|
|
I
had come home during break from my painting class and while I was
eating lunch, the phone rang. It
was my dad – and I instantly became alarmed – my family doesn’t usually
call me – we email each other practically all the time – so I knew
it was something serious. Don’t laugh but at first I thought something
had happened to Roxie (my dog), but you can’t blame me – she gets
sick easily and all! Anyway
– my dad, apparently, was driving and using his cell phone to call
me. He said that my grandfather
(my remaining grandparent and the only grandfather I’ve known all
my life – my maternal grandfather died before I was born) had a stroke. My aunt (dad’s sister) had been trying to
reach my grandfather at his house where he was living alone and he
didn’t answer the phone. So
she called my dad and told him that…my dad tried the same thing, got
no answer. This was the night before. That morning, he tried again – and knowing
something might’ve happened, he drove down to Veguita (a small town
in New Mexico where my grandpa lives) to his trailer home and found
my grandpa on the floor. He
was still conscious but had lost all mobility and use of his body
except his eyes and he was able to utter some sounds.
So…I’m going to let my dad “do the talking” about what happened
thereafter… |
|
Wednesday,
July 19 I'll
get right to it---we spent the day at the hospital---mostly in the
ER then later Grandpa was
moved to CCU (critical care unit) in the early morning Grandpa responded
to talking to the doctor: He
even tried to talk--very slurred speech, but we could make out a couple
words. Later in the day he
responded less and less----at 2 pm or so I asked if he was cold and
he shook his head "no"---since then nothing--- He has two
large bruises---one on his outer thigh and another on his side/back
(back where the kidney is) they
are pretty big and swollen---it now appears that he was lying there
at least 24 hours and maybe as much as nearly 48 hrs (I spoke to him
Monday morning and he was fine). He obviously spend much of the time in the
same exact position on the bathroom floor----thank the Lord it wasn't
longer----sometimes I don't call him for a week to 10 days. As I said, he's in CCU---the CCU doctor hasn’t
seen him yet. While I hope
and pray for the best, realistically it does not look good at all--this
is the same thing with Grandma and pretty much with Grandma Holman
(maternal grandmother). Of
course his body has had a couple rough days and it is trying to repair
itself by making him "coma-like".
Mostly people do not have quick recoveries from strokes.
All we can do is hope and pray---there are a huge number of
people praying for him---everyone loves "Uncle Bus." I've got to go---lots of people calling and asking--I may try to call you tonight. I sorta plan on going in around 8pm for a bit then back home. Love
you, Dad
|
|
|
|
Wednesday,
July 19, Later
that evening - Went back in to see Grandpa in the evening about 9:00pm
(can't visit between 7-8 cause that's when they change shifts).
I was expecting to just see him lying there the
whole time---he was asleep when I arrived, but I thought "What
the heck" I sorta shook
his shoulder and said "Hey, you awake"?
His eyes popped open and he looked right at me. He
recognized who I was and I could ask yes or no questions and he responded.
He tried to speak, but couldn't get real words out.
I went out to the nurses station and they were generally impressed---he'd
responded earlier when they'd changed the bedding. The nurse told me they suspected a stroke but
were still diagnosing. They
felt there might be something going on within his brain so they are
going to take him for an MRI (you had one once)--that's where the
"x-ray" the brain (or whatever) using magnetic (M in MRI)
. They basically can take
"slices" of the head and look at individual slices to figure
out what's up. I
went back in and told him what they planned to do tomorrow and said
"They will be real surprised when they look in your brain and
there is nothing there"! And he sorta smiled!!!! After this afternoon I really expected the worst, so I really thankful to the Lord. we are a LONG ways from recovery and there may not be a full recovery or maybe it'll get worse, but anyway I was really happy to see improvement. It's after midnight--I'm gonna shower and go to bed.
Love ya, Dad |
|
Then,
I got email from my mom: Hi
Nancy, Here's
the latest on grandpa. Yesterday afternoon he couldn't be woken up,
but Dad went late last night with Richard Handley & his girlfriend,
Janice to see Grandpa. He
was awake and as alert as he can be under the circumstances.
