Up to Speed

I (LaNeale) decided to start this blog in response to the MILLIONS of calls and texts asking for updates. We cannot thank you enough for the overwhelming outflow of love, support, and prayers. We serve and awesome and faithful God. All of us have had a hard time responding to each of you so this blog should be the best way to keep everyone updated!
I will try to do my best to catch everyone up to speed from when everything started. As hard as it is, I will now refer to everyone by their given names.....as opposed to Nana and Poppi! Bare with me:

Saturday, March 14th-
Jim's brother had passed away the week before so Jim, Hazel, Gary, Beverly, Patty and Mark drove to Dallas for his memorial service. Cynthia was unable to go because she had just had surgery to repair a rotator cuff and was in no shape to travel. Cynthia and Chris had them stop at their house when they got back in town and eat dinner. Jim complained of feeling nausiated and was unable to eat. He said that nausia started around Pauls Valley. He began vomitting at Cynthia's so everyone decided to go home. Hazel put Jim to bed after more vomiting. He had complained of vision problems and was staggering into the walls. Around midnight, Jim got out of bed because he was going to be sick again. He just fell to the side of the bed and was unresponsive. Hazel called 911.

Sunday, March 15th-
He arrived at Mercy ER in Oklahoma City. They did a CT Scan and found that he had suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke. He has been on coumadin (blood thinner) for years in order to prevent strokes. We are unclear as to what caused the initial rupture, but the coumadin exacerbated the bleed. He had what doctors described as a "large bleed" (11 mm) and the excess fluid and swelling caused a 1 cm lateral shift of the brain. The location of the bleed and fluid is not in an area that can be relieved. It was in the right side, which has caused paralyses of his left side, vision problems and sensory issues. The ER administered Vitamin K and plasma in order to induce clotting in order to stop the bleed. They preformed another CT Scan and then moved us in to ICU.

Emory Reynolds, a physician several of our family members know and respect, became his neurosurgeon. Jim's second CT scan revealed that the bleed had stopped and was not any worse, however the next three days would be vital due to the increased swelling and pressure being placed on the brain. The things they would be looking for would be that he can fight off infections, pneumonia, etc. He would also need to be able to pass a swallow test in order to avoid being placed on a feeding tube.

Monday, March 16th-
He seemed to be doing really well that morning. He was sleepy but very responsive. He knew he was at Mercy Hospital and that he had suffered a stroke. He was able to say hello and that he loved us but would quickly go right back to sleep.

Dr. Reynolds left for vacation (spring break) and his partner, Dr. Engles, came to see him. He basically echoed Dr. Reynolds and said that he seemed to being doing about the same based on his notes. We were very optimistic because he was having some movement in his left arm and leg and he was alert enough to ask for water.....about every 5 minutes! Dr. Engles did say that his vision would be impaired in his left visual field and that he still wasn't in the clear.

As the day progressed, he became more and more lethargic. The Speech department came by to conduct the swallow test but he was hardly awake and had some gurgling so no water could be given due to the risk of choking and/or pneumonia. He said he was so thirsty he could drink a jug of mud! His blood pressure began to become erratic and that became the major concern of the afternoon. He also developed a productive cough and a fever so the risk of infection was an issue as well, so they placed him on an antibiotic. After several severe spikes in his BP, they administered an antihypertensive to keep that down and in check.

Tuesday, March 17th - TODAY!!!!
Happy St. Patrick's Day! They took Jim for a third CT scan at about 4am as well as a chest X-ray. Dr. Engles came in at about 9am this morning and said we had some bad news. The bleed had definitely stopped and was not getting any larger, however the blood had seeped into his water chamber. This was causing him to be lethargic. He did say that on a scale from bad to this is really horrible, we were closer to the bad (good) side of the scale. He did inform us we will be in ICU for at least another week and that a feeding tube would need to be put in place. So that's where we are as of right now, 10:30 am. Dr. Engles did say that he will need his absolute rest. There are always family members in the ICU waiting room that would love to see visitors, however Jim can have none. I will post with updates as we get them but unfortunately it's just a waiting game. They will preform another CT tomorrow morning and that will give us an idea about his water chamber and bleeding.

Our specific prayer needs for today: That his blood pressure stabilizes and begins to normalize without the need of medications. Please pray for Hazel. She's scared and she's "beat". She's been a trooper! Pray for the rest of us.