have found a source of the high blood pressure. In about 90% of cases they never find the source of the high blood pressure. He was the most concerned about running the TEE test because this would show if there was a clot in the heart that was slowly breaking apart sending the small clots up to his brain (since the MRI showed a "shower" of clots through out his brain).

After the TEE test was complete, they were able to tell us immediately that they did not find a clot in his heart and everything was fine, which was great to hear. Therefore, the conclusion they are making that the little clots in his brain were formed over an extended period of time due to his high blood pressure. Also, the doctor told us that the kidney scans he had done yesterday came back just fine and there are no problems there (hallelujah!).

He had some therapy - they walked him up and down the hall and worked on some memory tests. Once again, physically he seems fine, but it will be a journey getting his brain to function properly again. It's amazing to see how well he's moving when just earlier this week he was on a respiratory ventilator! We really have to all work together to get his mind moving. We are starting very simple, such as getting him to write out and say the alphabet. This was difficult for him at first, but after a few times he was able to read it straight through without skipping any letters - he still needs to practice writing it, though. He was also able to read some words very slowly. He seems to have the most difficult time with math - subtraction more than addition. For some reason, '8-2' would trip him up, but '8+2' would not. He stated that he was discouraged that he can't do something so simple, but I'm trying to encourage him and remind him that he's very smart and it's all there - we just need to retrain his brain to get it all out.

He was more interested in TV today, and was actually using the button to change the channels which is something he was not doing before. He was also asking about how the Blackhawks are doing!

His blood pressure is still not stable enough to move him out of the CCU, unfortunately. Hopefully in a few days it will be so he can move to a regular room!