Was in the process of typing something to congratulate Clark on his day off when the phone rang. My mom had recently had shoulder surgery, dad thought she was acting funny. Thought maybe she might be loopy from the pain meds and lack of sleep, but told him if she did it again they needed to get checked out with a quickness. 5 minutes later he calls back, she's slurring her words and not making any sense. I'm glad he asked where they should go. No offense to UK hospital, but its August (new residents, fellows, and interns). I've heard great things about the stroke team at Baptist Health, and it was all true. Within 45 minutes off arriving to the ER she's seen the doc, had CT scan, and the neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist had her in the Cath lab.
She went downhill fast. Couldn't understand what was going on or what people were saying to her. Her words made no sense (aphasia). The woman we knew as gone. Because of her recent surgery, she wasn't a candidate for systemic TPA (clot buster). She really only had one chance, and that was a cerebral angiogram and selective small dose injection. Turns out she had a clot in her M3/4 cerebral artery, and the neurointerventional team was able to dissolve it with just a few milligrams of TPA. In less than 30 minutes after the procedure, she went from a drooling vegetable to pretty much completely normal. Pretty much a total miracle, walk off homerun, Hail Mary, Aaron Harrison kind of deal.
Pretty crazy run of emotions. One minute you're thinking of snarky things to say to your wildcat friends, how much beer should I bring on the boat for the big Raftup this weekend, wonder what kind of crazy stuff are we gonna see...to Holy **** my moms having a stroke might die or be a vegetable, to OMG the found the clot dissolved it and now she's back to normal...Praise the lord.
Can't say enough nice things about our experience at Baptist Health. Third night in the ICU tonight, and she probably will go home tomorrow. Almost like nothing happened at all. If you or your loved ones are having symptoms of a stroke, get to a stroke center if possible. Time is tissue, the faster they can intervene the better your chances.
So anyway, Congrats on your days off Clark. I really hope you had a good time.