Hospital Weekend

I had a weekend at the hospital. Hospitals are interesting places, especially Emergency Rooms,  but not a great way to spend unless absolute necessary. It was absolute necessary.

Saturday evening my husband arrived home from work and described some very unusual sensations he had experience early Saturday morning. He continued to experience them throughout the day, although not as noticeable or with the same intensity. He decided he should go to the ER upon arriving home, I was in total agreement.

We made our entrance at the ER about 7:30 PM. I actually thought he had experienced stress and anxiety related symptoms due to the myriad of events that have transpired over the summer, and beyond. I was wrong. After sitting in the waiting room for a couple of hours, then seeing a doctor, they decided to do a CAT scan. They found evidence of an old, mini stroke. That was enough to merit admitting him for observation and more tests. I left the ER at 2:00 AM when they came to take my husband to his room.

What a night! And they don’t make hospitals like they used to, or at least not this hospital~ it seemed more like a nice hotel room minus the nursing staff and continual drawing of blood, monitoring stats, and being rolled around for tests.

After doing an early morning  MRI it was determined that my husband had indeed had another more pronounced stroke on Saturday. The good news is it left no permanent damage. He really showed no signs of weakness or loss of any mobility. He still experiences tingling and a tad bit of confusion on a rare occasion but nothing major. He is a fortunate man.

Were you aware that 25% of stroke victims die, 50% suffer permanent disability of some sort and only  the very lucky escape with nothing to show for it but some pin pricks, hospital socks and the memory of a weekend in the hospital?

Now my husband is taking his high blood pressure and cholesterol more seriously and has vowed to begin to live life in a healthier manner. In fact, we returned to the ER about 5 hours after his release because he began to experience some minor symptoms again. Not messing around this time so we headed to the ER.

The hospital was even busier than it was on Saturday. Some people had been waiting to see a doctor for five hours! What a nightmare but I’m sure the hospital staff was doing all they could. We only had to be there for 3 hours because of the facts surrounding my husband’s return. They did another CAT Scan and made a few med adjustments. It was hard walking through the waiting room as we were leaving, seeing some of the folks who had been there way longer than we had still sitting there.

They say strokes like the one my husband experienced are wake-up calls; a second chance of sorts.

I believe they could be right.

How about you?