MRI results don't show any evidence of another stroke. The nurse said this could be due to the TPA doing its job well enough that the stroke might have been "erased" from view on the MRI. Blood enzyme tests show that heart damage might have occurred. Dad is still on a respirator and still sedated because when they pull him off the sedation, his heart rate and blood pressure go up. When they have decreased his sedative, he opens his eyes and can somewhat make eye contact. He moves his right arm (though it is tied down) and seems to also be voluntarily moving his left arm also. He has redness in his arms and face and we are not sure what is causing that--possibly the drug they're using to keep his blood pressure down.
There is no plan for the doctors to do anything but watch Dad today. A TEE might be performed tomorrow. That is a procedure where they run a camera down his esophagus to look at his heart. That would give a definitive opinion as to whether a heart attack or any damage to the heart has occurred.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Another Stroke -- Left Side of Brain
We got a call at 8:00 am today saying the ambulance was taking Dad to the hospital. He was fine this morning, had a shower and was at breakfast when he became non-responsive. Jan arrived first at the hospital, then Ted, then myself.
His blood pressure was insanely high, he didn't know who was in the room and did not respond to Jan and Ted calling his name. He was flailing a bit, grasping at his face. When the nurse tried to put a breathing tube down his nose, they apparently cut him or something and he began to bleed profusely. They have him on blood thinners, so he is very prone to bleed. Apparently they had him lying down while the bleeding was going on and the blood ran down into his lungs and stomach. As they were trying to stabilize him, they had to put a tube down into his lungs to remove the blood. I am told this very much increases his odds of getting pneumonia. When moving him from the stretcher to the bed in the ICU, he apparently vomited a very large amount of blood also.
They gave him a dosage of TPA (not sure if I got that acronym right....but it's the blockage fighting drug) around 11:30 am. They were not able to get a full dose in because he began to bleed more. We watched them do an ultrasound on his heart, to try to detect if foreign debris had gone through a hole in his heart without first passing through the lungs. Normally blood is filtered in the lungs, but if the blood happens to go from one side to the other through a hole in the heart, the lungs do not remove the debris and it's possible something could go to the brain that way.
It is 5:00 now and Dad is sedated, with breathing tube and suction tube to pull blood from his lungs. He has been this way since about 11:00 am today. The doctors confirmed with a CT scan that a stroke has occurred on the left side of his brain. We won't know for sure how badly it affects him until they remove the tubes and stop sedating him. He opens his eyes partly for a second here and there. There is a lot of shivering of his left (paralyzed) side. He moves his right arm a bit also. So far, he has not acknowledged my presence. They will keep him sedated until tomorrow at the earliest, so that he doesn't try to pull out the tubes. The nurse says that he is in stable, but guarded, condition. I take that to mean that he could go downhill at any moment, so I am staying here as long as is practical. He does look peaceful as he sleeps but the tubes look pretty brutal when you think about it.
His blood pressure was insanely high, he didn't know who was in the room and did not respond to Jan and Ted calling his name. He was flailing a bit, grasping at his face. When the nurse tried to put a breathing tube down his nose, they apparently cut him or something and he began to bleed profusely. They have him on blood thinners, so he is very prone to bleed. Apparently they had him lying down while the bleeding was going on and the blood ran down into his lungs and stomach. As they were trying to stabilize him, they had to put a tube down into his lungs to remove the blood. I am told this very much increases his odds of getting pneumonia. When moving him from the stretcher to the bed in the ICU, he apparently vomited a very large amount of blood also.
They gave him a dosage of TPA (not sure if I got that acronym right....but it's the blockage fighting drug) around 11:30 am. They were not able to get a full dose in because he began to bleed more. We watched them do an ultrasound on his heart, to try to detect if foreign debris had gone through a hole in his heart without first passing through the lungs. Normally blood is filtered in the lungs, but if the blood happens to go from one side to the other through a hole in the heart, the lungs do not remove the debris and it's possible something could go to the brain that way.
It is 5:00 now and Dad is sedated, with breathing tube and suction tube to pull blood from his lungs. He has been this way since about 11:00 am today. The doctors confirmed with a CT scan that a stroke has occurred on the left side of his brain. We won't know for sure how badly it affects him until they remove the tubes and stop sedating him. He opens his eyes partly for a second here and there. There is a lot of shivering of his left (paralyzed) side. He moves his right arm a bit also. So far, he has not acknowledged my presence. They will keep him sedated until tomorrow at the earliest, so that he doesn't try to pull out the tubes. The nurse says that he is in stable, but guarded, condition. I take that to mean that he could go downhill at any moment, so I am staying here as long as is practical. He does look peaceful as he sleeps but the tubes look pretty brutal when you think about it.
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