During the bingo game at the nursing home this afternoon, dad suffered what is sometimes called a mini-stroke … which is in medical terms a “transient ischemic attack“. Mother called to let us know that something had happened, so Nina and I drove over to spend a little time with mother.
Dad is doing just “OK”. He is quite confused and frustrated. He can’t get words to form and come out of his mouth as they are in his brain. He doesn’t seem to know where he is and doesn’t recognize people. He’s got some weakness in his left side, most noticeable in his left eyelid which is drooping.
They ran a number of tests, all of which came back as normal. He was able to drink and swallow, and when asked by the nurse, he could smile and the smile was symmetric on both sides of his face. Just before we left he recognized mother and responded to her greeting with “Hello!” So he does seem to be improving.
Generally the symptoms of a TIA pass within 24 to 48 hours, so we’ll see how he is doing tomorrow. At the moment he’s not in any particular danger. The CNA’s were taking him to dinner when we left to come back home. More tomorrow!
Mom called a little bit ago to make sure we knew what was happening and said that dad was unable to feed himself and had to be fed, and he only ate about half of his meal.
Glad to hear that Grandfather is doing alright! Thank you for the post. Please give Grandmother our love and know that we are praying for them both!
Sending good karma your way.