3.01.2005

Momspital

At 5 am on Monday, February 28th, I was woken up by my mother, whereupon she said that she was having difficulty breathing and dad would be taking her to the emergency room to get checked out. The initial thought at the er was that fluid had built up and dialysis would help settle things. In the course of coming to this decision, a CAT scan was taken, and after mom finished dialysis at the regular clinic, the hospital called, saying that a second doctor looked at the scan and thought he saw something on mom’s brain and would like mom to come back to hospital for an MRI. Mom and dad waited the rest of the day for the MRI, and when it didn’t look like it would happen that night, dad stayed at hospital with mom overnight, hoping to get the MRI in the morning.

Eventually, the MRI was taken Tuesday afternoon. I was called at home around 3:30, with nothing resolved. It’s now quarter to 8 pm, and still nothing new to report from the hospital from dad. Monday evening, the words “mild stroke” were used to describe what the doc might have seen in the CAT scan, but no other symptoms of stroke were evident. Mom’s been oscillating between resting and vomiting at the hospital, though I think her breathing did improve.

As of 9:30 pm Tuesday, no evidence of stroke was found in the MRI, the prime suspect now for what happened is excessively high blood pressure (like over 200, normal around 120). They’re giving her some new medication for that, and depending on how that goes, she may be coming home in the next day or two. So, good news: no stroke, blood pressure can be managed with medications. I’m feeling much more in control of the situation, now that I know a little more.