Frank had a busy day today. When I arrived he was pretty wide awake and was finishing his breakfast. He was talking as much as yesterday. He was a tiny bit quicker with responses, too. I reminded him that he was in the hospital and that he had a stroke. A little after telling him that he said, "wow, I can't believe I had a stroke." He started remembering and listing off people who have come in a visited him this week. It is good to see that names are coming easier to him. He still has to think hard about things and it takes some time, and there are some things he can't remember at all still - but everything will take time. A little later in the day he mentioned getting back to work, and I reminded him that he needed to get 100% better and that everyone at work is praying for him and wants him to get better first.
Today the speech therapist cleared him for regular water, so he does not have to drink the thickened water. He was very happy about that and drank a lot.
He also went down for a CT scan of his adrenal glands. He also had a PICC line inserted - which is inserted into the arm and inserted up a vein stopping just above his heart. This allows them to put the medicine/IV fluids through this and to draw blood. Although it sounds painful, he said it didn't really hurt, and in the long run it will probably be better so he does not have all these IV needles in his arm with the risk of pulling them out.
He also had a little physical therapy done today. They had him get out of bed and sit in a chair, along with standing up and taking a few steps forwards and backwards.
I have not heard anything back about his kidney scans, but did talk to the doctor about the MRI results. First, the MRI was of only his brain, and not the whole body. It didn't show much more than the CAT scan from the other day. He had the larger main stroke that put him in the hospital. However, the CAT scan had originally shown an old mini-stroke, but the MRI showed that he had MULTIPLE mini-strokes scattered through out this brain. The thing is, they do not know what has CAUSED the stroke. They are not sure if he has a tumor that may be affecting his metabolism that is causing him to retain sodium which is leading to the high blood pressure and then to the stroke. They do not think is it anything related to his heart though because it is strong.
I am not sure what the plan of action from here is - if they plan on doing more tests to try to figure out how the stroke occurred and why he has high blood pressure, or if they will just try to treat the high blood pressure and continue on with therapy and eventual discharge from the hospital. I hope to get more answers tomorrow.
A therapy doctor did come in to talk to us. He said the main part of recovery for him is his memory, more than physical. We can all see that he moves well and it seems like that part will be easy. But with him still having a hard time remembering things and talking slowly, that will take some time. We'll have to take it one day at a time and see how he is once discharged from the hospital; he may need to go to a facility where he needs to stay all the time for treatment, or can be at home, and go do the therapy facility 4 times a week. Time will tell. Right now, we are anxiously awaiting to get him out of the CCU and into a regular room, but he is still on the blood pressure medication which is the one thing that is keeping him in this unit.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 2
This morning when Ryan and I got to the hospital Frank was awake. He gave us a pleasant surprise and started talking a little bit! His speech is a little slurred and it takes him quite some time to figure out what he wants to say, but we were very happy that he's able to say more. One of the first sentences he said was, "I want to go home". He's still confused about where he is, so we have to keep reminding him and what has happened. Therefore, it definitely seems like his short term memory is affected. One of the more complex sentences he said was, "they keep talking but aren't saying anything". He was telling us that he didn't understand why he was here or what the nurses were saying. Once again, we just have to keep telling him where he is and what happened.
He is now saying his own name, which he didn't know before. And, for all of you who know Frank really well, guess what one of the first things he asked for? A soda!
A speech therapist came in the morning to test to see if the stroke affected his ability to swallow drinks and food. He did really well and she said that he can eat soft foods and thickened beverages. Hopefully tomorrow he can start drinking straight water. He ate lunch and dinner today. He was able to hold utensils, with his right hand I might add, and feed himself. However, I noticed while he was feeding himself, that his sight has been affected because he was having difficulty judging how far the plate and cup was from him and would miss the plate when trying to scoop the food.
He's using his right arm more and the right side of his mouth is not drooping as much when he smiles. He can also stick out his tongue, which before he would not do.
Today he went for an MRI test but we won't know the results till tomorrow when the Neurologist looks them over.
I am still anxious about his kidneys, and as I type this, they are doing the ultrasound on them to assess the damage. I assume that the doctor will explain the results of the ultrasound tomorrow morning.
