Good afternoon.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Tom enjoyed the plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, jello, and fudge.  He hasn’t eaten the pumpkin pie yet.  He doesn’t want to mess up his sugar counts.  It seems that his evenings have more anxiety, and it takes Tom a while to calm down.  There are several reasons for that, side effect of stroke itself, stuck in the same room and in bed for hours on end, continue wonder if things are getting worse or better, and lastly sometimes the variety of meds.  Today, after arriving, Tom was frustrated with not being able to log into his work laptop. He knew the right login and password, but his fingers wouldn’t push the correct keys.  He was angry, warm, didn’t appear to enjoy seeing me.  Eric happen to show up at that moment, and I went out to visit with Julie and kids.  They got to talking about football and all seemed okay.  Julie and kids said hi and they left.  I went back in, and Tom’s lunch had arrived.  He was enjoying it very much.  Cutting his own meat, using fork and knife.  He asked me a question about the game, and when I turned to answer, Tom was just staring straight forward and non responsive.  The nurse and neurologist on call came in, They laid Tom back, and he began to respond.    The event really tired him out, and he slept a bit.  I asked the doctor if we really were making progress.  He said yes, but it’s going painfully slow.  Timing for all this was the entire fourth quarter of the game.  Now, he was asking what happened, and ready to finish lunch.  Wow, this is very scary and frustrating.  Tom is currently, rambling and apologizing to everyone for his behavior.  He even said sorry dear, and wanted to give me a back rub.  All is stable at the moment.  Oh, forgot to say that he is in a sitting position, in the bed.  Baby steps.  Love you all.

Just a quick update on Tom. His night was rough, but not because of pain. He has a lot of anxiety. The Chaplin came and sat with him. I talked with nurse this morning and he slept from 4 to 8. He’s better today. I’m planning on taking the boys up there this morning as it’s his best time of the day. He is currently in a semi sitting up position. We will bring him movies to watch. Boredom is setting in.

Tom is making progress, but it is very slow. Dr. Thorell said yesterday that it could be another 10 days in ICU. Baby steps. They will begin to slowly decrease the Blood pressure medicine, and see how well Tom responds. The oxygen mask was taken off yesterday and back of bed brought up higher. Tom did a stupid thing and scratched his left eye. The doctors did look it over very well, and put a gel type medicine in the lower lid with an eye patch. It itches, and that’s why it got scratched.

Tom is asking that visitors come in the morning or early afternoon when he is best. His speech isn’t as good later in day, and he gets tired. He enjoys the visit, but would like people to stay only 5 to 10 minutes. You can always call me to see if a visit will work later in day.

Speech and PT therapy began yesterday. Tom likes that.

I am working on getting a website up as a center location for updates and what needs the kids and I will need going forward. That is to reduce the number of phone calls and such. I get tired of repeating myself.

Tom and I are so blessed by the many family and friends with your outpouring love and support. I KNOW we can’t do this alone. God has been present all along, and working his magic. We thank you all so much. I am getting my thoughts of needs together a bit better.

Lisa could you please forward this to the Cramer’s. I know I have their email somewhere.

Thank you, thank you to each of you, and please keep praying.

I love you all, Karen

Tom didn’t have a very good day. Speech wasn’t good and later in day his right hand became numb again. He had been moved out of ICU and to floor 6, but we’re now back up in ICU. The doctors are going to try to raise his blood pressure again, on oxygen, and his point of entry for surgery began bleeding so he’ll need to lay flat again for six hours. It began bleeding because Tominsisted getting out of a chair and on bed nearly by himself. His strength in his right arm wasn’t there to help him pull up, and the patch came off. The bleeding was stopped, and no major issues there. Just lay flat for six hours. He needs sleep, but won’t really let himself do that.

Keep praying

Where do I begin? You can’t imagine how BLESSED we feel. Each of you have wrapped your arms around us, and that feels so good. The events of the past few days have been the scariest and hardest days of my life. Truly God has been at work. So keep the prayers going, it’s working!!!!! Currently, Tom is sleeping- finally. He is so scared to go to sleep, and he won’t wake up the same or worse. The night was very rough up to about 7:30 this morning. They took him to have a scan at about 2 in the morning, thinking he was bleeding somewhere. That came back okay. He was scheduled for another MRI at 8am. and it didn’t show anything new or out of the ordinary. Since 11am, Tom has been talking better and can identify object, knows his name, lift his arms, wiggle his toes,and stick out his tongue. He’s very groggy and working to figure out the time line of events since 1pm Tuesday. He was even given food, not much but some. I am hopeful that he’ll have a restful night and continued improvement tomorrow. Oh, they also put him on a continuous EEG to help identify if and when seizures are caused by TIA’s or vise versa. Medicines will then be determined how to control events and surgery is no longer an option.

I will be going home tonight to sleep, I’ve been up since 6:30 am Tuesday. Peggy and Verle will keep watch over my precious Tom.

God Bless to everyone and keep praying We feel it.
Love you all so much Karen

We’ve talked with Dr. Thorell and final very good about the direction he’s planning to take. The angiogram is scheduled for 1pm (doctor time). At this time no intervention will be done unless it looks to be the only option. The EEG done on Saturday showed the seizures could be present. It’s all very perplexing. What’s causing the aphasia’s, is everything related, one causing the other, or non of the above. What we do know is that something isn’t right, but where’s the source?

