Larry's Stroke 4/8 through 4/14

Wed PM 4/8: He got home from work on Wednesday night got out of his car and his eyesight was blurred and partially impaired on the right side. He told me he thought his retina was detaching. I took him to the ER. They found his BP to be 200/110. They did some tests but counted it as high blood pressure and prescribed a HBP medicine. We got home at 3am with the generic drugs.

Thurs AM 4/9: Larry says he feels fine so he goes to work. He thought his vision was ok. I thought he should stay home. He goes to work -- then around 10am, his vision starts getting blurry, etc. He gets an appt with an Opthomologist at 1pm that day.

Thurs 1PM: He sees the Opthomologist and the Opth realizes that Larry might have had a stroke and tells him to get into his medical doctor right away. I make the appt and tell him I'll come get him and take him (I'm at work 45 min away). He says NO he'll drive. Insists. Can't remember how to get to the freeway, though. I told him NOT to drive. He does. The med doc examines him and agrees that he may have had a stroke and insists that he check into the hospital right away. Med doc refuses to let Larry drive (good man) so I come get him and take him.

Thurs 5PM: I get Larry checked into the hospital and he sees the neurologist who orders MRI of brain and arteries in neck plus an EKG.

Fri AM 4/10: Gets tests done

Fri afternoon: Get results -- there has been a moderate stroke. Right Quadrant still not able to see and short term memory loss. Larry can't remember names, or what he's told you or done. Repeats himself a lot. Doctor asks him all kinds of questions. Some of them are quite entertaining: Doctor: How long have you been taking ADD meds?

Larry: Oh, about 6 mos.

Me: No doctor, he's been taking them for 2 years

Doctor: Who prescribed the ADD meds?

Larry: My Eye doctor

Me: No

Larry: I mean my primary care physician

Doctor: I'm your primary care physician (We were laughing at this point)

Doctor: How old is your mom?

Larry: 62

Me: No

Doctor: Larry, you're 56, are you sure she's 62?

He finally had to calculate it because he knew what year she was born (1925) and then he could figure it out.

Sat 4/11: More tests. Results show no blockage in arteries in neck but they are checking the ones leading to the kidneys. They will do a 3-D Reconstruction of that area on Monday and determine what options are (stint, etc.) This will be done by the Vascular doctor. BP still high but it being Easter tomorrow, they let him go home. We get home around 8PM.

Sun 4/12 EASTER: We stay home in the AM -- Larry tired and I'm concerned that it will be too much for him to go to church -- he doesn't recognize people's names and gets them confused. We have a lovely Easter meal at the O'Days -- thank you. Some normalcy was nice.

Mon 4/13: Take Larry to the medical doctor. No change in vision -- still can't see anything to the right. Memory a little better but not much. He can read, but doesn't know his alphabet. Can calculate numbers but does not know the numbers. It's really strange. Doctor says no driving or work for at least 3 weeks. Requests follow up with Neurologist and Opthamologist. We will see Vascular doctor in a month.

Tues 4/14: Larry feels great today. Rested. A little bored but struggles with simple tasks like where to find a bowl and what a microwave does. He looks at an object and has to think a long time before he can figure out what it is. I caught him looking for the milk in the pantry. Simple things we take for granted. Physical Therapist is supposed to come out starting today. Thankfully, they will come to the house as I am the only designated driver in the house and I work outside the home.

Prayer Requests: That Larry's memory & vision will return to normal. For patience for him -- he's being a wonderful patient. For endurance for me to deal with all of this. Nathan lost his license so I have to drive him everywhere also. FUN!