His blood pressure is still somewhat high and keeps bouncing around. Until they can get a tight control on it, they cannot move him out of the Critical Care Unit. Tomorrow, they said they will start some bedside therapy focusing on the strength in his arms.
Let's pray that his blood pressure gets under control so they can move him out of the CCU and start a little more aggressive therapy and that his kidney tests come back good.
He is now saying his own name, which he didn't know before. And, for all of you who know Frank really well, guess what one of the first things he asked for? A soda!
A speech therapist came in the morning to test to see if the stroke affected his ability to swallow drinks and food. He did really well and she said that he can eat soft foods and thickened beverages. Hopefully tomorrow he can start drinking straight water. He ate lunch and dinner today. He was able to hold utensils, with his right hand I might add, and feed himself. However, I noticed while he was feeding himself, that his sight has been affected because he was having difficulty judging how far the plate and cup was from him and would miss the plate when trying to scoop the food.
He's using his right arm more and the right side of his mouth is not drooping as much when he smiles. He can also stick out his tongue, which before he would not do.
Today he went for an MRI test but we won't know the results till tomorrow when the Neurologist looks them over.
I am still anxious about his kidneys, and as I type this, they are doing the ultrasound on them to assess the damage. I assume that the doctor will explain the results of the ultrasound tomorrow morning.
His blood pressure is still somewhat high and keeps bouncing around. Until they can get a tight control on it, they cannot move him out of the Critical Care Unit. Tomorrow, they said they will start some bedside therapy focusing on the strength in his arms.
Let's pray that his blood pressure gets under control so they can move him out of the CCU and start a little more aggressive therapy and that his kidney tests come back good.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, March 1
At about 8 am the nurse took him off of the sedative so he would wake up because he needed to be up while they took the breathing tube out. He was slowly waking and seemed to recognize me. He seemed like he wanted to smile at me, and attempted to say something. The respiratory doctor adjusted the machine so Frank was breathing on his own. After he woke up a little bit more, they removed the tube.
The doctor also informed us that he was borderline diabetic and that he was not sure if that an MRI was still necessary because the CAT scan from yesterday showed a lot of detail.
When the neurologist came in later in the morning, he stated that at this time the MRI was not necessary and that today they would focus on lowering his blood pressure some more. Frank has been sleeping all day, and it is very difficult to wake him up. He will open his eyes a little bit, but then close them again.
A kidney doctor stopped in at about 2pm and explained that high blood pressure impacts the function of the kidneys. She stated that his blood work is now showing that there could be a problem with his kidneys. They will be performing tests on that, so more information to come.
He is moving his arms a lot, which is a good sign. However, the nurses have to keep a close watch because of the IV's that are in his arms. At about 7pm, he pulled a couple of them out which is not good because it's hard for the nurses to find good veins and he needs a continual flow of his BP medication. It is also painful to him when putting the IV's in. He may need to be restrained to prevent this from happening again.
If Frank's BP goes down, and he is more alert, the plan is to start assessing what he is having difficultly doing and create a therapy/rehabilitation plan. They also still need to assess if the brain damage has affected his ability to eat/swallow. If he can't, then they will be putting a temporary feeding tube in place.
Lastly, he pulled at my heart strings this evening. He opened his eyes and waved and I took his hand. He grabbed my hand with both of his, brought my hand to his face and kissed it.
Let's pray that he relaxes and isn't so restless, so then he won't be moving around too much and pull out his IV's again.
The doctor also informed us that he was borderline diabetic and that he was not sure if that an MRI was still necessary because the CAT scan from yesterday showed a lot of detail.
When the neurologist came in later in the morning, he stated that at this time the MRI was not necessary and that today they would focus on lowering his blood pressure some more. Frank has been sleeping all day, and it is very difficult to wake him up. He will open his eyes a little bit, but then close them again.
A kidney doctor stopped in at about 2pm and explained that high blood pressure impacts the function of the kidneys. She stated that his blood work is now showing that there could be a problem with his kidneys. They will be performing tests on that, so more information to come.
He is moving his arms a lot, which is a good sign. However, the nurses have to keep a close watch because of the IV's that are in his arms. At about 7pm, he pulled a couple of them out which is not good because it's hard for the nurses to find good veins and he needs a continual flow of his BP medication. It is also painful to him when putting the IV's in. He may need to be restrained to prevent this from happening again.
