We had our second appointment at Dr. Heide's clinic. First we spent nearly an hour with the dietitian, learning how to feed her to get her weight back up and keep her blood consistency stable. After that, we spent the better part of the next hour having her head examined, quite literally.
In a typical clinic exam room, she lay on the table with a crown-like gadget on her head, to which were attached two ultrasound probes, a left and a right. The technician aimed one probe at the vein where the original clot lodged in her left brain hemisphere, and the other at the corresponding vein in the right hemisphere (for comparison).
When he turned it on, we could watch, on a computer monitor, electronic depictions of the sound waves, picking up the blood flow through each vein. A sound amplifier and speaker completed the information flow.
The device ran for just over half an hour, displaying nearly identical pictures of flow through both veins, side by side. The flow sounded the same on each side, and the digital readout of volume was just very slightly better in the right (non-clot) side than the left. I asked the tech if he could tell how long the clot had been gone, but he could only guess that it was probably breaking up fairly soon after it first lodged there. No way to know. Many clots never break up.
Clear flow of blood, means that whatever cells in the clot area survived, should be able to return to good function. It also means good flow to facilitate retraining of adjacent cells. I may not be describing it in good doctor-talk, but any way you say it, it is good news.
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On the not-so-good side of things is this: For the last couple of days, by afternoon Bettie has been way more comfortable lying down that any other position. So you're thinking: "Well duh, who isn't?" But this is different.
Her gall bladder area seems to be giving her trouble each time she gets up, at least later in the day. I've talked to the nurse at Dr. Spens' (the doctor who is handling Bettie's gall bladder issue) office both yesterday and today. We decided to move Bettie's follow-up visit up by a week. She'll see Dr. Spens on Monday. Until then, she may be down more than she's up.
Comparing the two issues: No Clot vs (maybe) No Gall Bladder ... well, its a no brainer, isn't it?
Hi Dick,
ReplyDeleteIs she awake when she is lying down so much or is she dozing off a lot??? I have yet to get there, as you well may know. And this week I fell myself (while trying to hit Mark in the head with a water bottle while running, it was a joke of course, but he leapt in front of me and I tripped on his foot, and now we think I injured a rib, the joke was on me..........he should not make comments about drinking a fattening mocha before we weigh in at Weight Watchers!!!!