As told to Rob by Vicki.
THE MEDICAL SAGA CONTINUES
Day 163 – This post contains a continuation of the story begun in yesterday’s post.
After the thrombolytic was administered, they needed to intensively monitor my condition for improvement and side effects from the thrombolytic, so I stayed in the ER with Rob at my side. They came back every fifteen minutes to monitor my vitals, strength and ask me questions (what is your name? What is the name of this guy next to you? What kind of building are you in? What day is it? What is your birthday? etc.) Initially, I couldn’t correctly answer most of the questions asked or even understand what was being asked. But I improved steadily and by the time I was admitted to the stroke ward at around midnight at the end of this day, I was able to answer most questions correctly and had regained strength on my right side. I had myriad tests in the ER: 4 CT scans, cardiac ultrasound (because I have a prominent pre-existing aortic valve murmur), x-ray swallowing test to be sure that the swallowing muscles weren’t affected, etc.
We didn’t get all the results from those tests until the next day.
Rob went back to the RV briefly around 7 a.m. Friday morning to check on the cats, feed them, feed himself, gather some things I might need and then came right back to the ER.
He stayed with me in the ER until 7 p.m. or so when he went back to the RV to care for the cats and himself.
I was transferred from the ER to the stroke ward around midnight.