My dad had a stroke the week before last. He had been working outside. My brothers were going to visit and when they got there, he was sitting in a chair unable to move. He regained movement about 10 hours later at the hospital. He needed surgery on his carotid artery which was blocked. Since it was scheduled for the following Tuesday, he got to go home for the weekend. He was at my niece's 1st birthday party on Sunday. Tuesday's surgery was pushed to Wednesday because the surgeon had an emergency. During surgery Wednesday, he had another stroke. He had another surgery following that to make sure the artery was clear. They kept him in a coma to keep his blood pressure down and started to bring him out of it Friday. A scan showed small vascular disease in his brain. His left side is paralyzed, he's on a respirator, being tube fed and given pain meds. When the blood pressure and pain meds start to wear off, he starts to wake and his blood pressure spikes. He is very uncomfortable and agitated at that point. This morning when I called the nurse said he rested well during the night, so I'll be spending the morning with him. Yesterday he had tears. They are starting to wean him off the respirator. He is making small improvements like that. From what I can observe and what I've read surviving a stroke is not an easy process. He has been such a support for me; the parent I could count on for stability. Now I want to be there with him and for him. I hope it is some comfort to him that his family is there and not upsetting for him.
This is hard hard hard.
1 comment:
After more than a week, dad still has ventilator, feeding tube and last night temp spiked at 104. He's getting antibiotics now. We are very worried.
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