Thanks for the prayers, Karen

Tom has been moved to the Med Center and is in the Clarkson Tower.
We’re waiting for the doctor to get out of surgery and come talk to us.
It looks as if the angiogram will be tomorrow, but the time hasn’t been confirmed. Likely early afternoon 12:30 ish. After they complete the test, they’ll come talk to us about their findings and go from there.

The Med Center is a very big place. I got lost a bit finding my way to his room the first time through. Discovered it was easiest to park in the purple or orange parking lot just off 42nd street. Not sure why, but they put him in the Peter Kiewit &Sons, Inc. Suite.

That’s all I have for now.
Karen

Tom went back into the hospital Thursday afternoon because he was experiencing the speech confusion and had tingling in his right hand again. Tom was put back on IV of Heparin and that seems to keep him stable with no major issues. His ability to say what he wants is what’s most affected, and driving him crazy. A speech therapist has been working with him to help with that. Another round of test were given and some new ones like an EEG. The tests have mostly shown normal functions, except for the left carotid artery where there is narrowing up near the brain. So, after several consultations with a variety of doctors, the plan is to move Tom to the med center tomorrow. On Tuesday, a specialist will perform a more evasive procedure to get a better look of the artery. This specialist is the only one in Nebraska that does surgery in this area, so if repair work is needed when they look on Tuesday this doctor can go ahead and repair things. The test has a risk factor of 1 in 200 for having a full blown stroke. Tom so badly wants to get out of the hospital and see if he can work. He knows his thought process isn’t where it needs to be yet, and wonders how much will come back to perform at work successfully to keep his job.

The nurses and doctors have continually given Tom great advice and to have patience. Recovery will take time. So, after Tuesday we’ll know if there’s more damage and if/what will be the next step. Tom can’t continue to live with an IV of heparin to control things.

The boys and I were visiting tonight and brought cards. The speech person suggested to play games to help with memory, quickness, and etc. We played a few games of trash and Tom could follow along pretty well. Nerts was a bit more challenging, we went very slow so he wouldn’t get confused. He enjoyed the card playing.

I’ll let everyone know how things turn out.

Praying hard, Karen

I have more information. This morning Tom had a MRA done (test where they add dye to view the arteries/blood vessels in neck and back of brain). That test found that his left artery is showing a blockage. Blood went the wrong way through the vessels and got caught. For this they treat with blood thinners and the artery repairs itself in six months time. This information was explained to us from the cardio surgeon that came and visited. He showed us the ex-ray and we could see the thinner looking artery. This same surgeon wants to still do a TEE (Echo test through the throat to the heart area) tomorrow morning to make sure there isn’t any blockage in that area.

Also, last night they ran a liver function test and discovered a bump on the liver enzymes. This is more than likely a side effect of the Zocar. For now, they have discontinued all cholesterol meds until after they re take the liver test tomorrow.

So, currently, Tom is being connected to Heparin blood thinner to help prevent the blockage from getting any bigger. He doesn’t like being connected to lots of cords and etc. He took a shower and is talking better. The rest of the day he’ll rest and they’ll monitor is speech which is the current symptom, and tomorrow morning do the two additional tests.

We liked the carido doctor,as he came in with a non-sense approach and very straight forward. Even drew pictures on dry ease board to help show us how/where blockage would be and act like. He feels pretty sure that the blockage is the cause of all of this.

Tom will be here at Immanuel until Monday afternoon. Election day is Tuesday, and he’s scheduled to work it and is wondering if he’ll get out in time to do this. Maybe or maybe not. Depends on tests tomorrow.

That’s all I know for now. Thanks for the all the prayers,
Karen

Here we go again. About 8:30 pm tonight, Tom and my dad were on there way home from Ben’s concert in Doane. Tom was having trouble getting his thoughts out, and speech was slurred at times. Dad immediately took him back to the hospital. They again did another cat scan and it came up with nothing. He is staying the night, and they’ve Id him as a high fall risk. In the morning, doctors will come in and do more tests. He’s in room 605 at Immanuel. Tom doesn’t have any numbness, but is running a slight fever. It’s frustrating as something is going on, but what is causing all of this?

Dave I’ll suggest your thoughts with the doctors about his meds.

Love you all, Karen

Tom is home, and ready for a shower. After doing many tests, which all came back normal, the doctors concluded he had a TIA (Transient Ischemic attack) -mini stroke. It definitely scared us, while symptoms were happening last night. Not sure why it happened, but it did. He’s to continue taking Simvastatin (been taking for about three months) once a day for his high cholesterol numbers along with a low dose of baby aspirin daily, and fish oil. He’s been advised to eat more fruits/vegetables and get more exercise.

We requested copies all results and photos of tests. They will be mailed to us.

Tom goes back on Monday morning for a follow up check up.

Thank you for the many prayers, phone calls, and responses. The kids were shaken-ed too, as I wasn’t home when it began, and they handled it well and got their dad help. Joshua knew to call 911, as instinct was telling him to do just that, but Tom (as we all do) thought it would pass. Joshua called me after doing what his dad asked him to do, but later was worried he’d made the wrong choice when Tom had to spend the night. Basically, blaming himself that he didn’t get his dad help faster. He did great. The kids were very please to have me home to wake them up, and knew since I was home that Dad was going to be okay.

Tom is all set to watch North in the 2nd round of state football playoffs tonight, and listen to Ben’s concert at Doane College on Saturday. It’s been recommended he doesn’t drive until after Monday’s follow up appointment, we’ll see how well he listens?

Thanks for being such a caring family, we love you all very much
Karen