Stroke

What a long day. Turns out my dad had a mild stroke. This morning he had double vision and problems keeping his balance when he stood up. He was able to keep his breakfast down, so that was good. At the ER, his blood pressure was really high (184/88 at one point) but his heart rate was consistently between 39 - 43). They did a sonogram on his legs to make sure he didn't have any blood clots down there (he had an appt for this set for Monday 6/21 @ 5pm), a chest xray, and a CT scan (to make sure there was no internal bleeding) and some blood work. Then they decided to have an MRI done on his head as well. An hour after the MRI, a neurologist came in and started asking questions, then the ER doc came in and told us he had a stroke at the back of his head, which is why he was having problems walking. Holy cow! By this time he was less dizzy, his heart rate had increased to between 48-52, and his blood pressure had decreased a little as well. They said it was acute, so it happened within the past few days. They could not tell us if it was a blood clot or if something else was blocked going to his brain (arteries in front of his neck). Wow.

I was at least prepared, food wise. I brought a container of blue berries, raspberries, strawberries and bananas, and a couple of packets of raw almonds. I packed some snacks for my mom as well. Once again, my dad comes to the rescue and does something that helps me keep my mind off my issue, which right now is my low-iodine diet. Sure I kept on thinking about what I'd like to be eating (other than frozen yogurt, fish, a skinny hazelnut latte, cookies, anything I don't have to personally prepare myself.....so many things), but there was enough going on in my dad's ER room to help me keep food off of my mind most of the time we were there (well, at least until he started to ask when he could eat).

He was admitted for observation and further testing which his nurse said wouldn't happen probably until Monday. So, sadly my dad will spend Father's day in the hospital. Before we left him this evening, I asked his nurse to help him change the TV channel so he could watch the World Cup games tomorrow morning. I hope he is feeling much better when we visit him tomorrow.