[nagdu] Middle Oct. update; Ed had a stroke
Ed and Toni Eames
eeames at csufresno.edu
Thu Oct 15 12:28:04 UTC 2009
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
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