If Frank's BP goes down, and he is more alert, the plan is to start assessing what he is having difficultly doing and create a therapy/rehabilitation plan. They also still need to assess if the brain damage has affected his ability to eat/swallow. If he can't, then they will be putting a temporary feeding tube in place.
Lastly, he pulled at my heart strings this evening. He opened his eyes and waved and I took his hand. He grabbed my hand with both of his, brought my hand to his face and kissed it.
Let's pray that he relaxes and isn't so restless, so then he won't be moving around too much and pull out his IV's again.
Monday, February 28th
The next morning, Monday, was a little more positive - his blood pressure had come down some and he had also said the words 'I know'. He also would use his right arm some to wave and was flexing his fingers.
However, he took a slight turn for the worse and had a seizure and stopped breathing. The nurses called code blue and were able to stop the seizure. Although he started breathing on his own, the breaths were not strong and they decided to put him on a respiratory ventilator to breath for him. They also had to put him on a sedative (propofol) to sleep because he would be too agitated with the breathing tube down his throat into his lungs.
Since he was a on ventilator they could not do the MRI. They did do another CAT scan.Through this CAT scan, they were finally able to see the stroke near the left/back side of his brain in the Parietal Lobe. This affects speech, memory, and sight. They also said there was a very small old stroke on the left side of his brain. They are not sure when this occurred, but it must have been minor enough to were Frank did not even know it had happened and was functioning normally. They also performed other various tests.
The goal for the day was to monitor him and keep him on the ventilator and make sure he did not seizure again. The next day they would want to take him off of it and possibly do the MRI.
Sunday, February 27th
Friday (25th) Frank texted messaged me (about 6pm) and stated that he had a migraine. The message, although simple, seemed coherent.
Saturday afternoon, a friend called and left him a voice mail, however, he never returned the call.
Sunday, at about 1pm, I called Frank and he did not answer. I asked a friend of his that lives on the same block if he had heard from him and he said no. They went to Frank's house, and Frank answered the door; however, he was not able to speak well and was 'out of it'. They asked him if they should call 911 and they agreed.
When Frank got to the ER they said he blood pressure was about 300/190. The doctors and nurses stated they have never seen a blood pressure this high. They did a CAT scan, and it did not show any hemorrhaging. This was a good sign, however, it also did not show a sign of a stroke. They moved him up to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and were most concerned about slowly lowering his blood pressure. He could not speak, other than the words 'yes', 'no', and 'ok'. He had a hard time moving his right side of his body. His neurologist said that the next day he would want to do an MRI. The doctors stated that although the CAT scan did not show the stroke - this was not uncommon - that it takes a while for the stroke to actually appear on the CAT scan and that the next day would give us more answers.
I spent the night with him and the nurses were coming in checking and doing tests. When he would look over and see me he would wave at me, but he did not wave at the nurses. Hopefully this means he recognizes me and is a good sign.
Saturday afternoon, a friend called and left him a voice mail, however, he never returned the call.
Sunday, at about 1pm, I called Frank and he did not answer. I asked a friend of his that lives on the same block if he had heard from him and he said no. They went to Frank's house, and Frank answered the door; however, he was not able to speak well and was 'out of it'. They asked him if they should call 911 and they agreed.
When Frank got to the ER they said he blood pressure was about 300/190. The doctors and nurses stated they have never seen a blood pressure this high. They did a CAT scan, and it did not show any hemorrhaging. This was a good sign, however, it also did not show a sign of a stroke. They moved him up to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and were most concerned about slowly lowering his blood pressure. He could not speak, other than the words 'yes', 'no', and 'ok'. He had a hard time moving his right side of his body. His neurologist said that the next day he would want to do an MRI. The doctors stated that although the CAT scan did not show the stroke - this was not uncommon - that it takes a while for the stroke to actually appear on the CAT scan and that the next day would give us more answers.
I spent the night with him and the nurses were coming in checking and doing tests. When he would look over and see me he would wave at me, but he did not wave at the nurses. Hopefully this means he recognizes me and is a good sign.
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