Episodes

"To each his sufferings: all are men
Condemn'd alike to groan;
The tender for another's pain,
The unfeeling for his own."
-Gray.



Susan has episodes. Scary episodes. At least I think they are. She is having one right now. Apparently she has two different types of episodes: seizures and Transient Ischemic Attacks(mini-strokes). The doctors have warned us that she will have more; they say that we can’t stop them and that we just need to get her safely through them. In fact, they have indicated that every episode points toward the likelihood of an eventual big one. As a matter of fact, an original stroke (or two) is what may have triggered the onset of her Alzheimer’s in the first place.

About an hour ago we were finishing up with dinner. Susan had eaten very well and was still sitting at the table sipping her drink. I kept encouraging her to move into the living room with her drink to watch the news with me. Several times I thought she was on the way, but I kept finding her still in the chair. Finally taking notice, I saw that she was lifting her rear about an inch from her seat and rocking back and forth- not getting anywhere. I teased her about telling her exterior to get it’s @**# out of the chair. Then, mumbling in a thick-tongued speech she attempted to relay the message to her bottom half.

“Susan, are you okay?” my voice must have sounded alarmed, bringing Jeff hurrying into the kitchen. We helped her up; us doing the job her legs refused to do. Her eyes rolled back at one point and she seemed like she might keel over right on the kitchen floor. We maneuvered her to her rocking chair where she slumped butt forward as she does whenever she has such an episode. Certainly she was simply too weak to hold herself up. But at least she responded to my teasing by sticking her tongue out at me. Whew!


We did all the familiar functional checks and looked her over for obvious signs of a stroke. Susan is one of the rare ones who is effected by strokes on the right side of her body rather then her left. At one point tonight the right side of her mouth seemed to pull down, but regained itself quickly. Sometimes she drools during an episode; tonight she did not. Her blood pressure read very low each time we took it. Eventually, Jeff carried her to bed where she now lay. We check her often and monitor her condition.

Although the medical professionals have attempted to prepare us for the inevitability of such recurring episodes, we are never fully prepared when they actually happen. To give you a better idea, it is comparable to those of us living here in ‘tornado alley.’ We live here knowing the risk, yet we are still surprised when during tornado season one actually twists our way. We know they will come, but not when. Because of that, we are never really expecting one and are always taken aback.

On veteran’s Day weekend Susan actually had one such episode right in the Lowe’s store and ended up being transported by ambulance to the hospital. Several hours later she was back home recovering. Other times, she has spent a week and two in the hospital and even needed physical therapy follow-up at home. Hopefully she will recover from this particular one quickly and be ready to enjoy a happy healthy spring. I think warm weather will do a Susie good!

P.S. Susan progressively got her strength back last night and this morning (other then being tired) seems fairly normal.