Hospital again

[gja1000]

Gary is in the hospital again. He had signs of a stroke this monring when he got up. He had weakness in his left arm and leg, and slurred speech. I raced him to the ER where the symptoms were much better and went away in about an hour. He is completely fine now. They are doing a stroke workup to see if they can determine what caused it. The doctor thinks it was a stroke, rather than a TIA (transient ischemic attack), but that there was no damage. They must decide a course of action though, in order to treat him properly to avoid another stroke.

Things are complicated because he cannot have a dye study of his brain which would tell them more than a plain old CAT scan (which showed nothing) because his kidneys do not function as they should and the contrast dye could further damage them. So, they are ruling out everything else it might be and then they will go from there.

I'll update you all more when I know anything! I'm bored, so may be online more than usual - thank goodness for wireless internet!!!!!

[Tiramisu]

Hang in there, girl!

[gja1000]

Thanks Sandy, we're hanging tight!

[Blueyes]

Geez Gayle...I'm so sorry! I hope they can pinpoint the cause. Are all of his symptoms gone already? Let us know how things are progressing. I think a stroke is what I fear most for Mike. Take care of you too... My thoughts and prayers are with you both. Betsi

[gja1000]

Originally Posted by Blueyes

Geez Gayle...I'm so sorry! I hope they can pinpoint the cause. Are all of his symptoms gone already?

Yep, all gone, been gone since about 8:30 this morning (thankfully). They've just been running tests today, all of which so far, are normal (for him). We are waiting for one more, a study of the carotid arteries in his neck. They need to be sure they are not clogged up. Keep your fingers crossed that they are OK, there is a surgery to unclog them, but I don't want him to have to go through that!!!

I know, a stroke is my worst nightmare for Gary too. I think this was a big time warning sign, and hopefully, we can keep him from having the big one. They will likely put him on blood thinners for the rest of his life - aspirin or coumadin - just depends on how big they think the risk for another stroke.

[Blueyes]

I'm glad his symptoms are gone! Blood thinners sound like a good idea. Mike is on aspirin, plavix, and 2 shots of lovenox a day. He was on coumadin for a short while...I just hate that stuff! It's so hard to regulate. I'm glad Gary just had this "warning"...not the Big One Let me know what they say about his carotids. Hang in there!