Well...it hasn't been that long since the last post, but some yucky stuff is going on... :P
Yesterday afternoon, TexSis received a call from Bro and he told us that our dad was in the hospital and had a stroke! Immediately, TexSis and I arranged to leave for OK as soon as we could and arrived this morning around 3:am (yawn!). Thankfully, both of us were able to leave on a moment's notice and have very understanding bosses...
This morning, when we arrived at the hospital to see Dad, we had no firm diagnosis. Apparently, he had been uncooperative the previous day and had to be restrained to keep him from pulling out IVs. Also, he was conscious and could move, but could not speak. It was very shocking to see him so frail and fragile like that, but the thing that upset me the most was seeing him in the restraints. I understand the need, but it is really hard to see when the person you know would never need restraints when normal.
A couple hours after we arrived, we finally saw a doctor and he was able to give us a better understanding of what was going on - clean lumbar puncture (no meningitis), clean MRI (no signs of stroke). The diagnosis given to us was Herpes Encephalitis (go here for an overview). Which is not very common, but is also a much better diagnosis than a stroke. The doctor was talking about recovery in weeks and not months, which is a great relief! The bad thing was he was still acting confused, was easily agitated and still could not speak. They were already giving him antiviral medication before they had ruled out meningitis and stroke as a precation, so by the time the results of the tests were back he had been on the medication for 12+ hours.
By the time mom and I left the hospital, they had put a feeding tube in his nose and had confirmed that he was able to move/control his limbs and could stand up an support himself. The feeding tube is necessary for some medications they prescribed which are not available for IV use and also in case it is necessary for nourishment. The tests for his swallowing were not good, so he is not able to take any medications orally right now.
A little while after mom and I got home to pack TexSis an overnight bag, she called and told us that dad actually made a sentence. Nothing too exciting, but it was speech! I suspected that he was getting a little more aware/responsive, and was expecting him to start yelling to get him out of there any time. I'm assuming that the speaking is a great thing, but we won't know anything else for sure until we get to talk to the doctors again tomorrow.
I'll keep you posted! :)
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