What a Difference a Day Makes

Our family was turned upside down on it's head yesterday (10/10/13) by my Dad's stroke. I am the oldest sibling of 3 and we all came to the hospital from different directions as quickly as we could. My Dad was super lucky that he was not by himself when this occurred or we would be talking about a totally different outcome today.

He was a good candidate for tPA which is a drug that has many side effects that can be potentially dangerous. However, in a life or death situation such as this, the benefits far outweigh the dangers. I know this saved his life and definitely his quality of life for sure. 

Yesterday I left the hospital after several endless hours of waiting with my Dad in the ICU. In the hours after the drug was administered, I watched continuous progress from movement on his right side to better speech. He was still frustrated since he could not speak the way he wanted or get everything across as quickly as he wanted to but he was sitting up and able to communicate in a fashion and was doing well. 

The man I saw in the hospital today was back to being as close to my Dad as he can be with the few limitations this stroke has left him with. His arm and leg are weak but he can move them. His speech is not slurred anymore, he is animated and not having visual trouble at finding the right words that he wants to say and we can completely understand everything that he says to us. 

He is getting to eat and drink which is a good sign. He had to go through a series of tests today: an Echo for his heart and an MRI. We are pending the results of these tests now. He seems to get tired pretty easily which is understandable if you think about what his body has been through in a little over 24 hours. 

I am thrilled with the progress. To say the last 24 hours has been stressful is a huge understatement. An event such as this really makes you realize the importance of family and how we need to make sure we spend quality time with all of them. They could be gone before you know it. We got a warning yesterday that we should heed. Luckily Dad has his guardian angel hovering nearby and he was able to get the help he needed quickly. 

Comments and/or Questions are always Welcome!