mortality and the beach

[opabinia]

I'm not remembering this right. I had hoped to put it all down earlier; now it seems scattered. Something about the order may be wrong. The important parts are all there, though.

Saturday, my uncle fainted behind the wheel and crashed. The accident was minor, but he was rushed to the hospital because he was unconscious. A CT scan showed a stroke. The next step would have been to perform a more detailed scan with a tracer, but there wasn't a tech available for that until the next day. My uncle regained consciousness, understood what was going on, and remained calm.

Meanwhile, darla and I chose a nice CD/MP3 deck for her truck.

Mom called me in the evening, told me about the stroke, asked me if it needed more urgent attention: Is this right? Do we need to get him to another hospital right now? Should we fly him to Boston?

Mom, I majored in Biology, but that doesn't mean I know how to treat stroke. Let me do some research- (Call your doctor friends call them) They probably wouldn't know what to do either, unless they had information I have no access to, information I wouldn't understand if I were looking right at it. Let me see what I can find out (Call me back) and I'll call you right back.

My internet connection was down, so I borrowed arcanus'. My uncle could have any of four different problems:

1. Ischemic stroke because there's a clogged vessel outside his brain
2. Ischemic stroke because there's a clogged vessel inside his brain
3. Hemorrhagic stroke because a vessel popped over his brain (subarachnoid)
4. Hemorrhagic stroke because a vessel popped inside his brain (intracerebral)

Wasn't sure if I had the details right (after fifteen minutes online), but I could tell none of them were good. Mom said they found bleeding, so it had to be (3) or (4). Outcomes aren't great. The treatments are similar, but surgery for (4) is a pile of trouble and risk. (3) is very bad news, while (4) is very very bad news.

I called Mom back. Mom, find out if it's subarachnoid or intracerebral. Either way, moving him anywhere might not be a good idea. Okay I'll call you when I know more.

Then anechoic, rojagato, darla, and I went to the beach. Winthrop and Revere have some pretty ugly streets, but the shoreline was nice. I stared at the water, noticed how nice some of these flat stones would look in my fish tank, read the sue-loves-jons on the sand. I laughed, I cherished the time spent with my friends. Mostly, I thought about decisions, people, time, and mortality. I thought about how I barely know this man -- he's new, by way of marriage, and I only know what he looks like -- but he's family, and my aunt loves him, and so does his daughter, and he could die. He's young.

Then we all went to a Chinese restaurant, where we ate very unhealthy food and drank horrendous cocktails. Here, my mind freed up some more, and I laughed more deeply, though I still worried.

Mom called me on Sunday. Intracerebral. She said he has speaking, responsive, mobile, and calm. The bleeding had stopped. I told her this was still very serious -- it could re-bleed at any moment. She said doctors were meeting to decide whether or not to operate. I told her there are terrible risks either way. Mom asked me to pray, and I promised I would. I don't believe, but I still think it's the right thing to do. I prayed, in my way.

The doctors decided to operate.

Monday morning at 7, the operation began. It lasted about ten hours. They were unable to clip the weak vessel, for fear of damaging the surrounding tissue. The surgeon used a substance or a device meant to stimulate encapsulation, which could indirectly seal off the weak spot. After surgery, my uncle was lucid, responsive. He moved his limbs. One couldn't hope for a better recovery from that sort of work.

Mom called me that evening to let me know he was about as well as possible. This means he could live another forty years, or he could fall over dead tomorrow.

We think an awful lot about things that don't matter that much.

Comments

[tiny-chicken.livejournal.com]

We think an awful lot about things that don't matter that much.

You're so right about that. I hope he continues to respond promisingly and I'll definitely keep you all in my thoughts.

[atalanta.livejournal.com]

very glad things are looking good.

[and thanks again for helping me out - sorry it was now, while you have more important stuff to think about]]

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

No no no. Car shopping was good. Thank you for listening to me. :)

[shnells.livejournal.com]

well i hope your uncle has a full recovery. he might have some rehab in front of him but probably not. a lot of folk that have strokes do very well afterwards as long as they control stress, bad eating habits, smoking etc. and make sure they take medication and stuff like that. he'd have to be careful, but no reason why he can't live a normal life afterwards.

[iterum.livejournal.com]

Best wishes for a full recovery! Scary stuff.

[znuh.livejournal.com]

Reading about such events really tends to put things into perspective. You're an amazing person - best wishes for your Uncle and your Family.

[legitimatelove.livejournal.com]

Best wishes to your family.

[water-childe.livejournal.com]

With luck, providence will continue to be kind to your Uncle and he'll be okay.
Frightening stuff!
I've been thinking a lot about how fragile things can be.
A few days ago, three friends of mine just had their apartment and essentially everything they owned go up in flames because of a downstairs neighbor's faulty air conditioner. Thankfully, they themselves managed to escape unharmed. They are also lucky to have a network of friends all trying to pitch in with help and assistance.
It's important to smile about the small things, even if they seem trivial.
If you can focus on the tiny things that make up a day, most likely you're doing okay, and should be grateful for it.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

good thoughts all around. *hug*

[lizerk.livejournal.com]

Even though the whole situation is bad, he's still rather lucky to have full mobility, speech and brain function. My grandfather who had died this past November, had a stroke and fell down the stairs when I was 10. He had impaired speech and needed physical therapy, but went on to live another 18 years. He had some difficulty with a few things the rest of his life, but he did live to be 85.

I hope your uncle recovers quickly!!

*hugs*

[damiel.livejournal.com]

All the best for your uncle. I hope he lives beyond 40 healthy years.