[nagdu] Middle Oct. update; Ed had a stroke

[Ed and Toni Eames]

At 05:24 AM 10/15/2009, you wrote:
>Middle Oct., 2009
>
>Hi all,
>
>Apparently, I neglected to mention Ed did come home on Tuesday Oct. 
>6 after 7 days in the hospital.  Debbie came to get us after Ed and 
>I went through all of the discharge rigmarole!  Ed was so thrilled 
>to be back in his own bed and slept 12 hours that first night.
>
>By the next day, he was working to build strength and even shopped 
>for a half hour with Debbie at the 99 Cent store.
>
>The day after discharge, a visiting nurse came to the house and 
>completed an extremely thorough health questionnaire.  Both Lynn 
>Danell, our veterinary technician guardian angel, who would be 
>administering the infusion antibiotic, and retired nurse friend 
>Janet Moore, came to the house to be shown the procedure by the 
>visiting nurse.  That night, Ed slept for 9 hours and we were 
>encouraged that he was catching up on healthy recovery.
>
>Thursday our routine was pretty normal with readers and catching up 
>on e-mail.  Lynn came in the afternoon to tend to the cats and give 
>Ed the treatment.  We joked that Ed might start meowing after the 
>five week course of infusions!
>
>Thursday night, Ed was restless and did not sleep well.  After going 
>to Petco with Anita and Eric on Friday morning, Ed admitted to being 
>very tired.  When he was discharged, the nurse assured him he could 
>do anything within his strength and shopping was a chore he 
>loved.  After a lunch, prepared by Ed, he napped for an hour in his 
>Lazy Boy chair.
>
>He awoke very groggy and within a few minutes, his speech was 
>slurred and a left side weakness had begun.  Lynn was here when we 
>observed his symptoms and 911 was again called.  Each time we've 
>dealth with them, I have been extremely impressed with their 
>kindness and efficiency.  I thought I was scared during the first 
>hospitalization, but it was nothing compared with the terror of 
>knowing he had a stroke!
>
>In her calm, take charge manner, Lynn drove me back to St. Agnes and 
>I was pleased Ed's sense of humor showed through his halting, but 
>mostly intelligible speech.  Upon hearing the news, Linda Haymond 
>rushed to be with us during the long vigil in the emergency 
>room.  We joked that Keebler and Latrell would be confused if he 
>were placed back on the fifth floor, but in a different room.  After 
>another score of tests, Ed was admitted to the telemetry floor, room 
>460, with a diagnosis of moderate to severe stroke.
>
>Saturday morning I felt encouraged when Ed had the nurse call me to 
>ask if I would be joining him for breakfast.  His speech was 
>understandable.  Several more tests were performed and by the time I 
>arrived at his bedside, he was not fully awake and could not 
>communicate.  My fears are so enormous, I had the first of many long 
>crying spells before visiting him.  I know it is too early to 
>determine damage and I know I need to take things minute by minute, 
>but not being able to understand him is torture!
>
>Keebler, Latrell and I arrive each morning driven by a friend and 
>the three of us settle in for a 8-10 hour day in the hospital with 
>Ed.  His left arm is extremely weak, but his left leg is relatively 
>strong.  He went from intravenous feeding to being spoon fed honey 
>thickened food, due to partial paralysis of his swallowing 
>mechanisms.  Linda has been coming every night to feed him and the 
>nursing aids have been most helpful.  On top of everything else, Ed 
>developed pneumonia and is often very sleepy.  But when the 
>therapists come to work with him, he is eager to do his exercises.
>
>Luckily, Keebler has learned our way to the elevators, the outside 
>grass and back to the hospital room.  I feel much less helpless in 
>that way.  But we have had hospital glitches, increasing my anxiety 
>and frustration.
>
>Each day of his stays at St. Agnes, nurses and nursing aids write 
>their name and a number on a board in Ed's room.  It took several 
>days before someone explained to me that these numbers were cell 
>phone numbers for quick access to the nursing staff.  Ed did not 
>want a Foley catheter, having had a nightmare experience several 
>years ago with a nursing aid who pierced the bladder while trying to 
>insert it.  It took several days of urinal searches by me and 
>accidental spilling by Ed until a nurse's aid told us about a condon 
>catheter, a non invasive procedure.  The most egregious error was 
>the doctor failing to order a diabetic diet, causing Ed's glucose to 
>spike , then giving him extra insulin.  Thank goodness Linda noticed 
>when feeding him.  When Janet Moore visits, she can read the chart 
>and interpret things to me the doctor has not covered well.
>
>For me, the most frightening part of seeing Ed is that he has turned 
>from a vital, involved and active man into an old man with halting 
>speech and very little mobility.  We have been partners in most 
>advocacy and educational efforts, it is difficult to deal with the unknown.
>
>Ed received physical, occupational and speech therapy at St. Agnes, 
>but we are looking forward to discharge on Oct. 16 when he will be 
>transferred to the San Joaquin Valley Rehabilitation Center where he 
>will receive extensive therapies.  I hope his speech is quickly 
>strengthened so our communication will be smoother.  I don't do well 
>with the unknown, so hope we can see an upward trend in his recovery.
>
>Our many friends have been extremely supportive and caring for me as 
>well as for Ed.  I get a ride home, but  come home exhausted and, 
>after feeding the animals, drop into bed, but sleep only five or six 
>hours, so I can work on the update and get a little of my own stuff 
>accomplished.  Marsha discovered Latrell was working on a hotspot, 
>probably due to his stress level, seeing Ed but not taking any walks 
>with him.  I think we caught it early and are treating it with Benedril.
>
>One evening after Stephanie and I left, Linda brought her laptop and 
>encouraged Ed to dictate an addendum to this update.  As you will 
>read, his sense of humor remains and his goal of getting well and 
>eating again is strong.  He is mostly cognitively alert.  Read his own words:
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>Toni has been keeping you updated on events in my recent medical 
>life.  One of the outstanding events has been the outpouring of love 
>and help on a daily basis.  Toni usually handles the calls and gives 
>updates on the latest news.  It completely overwhelms me, this 
>outpouring of love and concern.  I think it creates a new group in 
>my life which I am referring to as my St. Agnes support team.  These 
>folks have all been part of our lives for quite awhile and with the 
>additional commitment of help and love.
>
>Today I started rehab and my goals are to get out of here as soon as 
>possible and to eat a full meal with all of the fixings!  Under 
>speech therapy I  now swallow liquids like applesauce, thickened 
>apple juice, chocolate pudding and soup.  One of my dreams now is to 
>attack a glass of water with ice cubes and be able to swallow it 
>without aspiration problems.  Another enticing image is a tall glass 
>of Sam Adams Beer.  If I were at Black Angus I would have it.
>
>Dr. Telles, my cardiologist, visited a few minutes ago and was quite 
>dismayed to discover Toni had taken Keebler and Latrell home.  He is 
>a dog lover deeply attached to a Labrador pet in his home.  He has 
>certainly made the staff aware of how welcomed the dogs should be 
>and he has set the tone for the cardiac units.
>
>Of course, Toni is my anchor and joy in this current medical morass.
>
>Ed