I THOUGHT YESTERDAY WAS DIFFICULT…

At 7:30 this morning I was walking towards Philip’s room were there were many medical people standing. Very quickly the doctor that had been on duty all week-end approached me to say that Philip’s left side was not moving and the neurological team was examining him. There was the possibility of a stroke and there is a four hour window when they can give medication to help with the effects of a stroke. They took him down for a CAT scan and it was negative. They warned me that some strokes don’t show up for several hours and they would need to do an MRI later today. His kidney’s are not doing well and his blood pressure is low. They transferred him ICU (Intensive Care Unit). I think it is encephalopathy, again.  We will get the results tomorrow. It has been a very long day. Philip is exhausted and agitated. He told me tonight that when he gets through this he wants prime rib. It was such a relief for him to have a little humor about him. He has a tube in his nose, oxygen, wires running for blood pressure, breathing, heart monitoring, 4 IV’s running with medication and fluids. It was a stressful day, but his humor really picked me up. I don’t think the next few days are going to be easy, but I think we will work it through.