My mom had a stroke
My mom had a stroke two nights ago. She had already fallen twice at home in the last couple of months (she's almost 90) and was in a rehab facility when it happened. I am thankful she was there because they noticed it right away and called the paramedics. I received the call around 11:30PM and headed off to the hospital.
When you have never seen a stroke patient in person it is very unnerving. I wasn't really prepared but not sure how you could be until you get there. It really makes it hit home just how dangerous and life-altering it is.
"Thankfully" it was just one clot and she was eligible for a procedure to go in and try to remove the clot. Unfortunately the hospital doesn't have the facilities to do that procedure so she had to be moved to another hospital about 30 minutes away. It was a blessing that it was now the middle of the night and there was no traffic so the trip to the other hospital went quickly.
When we arrived the team was ready to go and she went right in for the procedure. I was told where the waiting area was and it was eerily silent. There was nobody else around which seemed so weird since this particular hospital is just on the outskirts of Chicago proper. The doctor came out after about 45 minutes. The procedure itself only took 30 minutes (about as good as it can be) and he told me that it went very well and that the clot had been removed. He showed me pre and post pictures of the blood flow in her brain and honestly it was mind-blowing to see. The other good thing is that soon after the procedure was complete she started to have movement again in her right side.
To make this all more fun I had my COVID shot earlier in the afternoon and the effects had started to kick in. I wonder if the adrenaline of the situation tempered the effects because I never really felt bad like in the past, just...blah. Once they had transferred her to the ICU my wife came to get me because there was clearly no reason to stick around. She was sleeping and they'd be checking on her hourly. I got home about 4AM and tried falling asleep. It took a long time and I woke up after only 2 hours. I was operating on fumes all day and thankfully slept the night through last night.
Today I went to visit, not knowing what to expect when I walked in her room. She looked really good, pretty much normal and her face lit up when she saw me. The speech pathologists were there just starting another round of diagnostics and I was told by one of them that had seen her yesterday that the difference between yesterday and today was remarkable.
The stroke was on the left side of her brain and affected the speech center so she currently has global aphasia and can't speak or understand words. That said when I was talking to her I used a lot of pictures and gestures. She clearly was getting what I was saying with those aids. The pathologists said that the aphasia will recede with time and therapy. It might not totally go away but she should be able to get a lot of that functionality back. She is able to eat and drink which was a huge relief. It was a good visit and really made me feel a lot better knowing at least we're starting recovery from a solid base.
All of this also reminded me just how quickly life can change. That afternoon I had been visiting her and she was fine. 8 hours later I was seeing the effect that a stroke can quickly have on someone, robbing them of a lot of their life. My mom has always been a voracious reader. She loves games like Solitaire and Mahjongg and word puzzles. So this was doubly hard to see since she can't currently take part in the majority of what gives her pleasure.
I am very thankful that everything was able to happen so quickly to help minimize the effects of the stroke. I am also very thankful for all of the wonderful people at both hospitals for being so caring and professional. These folks are truly heroes.