He is trying desperately to speak---sometimes you can understand
what he is saying. This
AM Dad and I both went over to see him and he even seemed a bit better.
I'm not too sure how much of anything he remembers, but he
definitely had a stroke, maybe more than one.
He is trying so hard to talk--that's good!
He is able to move his left hand and left foot; right side
seems pretty useless at this time, so I'm not sure how much movement
(mobility) he will eventually have. One thing is for sure---this is going to be a long process. We need to take one day at a time; little progress for Grandpa is a huge step towards his recovery. He is so strong and as you know LOVES to talk; that's incentive enough to speak and speak well. He will be working with a speech therapist, so I have no doubts he will be talking up a storm in no time!
Love
Mommie Dearest
|
|
|
|
Friday
morning, July 21 Nancy
(and others): Went
to see GH last nite. he is even a little better---he seems to understand
what I'm saying, Tho his short term memory isn't too good---he didn't
know if my sister had come by. I
said Pastor Len had come by (I knew he had) and he agreed. He tries to get sentences out and says the
first three or four words fine, then can't get the rest out---I can
guess what he intended to say and finishes the sentence and he'll
agree. I said something sorta funny and he laughed
at it, so that's positive. Last
evening the nurse said a Dr had noted a "bleeder" in his
brain---that's where a little blood vessel is bleeding, but the Dr
had not diagnosed anything as to whether it was significant or if
they'd do anything soon---hopefully the MRI he had yesterday will
tell them something. Even
if they found something and if they were to do something like surgery
there is almost no way it'd totally reverse his situation.
GH's
right side is noticeably weaker and his mouth droops just a bit--this
is very typical of stroke where one side is worse than the other.
They are also a bit concerned about his ability to swallow
strongly---if there is a problem he could swallow saliva or whatever
and get moisture in his lungs could make for pneumonia.
They have a speech therapist working with him.
also they want him to be able to eat solid food on his own.
Yesterday they had him sitting up on the side of the bed for
a bit. BULLETIN---just
got a call from a Dr Klein----they looked at him this morning and
there is some concern that MAYBE a clot has moved to his heart and
she was seeking permission to do a "transesophagal echo"
this is where they numb the throat with a spray and pass an
instrument down his throat into his esophagus and do an echo scan
of his heart----they will do this afternoon---I'm taking the lack
of being in a hurry to mean this isn't critical but they are being
cautious. GH
is clearly a pretty sick puppy, but he IS getting better.
It won't be quick and we'll have to be happy with tiny improvements
over a long time. We've
spent a lot of time on the phone talking with people and updating
them---I keep forgetting who I told what to and when!
Lots of people are real concerned and are praying for GH---it's
good to know how many people love him.
|
|
Saturday
night 7/22/00. Nancy--you
will notice I've added a bunch of people to the address list. We
just came from seeing your grandpa (my dad).
For someone with a massive stroke I guess he's doing pretty
well. This morning we were
sorta disappointed with the minimal progress, but this evening after
church we stopped by and he was wide awake. I said "you wanna get out of this joint--get your clothes,
we're leaving" and he got a big ol' smile and said "yep." He
knows we're are real familiar faces, but has difficulty with names--if
I say I'm "Mic," he'll nod his head that he understands.
This morning though Mom pointed to me and said "Is that
your brother, Jim?" and he nodded yes, but when Mom said "No,
it's Mic," he nodded and said "Oh, yeah."
He can put together maybe 3-4 words, but any more than that
and he loses the train of thought. He has real difficulty swallowing so they are
feeding him through a tube that snakes thru his nose and down the
back of his throat into his stomach.
They are feeding him a high calorie & nutrition "milkshake"
through it. If he swallows
incorrectly he can get food or liquids into his windpipe and into
his lungs and that's real bad because it can cause pneumonia.
Monday they are going to do some testing to see what's up with
the swallowing. We
went to his house today and cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer,
turned off his satellite dish, gathered up a bunch of stuff for washing
and did some general cleanup. He's sure got a lot of stuff we will need to sort through! Oh,
one note---I told you yesterday they'd done some kind of ultrasonic
scan (sorta like they do for pregnant moms) of his heart.
