Thank You, Thank You

Thank you so much to all those who responded on this post, and also to those who left me notes on Facebook, or even those who just quietly sent prayers my family's way during a rough time.  I so appreciate your prayers and well wishes, and I know Nana does too...

As you know, Nana had a pretty severe (the doctors call it acute) stroke just over a week ago.  She's lucky in that she lives in a complex directly across the street from the major downtown hospital that doubles as the area's heart center.  Last Thursday, when I went to the hospital while she was still in the ER waiting on a permanent bed upstairs, Nana could hardly speak.  She was very garbled, slurred, and could only say a few words (with us understanding only about half of those).  She was depressed and continually said that she wanted to "be with Wes tonight" (my grandfather, who had two strokes ten years apart, but unfortunately didn't wake up from the second one two years ago).  The speech therapist came and Nana failed a swallow evaluation, which would test her ability to control her swallowing and gagging reflexes and determine what consistency of foods she could safely eat without aspirating (food going down her trachea vice her esophagus, and therefore into her lungs, causing choking).  She was to remain NPO (nothing by mouth) until at least the following day when a more extensive test could be completed.

I was unable to visit again until Saturday afternoon due to two major tests Friday in class.  My parents were with Nana that day, and my mom said she had remarkable improvement.  She'd passed the Barium Swallow Testing and X-ray and was allowed pureed foods with a honey consistency.  Her words were more clear, and she seemed less depressed.  The doctors were confused because the stroke was on the left side of the brain, which controls the right side of the body.  While she does show right-sided paralysis, Nana's speech center was also affected.  The confusing part is that normally the speech center is on the same side of the brain as "handedness" and Nana is left-handed.  So in Nana's case, the doctors would expect right-sided paralysis with no speech impairment (left brain stroke) or left-sided paralysis with marked speech impairment (right-brain stroke).  It appears Nana tricked them all!

As I mentioned, I was able to visit Saturday afternoon, with my mom.  We arrived at lunch, and sat with Nana while she ate.  The hospital is great in that they "mold" her foods so it looks like what you'd expect, rather than a lumpy scoop of pureed foods.  In other words, her meatloaf and corn on the cob were placed in molds so that on her plate, it appears she had a slice of meatloaf and half a corn cob!  Much more appetizing than the ice-cream scoop serving method we remember from grade school cafeteria food!  Nana was able to eat her food by herself, and I showed her some tricks to help her out...  Since her stroke affected her right side, and since she's left-handed, her tendency is for the spoon/fork to go to the right side of her mouth.  The problem is that she can't feel the food there, so she "chipmunks" the food and it ends up falling out of her mouth and making a mess.  Nana's from Boston and can't stand a lack of table manners!  So I taught her to practice placing the food only on the left side of her mouth.  This way she can feel the food, swallow it safely, and not make as much of a mess.  I also suggested she place a small mirror on the table so she can look at herself after each bite to remind herself to wipe her mouth in case she misses!  Just those simple tricks helped a ton and made Nana feel more confident and less useless!

Throughout my visit Saturday, Nana was able to speak in complete sentences rather than just one or two words at a time, she smiled and joked.  She was able to recite numbers to ten, the alphabet, days of the week, and months of the year (at one point she said..."September, October, Thanksgiving...").  So, she knows what she's trying to say and how to convey it, but sometimes her brain moves too fast for her mouth!  She's allowed to have THICK milkshakes, which my dad has been delivering nightly, and although I haven't been able to visit this week, I've been getting reports from my parents that Nana is doing so much better and daily making improvements.  With a little more luck, a handful more prayers, and a mountain of therapy, I'm sure she'll be back in her own apartment before long!

Thanks again for your support....don't stop yet!  We still need you rooting for us!

Love and hugs!

Kate