The Doctor's Prognosis

It's kind of a shock to walk into your wife's hospital room and find someone else in "her" bed. You can imagine the initial reaction when you are dealing with stuff that is sometimes terminal. To my relief though, she had only been moved. Whew!

So, if you visit, you will now find her in the "Cedar" wing of Highline Medical Center, room 526. Take a left out of the elevator, then a right after passing over the cafeteria, to find her room. It is a nice single bed room with a view of the SeaTac Airport. (Hmm...SeaTac Airport. Did I tell you that that is where we met? She worked in Northwest Airlines reservation center, in the upstairs of the big Northwest hanger, and I worked on the planes, down on the maintenance floor, as an A & P mechanic.)

Sweetie was awake and responsive for most of the 2 1/2 hours I spent with her this morning. The most impressive response, and it was not actually a response to anything, she simply asked me at one point: "Do you know what time it is?". Now she didn't actually want to know the time, though I told her ... and the day and date too. It is encouraging to see that a seven-word phrase can be put together and spoken, even thought it is not related to anything else.

I was very grateful to have Doctor Heide appear at 10 a.m. for his daily check-in with her. I asked him: "Don't you ever get a day off?" "No" he replied, "but I'm coping". What a professional.

Anyway, after not seeing him for two days, I was full of questions. So here's his opinion of where we go from here, based on his 16 years of dealing with stroke and his current caseload of more than 1,000 patients:

• She is past the critical stage, brain swelling is going down.
• The clot is not diminishing as I previously stated, but some blood is flowing past it. It will likely be permanent.
• She is expected to walk again, maybe with a limp or needing a cane.
• Her right hand and arm may have very limited, if any function.
• She will have difficulty communicating, but family will eventually get acquainted with her expressions and cope fairly well.
• She could possibly be ready to come home in three to six months.
• She will not have amnesia.

These are the high points of his prognosis. We all realize that each stroke case is different. As they say in the investment world: "Past experience is not indicative of future returns."

Oh, one other thing you should know. Dr. Heide is attempting to acquire a new state-of-the-art device that uses magnetism to stimulate brain tissue growth. He will be one of the first in the country to use the device, but the $50,000 price tag may delay it's acquisition. Let's pray that deal comes together.

After the doctor left, we had a nice long quiet time together, we both even fell asleep at one point. Finally, about 11:30 a.m. friends arrived to be with Bettie so I left her in their company.

On the way home, I stopped to have lunch and visit with dear old friends. What a joy to be hosted, loved, encouraged, accepted, and listened to by people of quality.