Well, the first 3 days of February were great! Amber brought the kids over on the 1st for a visit, after over a week of not being able to see them because of illness (theirs and ours). We went to the park and had a blast! It was so nice to see Archer feeling good again. He had been one sick puppy the week before. They never figured out what he and the rest of the family (except Kacey) had…possibly the flu or covid. Whatever it was, it was rough! Very thankful that Dennis and I didn’t catch that!
Then on Saturday (the 3rd) we went and picked up
Nam. We took him to the FW stock show. Since it was the last day, a lot of the
animals were already gone. We did see a lot of rabbits and cows and horses…and
a few other animals in the kids’ discovery area. Afterwards we ate lunch at The
Flying Fish and did a little shopping at Target. Then we went back to his house
to visit with Sheila and Matt for a while. We really enjoyed the day.
Sunday took a turn for the worse. After the assembly, we ate
lunch at Whataburger, as usual. As we were leaving Dennis told me I needed to
drive. I asked if he was alright, and he said he didn’t think so…we should
probably head to the ER. THEN he told me that as he was visiting after church,
his left arm went dead. When he tried to get his keys out of his pocket, he
couldn’t grab hold of them. It was much better by this time, but we needed to
find out what was going on. He then proceeded to tell me that this had happened
twice before in the past few weeks…just not as bad. He had always checked out
his face in the mirror afterwards and never had any of the signs that they tell
you to look for with a stroke, so he hadn’t decided it was time to see someone
about it yet.
So we headed to the ER in Weatherford. I was very impressed
with the service we got. When he told them what had happened, they called a
stroke protocol. A doctor immediately came out to the waiting room and did a
preliminary examination right then and there! They sent him right up to get a
CT scan. They needed to do an MRI, but their machine was down, so they made
arrangements to send him by ambulance to the Medical City in FW. By this time,
Ricky and his family had arrived. I knew they would be admitting Dennis, so I
needed to run home to get a few things. Ricky took our car to FW to be with his
dad, and Amber took me home to get what we needed and then to FW. As soon as
they did an initial evaluation at the FW hospital, they sent him to get the
MRI. He was also given a large dose of Plavix and an aspirin sometime during
all of this (it all gets jumbled up in my mind!). His BP was running pretty
high, too…higher than it ever had for him. They also did a chest xray and had
put him on a heart monitor. It didn’t take too long for them to get him into a
room upstairs. By this time, Ricky and Amber had left. The kids needed to be
fed and taken home. I am so very thankful that they were close by when all of
this happened. They were SO much help!
The first night in the hospital was horrible. Neither of us
got much sleep at all. By the end of Monday, we had seen close to a dozen
doctors and had most of the tests run. They weren’t able to do the
transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) until Tuesday morning. They also implanted
the (very sophisticated) heart monitor in his chest. That afternoon they did a
Doppler on his legs, looking for blood clots.
What they learned from all of these tests: he has some
blockage in his right carotid artery (anywhere from 50-65%), but they don’t
think that is where the clots came from that caused the strokes. He had 3
places in his brain indicating stroke damage, two on the right side and one on
the left side, but they were very small. He has a small hole in his heart,
which we learned about 30% of the population has. It could have allowed clots
to pass through and go to his brain. Otherwise his heart looked healthy. He has
NO blood clots in his legs. They couldn’t detect any arrhythmias using the
external monitors, which is why they inserted the internal monitor. They will
analyze the data for the next 1-3 months to see if any irregularities show up.
(The monitor will remain in his chest for up to 3 years.) In about 3 months,
the cardiologist will go up through the femoral artery to “patch” the hole in
his heart. He will have his carotid artery ultrasounded about twice a year to
keep an eye on the blockage. The medications and lifestyle changes should keep
it from getting any worse.
In the meantime, Dennis will be on statins, BP medication,
Plavix and baby aspirin. He will be following up with the cardiologist,
neurologist and vascular surgeon. He will have to modify his diet to a low
sodium, heart-healthy diet and try to lose weight. He will also get back into
riding his bike again, which he has let slide over the past 6 months or so.
All in all, we were GREATLY blessed by the lack of damage
inflicted by the strokes! All of the doctors and therapists were very pleased
with his overall health. He feels great…just a little sore from where the
monitor was implanted. He’s not restricted at all, as far as his activity is
concerned. (In fact, he went out riding his bike today.) He will take it a
little easy until the incision in his chest has completely healed. We go next
week to see about having the stitches removed.
One thing I failed to mention earlier is that I was unable
to go on my cruise, because I came down with RSV the week we were supposed to
leave. I was pretty disappointed at first! I got over it pretty quickly though.
Then when Dennis had his stroke, I was very thankful that I hadn’t gone. I
would have been in Houston when it happened! Monday night, as I was driving
home (to sleep in my bed), I was mulling everything over. I called Ricky up and
told him how thankful I was that the kids had gotten me sick and made me stay
home! It would have been AWFUL if all of this had taken place with me hours
away! I really believe that God intervened and kept me from going!
It has been very heartwarming during this whole process…seeing
the love and concern expressed by so many! We appreciate all of the phone
calls, messages and visits. I can’t thank Ricky and Amber enough for all of
their help! Sheila and Matt brought us a very nice “care package” which also
helped a lot! Nam wrote his Grandad the sweetest note that made everyone who
read it tear up (if not break down in sobs, like I did). We were amazed at the
care Dennis received from the doctors and nurses at both hospitals. We are so
grateful to all who reached out to us during a stressful time.
Now, here’s hoping that the REST of February goes well!
Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
(NKJV)
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