Pop-watch - Blog for Pop in the hospital

Hi Everyone,

I just came back from visiting my grandfather (aka "Pop-pop") from the Summit Overlook Hospital. For those of you who do not know, he just suffered a minor hemorrhagic stroke, and there is a lot of information floating around from my Mom calling everyone individually. I started a new set of blogs here called "Pop-watch" to give updates to the online community on his condition.

Last Saturday, Pop was complaining that he couldn't get out of his chair. When Nan went to help him up, he couldn't stand on his own, so Nan called 911. The arriving Police officer recommended that he go to Summit Overlook Hospital's emergency room.

He went, and they are currently taking good care of him. He's off of his Coumadin because they wanted to stop the bleeding in his brain. He was in the ICU being monitored 24/7 to make sure his condition stabilized. He's also on Lasiks to lower his high-blood pressure and to reduce the swelling in his ankles. To help aid clotting, he received 4 units of plasma spread over two days.

Yesterday, Pop had an MRI and good news! The bleeding has stopped. There also was very little swelling of the brain. He is still a little out of it, though, because the blood that is still on his brain needs to be absorbed. So until that happens (which could take weeks or even months), he'll be a little wacky. For example, when I went to visit yesterday, he thought the Nurse was my cousin, Megan, and he said things like, "I love you, sweetheart" and "Give me a kiss." The nurse found this hysterical and wished that she could call him grandpa.

Today, he was a little more together, but very tired because he had a rough night last night, so they gave him a strong sedative that could take up to 48 hours to leave his blood stream. He knows all the family's names and his gross motor skills are very good. His speech is good, for the most part, but it is a little slurred due to him being tired. His right side is still weaker than his left.

He loves the food there, though! We had to help him eat his dinner tonight, but for the first time in a while, he gets to eat leafy greens and even some sugar (since they are giving him insulin to help control his diabetes).

We're optimistic, since he seems to be in good spirits, joking with the doctors and nurses, etc ...

If you have any questions, let me know, and I'll be sure to give you the latest updates I have. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Love,