The nurse was explaining that he apparently has a hole between
the two halves of his heart. Newborns sometime have this and either grow
out of it or have surgery. With
grandpa, apparently, he has never had any serious medical problems
so they never did a real serious exam of his heart.
He's lived with it for 89 years, but now, suddenly, it may
have created a blood clot that traveled to his brain and caused the
stroke. I guess if they'd know of this they might have
had him on a blood thinner which might have helped, but..... Guess that sorta brings you up to date. Love
ya, dad |
|
|
|
Nancy,
Brian & all Today's
report (Sunday 7/23/00) Went
to see my dad this afternoon---pretty much everything is the same,
except that they are going to move him out of CCU (critical care unit).
He seemed pretty cheerful and responded to jokes and all.
I shook his left hand
(the strong side) and it was a fairly nice grip---the right side was
real weak, but was a grip. Tomorrow
(Monday) the physical therapist comes back on and they look in the
swallowing problem in dept and probably begin to chart a recovery/rehabilitation
course. It'll be a long trip back and we really don't
know how much to expect right now---we'll have a much better idea
by the end of the week, as I understand it. (Note---my
cousin Barbara from Arizona wrote me a nice note---she asked a couple
questions so I included 'em in the body of my letter). Thanks
Barb---the one thing I know is that this is absolutely the last thing
my dad wanted---he really feared being debilitated. >>I
guess it is common for stroke patients to have the short term memory
loss? Yeah,
it seems it is "typical"---the funny thing is that he has
his sense of humor. Dawn said
"we're gonna bust you out of here" and he had the biggest
smile. >>What
have you learned about his swallowing? Everything
is pretty much on hold for the week-end....they are gonna do some
video work to examine his swallowing---don't really understand what
that is all about he occasionally
coughs, but it isn't too bad and doesn't have that "wet"
cough sound would be real worrisome. >>Do
you feel like he recognizes you? He
knows I'm friendly and love him, but he doesn't really put together
the relationship. Just too complex for him to comprehend right now,
I guess. Can't
believe he has gone so many years with so little health problems -
weren't we just talking about that? >>But
that just shows overall he's had a really good life—health-wise.
I know you know lots of people that are sick
or hurting nearly every day of their life---it's sorta strange, Especially
is there was some kind of hole in the heart area? I
guess overall the hole is pretty insignificant since he's had it for
all his life--for the record, my cousin Jack Walton apparently was
apparently born with a hole in his heart.
Thanks
everyone, for your prayers---especailly for my Dad, but also for us---it
gets us thru the day. Dad/Mic
|
|
Monday,
July 24 Grandpa
had his "swallow test" today and he passed---they feel he
can eat solid food now so will be removing the feeding tube thru his
nose later today. In
the mean time they are probably gonna release him from the hospital
into a Rehab (rehabilitation) unit---separate from the hospital but
a medical setting. He's able
to sit up by himself for a while.
His speech is still confusing, but he seemed a lot perkier
this afternoon. I'm
going in early in the morning to catch the doctor to see what opinion
she has of where he can go with his progress and what's reasonable
to expect and what's not reasonable.
|
|
|
|
Tuesday,
July 25 Well,
there's some news and progress. This is especially for Nancy and Brian---but
the rest of you can read along. On
Sunday they tossed GH out of the CCU (critical care unit) into a "regular"
room with a roomie. Late today they threw him out of the hospital
(I'm trying to maintain my sense of humor in all this) into a rehab
center. Background---in
our last chapter (Sunday nite) GH was being fed thru a tube stuck
thru his nose and into his stomach because of swallowing problems.
On Monday they took a video of his swallowing (apparently he
literally swallowed a tiny TV camera).
Anyway, he did real well with the test so they pulled the feeding
tube and he's on solid food. I
went in this morning and sat around for 2 1/2 hours hoping to catch
the Dr---of course she never showed up while I was there.
They brought in his breakfast and since no one came in to check
up I started to feed him---it was French toast and after I cut it
up for him he could hold the fork and put it in his mouth and chew
and swallow pretty much normally. He ate pretty good and after a bit when I asked said if he wanted
more food he waved his hand "no."
