Thursday morning about a half hour after I walked into work my cell rang. From my caller ID I could tell it was my Grannie. Weird. She never calls me on my cell. I answered and she said "Well, I think I need to go to the doctor."
My stomach dropped because the first thought that popped into my head was that she fell...or that she was actually still laying on the floor. I was wrong.
She went on to tell me that her right side didn't work. I start to panic and ask questions. "Can you walk? Move your hands? Lift your legs?" She says "Yeah, I can do all of that but it's just useless."
I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. What does "useless" mean? She wanted me to take her to her general doctor. I kept insisting that if she was not able to use one side of her body we needed to go straight to the ER.
At this point, I had wasted enough time on the phone and ran out of work. Thankfully, I work about 5 minutes from the house. I got to the door and it was locked. Ugh. So I fish my keys out of the bottomless pit .. AKA my purse. As I unlocked to door she opened it at the same time. She wasn't completely dressed. Her right arm was sticking out the neck hole of her shirt. WTF? I assume she just was rushed and hadn't finished yet. She walked back to the bedroom and attempted to put her sweatshirt over the under shirt. WTF? I said repeatedly to her "Grandma.. your arm isn't in this shirt!!" She kept arguing with me saying "I know, that's what I'm trying to do!!" WTF? I had to physically stop her and show her. "LOOK, this arm is not in your shirt!!" She had no idea.
She was very dazed and confused. Very much off balance. It was so frustrating..both for me and her. I sat her down and convinced her that I did not trust her walking down the steps to get to my car and that I was going to call 911. She then needed to brush her teeth. It was at this point I realized what "useless" meant.
You see, she could move her arms up and down. She had the same strength in both hands. When she tried to brush her teeth she could not get her hand to bring her toothbrush to her mouth. It was like her arm had uncontrollable tremors/spasms as she tried to do small motor movements.
Something was wrong.
As the paramedics questioned her about her health and medical history she was slightly disoriented. I mean, she's always a little spacey. It's the 87 yr old brain. lol But this was different. She couldn't quite get her brain to focus and form thoughts.
While at the hospital the EKG and cat scan both came back okay. The standard protocol was to keep her overnight (that did not make her happy) and run a couple more tests - a MRI and an ultrasound of her carotid artery. Not only did she not want to spend the night at the hospital..but the next day was Christmas Eve!!
The MRI did reveal that she had a mini stroke. I'm not familiar, at all, with people that have suffered a stroke - mini or major. We did a lot of praying that night. Praying that any damage would be minimal. Praying that my Grannie would be released in time for Christmas. Praying that lasting effects be something that she could adapt to.
Thank God - she came home Christmas Eve afternoon. Any damage shown on the MRI is minor. The only lasting effects that we've noticed is that her right hand is still being a bit temperamental and not doing exactly what she wants it to do. She's moving a little slower than normal and with her cane. Probably because I basically told her she had to use the cane.
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| Merry Christmas Grannie!! |
So many of my friends stepped up and offered their prayers and help. It means so much to my family and me to be so loved.
We truly had an amazingly blessed Christmas.
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