What happened?

Saturday morning Joanne woke with a numb arm and was unable to move the right side of her face. We went to the ER. While there her condition improved considerably and the CAT scan showed nothing. She was admitted and just before moving to her room, she had another more serious stoke. I agreed to an aggressive treatment called TPA, which is a super blood thinning clot-busting drug which has only 20% chance of working, X% she would stay the same and X% she will hemorrhage and die. Another CAT scan showed a large blockage which ruled out the TPA option. She was move to Overlook hospital which is one of the nation's leading numerological centers where they performed a procedure which goes directly into the area and removes the blockage. This didn't have great odds either but after speaking to the surgeon I decided this was the only option.

What happened was her carotid artery had dissected, which means the inner lining separated from the outer lining and created a pocket. This pocket filled with blood, cut off circulation and formed the clot which became the blockage. They had to first repair the artery before removing the blockage. The procedure took six hours.

She has made great strides over the past two days. She is still unable to move her right arm, she can't speak, the right side of her face is not moving and only occasionally does she do something on command. She is mostly sleeping due to the swelling in her brain from the procedure, which is normal. We are unsure how much she understands since her responses are so limited. She did nod when asked if she knew where she was and frowned when asked if she was in a nice hotel. Hopefully she will be out of ICU within the next day or two.

Joanna Hutzel has mobilized our friends and family and are taking turns bringing my kids to and from school, doing homework with them and bringing us meals. They gave me a schedule of who has my kids, when and where and what time they will be home and who is bringing dinner. I am in a bit of a fog and thankful that I have them doing this for me. I am overwhelmed.

Joanne did have a good half an hour tonight, just before I left to be at home with the kids. She was awake and responsive and seemed to understand what I was saying. I left tonight feeling a sense of hope. She still has a very long way to go before we know how much damage has or has not been done. For now I am happy when she gives a smile, even if it is just half a smile.

I will try to let you know of more improvements as they come. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

~written by Paul on Tuesday, November 6th