It is very very strange to feed your own dad food. We'd
been informed on Monday that he was going to be released from the
hospital and we were given a choice of 3 places. By today the choices were almost completely
different! It is a hospital,
but with much less intensive care as people can handle it and lots
of physical (and speech) therapy.
GH
cannot walk, but can sit up OK. He still does not recognize me by
name but recognizes I'm the good guy. I'm still surprised that he has a pretty keen
sense of humor even tho he doesn't know names. He's on blood thinners (coumaden (sp) and heprin)---the only medicine
he's being given. It's
real frustrating that I cannot get catch up with a "real"
doctor, but I guess the good news is that they don't think he's in
any serious trouble. The room/care
changes, staff changes and weekend work schedule me no one really
remembers what the progress is. I
think the sad truth is that the hospital workers see a lot of stroke
victims come and go and it's all sorta routine for them.
My detective work indicates he was probably on the floor for well over 12 hours, but less than 24. I don't know if the time down and without help is a factor in his recovery---couldn't have helped, but I don't know it earlier intervention would have changed the outcome. I
had a good talk with my cousin Mary Ann (Aunt Laura's daughter).
She's an RN and she says the rehab could easily take well over
a month--even two or more--, totally depending on how aggressive GH
is and how the progress goes. After rehab is the million dollar question.
Clearly he won't be going back to Veguita to live by himself.
He was real stressed when he first got to the hospital so it's
hard for me to get a handle on progress and where this is all is going. I guess in the next few days they will get him into a rehab program
and see how quickly he progresses and that will begin to give us an
idea as to where this will all end up.
Thanks
again to all of your prayers out there, especially for my Dad, but
thanks for including the rest of us Hamiltons.
|
|
Dated
Sunday, 7/29/00 The news is, in general, mostly upbeat for GH (Grandpa Hamilton). Physically he's doing pretty good. On Thursday he'd walked 7 steps—today (Sunday) he was walking the halls (with a walker and human assistant). On Wednesday he could barely feed himself--last night (sat) he was eating by himself and when a pea fell off his spoon he immediately scooped it up. He is much more aware of things to his left (his "good" side); so much so that he ignored some food way on the right side of his tray until I moved it over to the left side. His food is all soft or mashed up--they are concerned about him taking too big a piece and choking. The therapist gave him a comb and he immediately combed his hair. I took in an electric razor and he understood how to use it. The not-quite-as-good news is that GH is having real difficulty with the "mental" side of things. He says he knows who I am, but says "Yes" when I ask him if I'm the dr. He cannot remember things that happened a few minutes earlier. Mostly he agrees with anything that you ask. The mental problems also are a factor in his safety--he tried to get out of bed by himself so they put GH in a restraint system--it's a sort of sleeveless shirt thing that zips up the back and has a belt on it that keeps him in bed via a belt that goes under the mattress (I had to sign papers authorizing its use)--twice on Friday night he somehow got out of it and got out of bed and fell both times--once banging his head enough to bleed slightly--they ordered a CAT scan, but I think that's mostly to protect the hospital from liability. Saturday morning when I was there he was real groggy and barely responsive--later in the afternoon he was wide awake and tried to make conversation. He can get 4-5 words out then goes to mumbling and pauses and sometimes gets words out that make no sense as to the topic. They still have him on oxygen--a nose canula with low flow--when they take it off, his O-2 sat drops below 90%. On
Friday morning he had the initial evaluation by the hospital staff
(as required by regs)--the medical, dietary, physical therapist, occupational
therapist, speech therapist, and social services people were all there.
They were fairly informative--they
expect GH to certainly be there (in rehab) 3-4 weeks and he could
stay longer if he continues to improve well. At some point he will
level out and that'll end the rehab care. That's where things
get real difficult. No one was saying there could be anywhere
near full recovery. Apparently every stoke is different, depending
on which part of the brain is effected. GH is a bit unique in
that he doing great in getting his coordination and physical strength
back, but mentally the improvement is very slow.
Love
ya: Dad/Mic
|
|
week 13 | week 14 | week 15 | week 16