Well, life is full of ups and downs. We are on a rollercoaster here of good days and bad days. I haven't been sleeping well, too much going on inside my head, I guess, and then of course, I am not much good to anybody during the day because I am tired.
Carl woke up on Tuesday, November 5th not doing well, similar to how he was acting on Halloween morning. Confused, wobbly and this time he was slurring his words. He didn't seem to have any of the signs of a stroke other than his voice, so I chalked it up to the Parkinson's and we just took it easy that day. On Wednesday, November 6th he had an appointment with his primary care dr at the VA, which I had made to see about getting him referred to the gastroenterologist at the VA due to his having stomach pain and not being able to eat much. Last year he was diagnosed with Stenosing Mesenteritis, a pretty rare condition. At that time in September, 2018 he underwent a colonoscopy and endoscopy and his GI dr. said things looked stable and he would see him in a year, so when he started having stomach problems, we decided to get him in to see the VA gastro, so then all his care would be at the VA. Anyway, at the primary care visit I mentioned to Dr. Law that he was slurring his words and she did a quick assessment and sent us to the Emergency department right away.
At the E.R. they took him back for a cat scan and lots of assessing going on. By then he was a little droopy on the left side, and had some numbness, all the signs of a stroke. They took him for a 2nd catscan, this time with contrast. They didn't really see anything, no sign of a hemorrhage and no sign of a blood clot type stroke either, but they decided to admit him. We arrived at the ER at3:30 in the afternoon and he finally got a bed in the telemetry unit at 11 pm. I stayed until they got him something to eat and medications, then I headed for home. Thank you again to our dear friends Bill and Ruth, Bill had gone to the house to check on Prince for me.
Next morning I arrived back at the hospital. More assessments and a MRI was scheduled for that day. Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy came in to see him, and he was still droopy and slurring his words. About noon they took him back for a MRI. His neurologist came to see him about 2 pm and nothing had shown up on the MRI to indicate a stroke, yet he still had the symptoms. He was otherwise in pretty decent shape so they decided to repeat the MRI in 3 days, but discharged him to come home about 5 pm. He was doing better and Dr. Steve knew I would call the medics if he had any more signs of trouble.
Sunday the 10th he went and had a repeat MRI, we heard back from his neuro that nothing had appeared on the scan. So it's very puzzling! He is doing about the same to be honest with you. We are on a downhill trend lately, memory problems and still fuzzy speech. He has an appt tomorrow Wednesday with his neuro so we will talk more then. I've been making a list of questions I have. Maybe this is just Parkinson's related. Hoping to get some answers..
Monday, November 11th was Veteran's Day, he was feeling ok so we went to lunch with Bill and Ruth at Chili's. Chili's is one of the restaurants that offers a free meal to Veterans on that day. A couple pictures!
I'm afraid I am probably not handling all this very well. I am not depressed, but sad and no energy. No motivation, nothing. Just trying to get through each day and waiting for the other shoe to drop I guess. Our dear friend Eloda is flying up here to Reno from SoCal this Thursday to visit for a few days so I am really looking forward to her visit, both of us are. I'm going to have her help me with a couple of projects around here if we feel like it, and I see a couple pajama days coming up, too!
We appreciate all your good thoughts and prayers. This is a journey you can never be prepared for.
P.S. I am aware of a weird symbol on my blog. To be honest, I don't have the energy to try to fix it right now so try to ignore it!!
Carl woke up on Tuesday, November 5th not doing well, similar to how he was acting on Halloween morning. Confused, wobbly and this time he was slurring his words. He didn't seem to have any of the signs of a stroke other than his voice, so I chalked it up to the Parkinson's and we just took it easy that day. On Wednesday, November 6th he had an appointment with his primary care dr at the VA, which I had made to see about getting him referred to the gastroenterologist at the VA due to his having stomach pain and not being able to eat much. Last year he was diagnosed with Stenosing Mesenteritis, a pretty rare condition. At that time in September, 2018 he underwent a colonoscopy and endoscopy and his GI dr. said things looked stable and he would see him in a year, so when he started having stomach problems, we decided to get him in to see the VA gastro, so then all his care would be at the VA. Anyway, at the primary care visit I mentioned to Dr. Law that he was slurring his words and she did a quick assessment and sent us to the Emergency department right away.
At the E.R. they took him back for a cat scan and lots of assessing going on. By then he was a little droopy on the left side, and had some numbness, all the signs of a stroke. They took him for a 2nd catscan, this time with contrast. They didn't really see anything, no sign of a hemorrhage and no sign of a blood clot type stroke either, but they decided to admit him. We arrived at the ER at3:30 in the afternoon and he finally got a bed in the telemetry unit at 11 pm. I stayed until they got him something to eat and medications, then I headed for home. Thank you again to our dear friends Bill and Ruth, Bill had gone to the house to check on Prince for me.
Next morning I arrived back at the hospital. More assessments and a MRI was scheduled for that day. Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy came in to see him, and he was still droopy and slurring his words. About noon they took him back for a MRI. His neurologist came to see him about 2 pm and nothing had shown up on the MRI to indicate a stroke, yet he still had the symptoms. He was otherwise in pretty decent shape so they decided to repeat the MRI in 3 days, but discharged him to come home about 5 pm. He was doing better and Dr. Steve knew I would call the medics if he had any more signs of trouble.
Sunday the 10th he went and had a repeat MRI, we heard back from his neuro that nothing had appeared on the scan. So it's very puzzling! He is doing about the same to be honest with you. We are on a downhill trend lately, memory problems and still fuzzy speech. He has an appt tomorrow Wednesday with his neuro so we will talk more then. I've been making a list of questions I have. Maybe this is just Parkinson's related. Hoping to get some answers..
Monday, November 11th was Veteran's Day, he was feeling ok so we went to lunch with Bill and Ruth at Chili's. Chili's is one of the restaurants that offers a free meal to Veterans on that day. A couple pictures!
We appreciate all your good thoughts and prayers. This is a journey you can never be prepared for.
P.S. I am aware of a weird symbol on my blog. To be honest, I don't have the energy to try to fix it right now so try to ignore it!!
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I was going to ask you if you saw the image.
ReplyDeleteOkay don't be so hard on yourself - you have a right to be depressed and sad - that is a big change for you. I am so sorry about your husband.
I read another blog today and she is having the same type of troubles - but her husband had a stroke.
I tell you it is really hard in the holidays too.
Hugs and prayers.
sandie
Gosh, I feel so bad for you and your hubby. It is so frustrating when the doctors cannot put a name on what ails us. I do hope that they figure it out pretty soon and can start to correcting the problem. I'm sending prayers and hugs for both of you. Try to have a good day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your hubby's medical problems...It is a tough job when you are suddenly a care taker...You need to take care of yourself too!! Sending prayers that your hubby feels better and you get answers to your questions...Thanks for stopping by!!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Debbie
Oh Barb, I'm so sorry to hear about Carl having so many issues with no real answers. I know it can be frustrating, for both of you. Please make sure you take care of yourself too, pajama days are never a bad thing!
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are sweet, I'm glad you were able to go out on Veteran's Day with your friends. And he looks great in uniform!
I'll be saying prayers for you both.
I miss seeing your blog posts. I Know how busy life can be. I make myself blog because I LOVE it and I want that record of these days as they go by too quickly. HUGS
ReplyDelete