Jan's primary care doctor at the hospital talked to us Saturday. He talked about everything they have been looking into since Jan first arrived two weeks ago today. They are stumped as to what is wrong with him, as he's not presenting in any of the expected ways.
His CT had showed signs of a possible stroke, but now they aren't sure he even had one. The MRI came back inconclusive, and it doesn't look like a definitive stroke, but there were a few spots in his brain that were uninterpretable at the time.
They did not trust that he even had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, and thought he might have meningitis so tried doing a lumbar puncture - twice - but were unable to get any fluids. They want to they again, but can't until he's off of the blood thinners.
They had initially thought he had had a heart attack, but the enzyme level went down. His EKG was weird at the beginning but then normalized. Right now it seems like he may have a brain infection.....or it might be a stroke, but they really don't know. They are doing every test under the sun, and today he's seeing a neurologist.
The doctor said that Jan is safe, but they don't actually know what is happening, and he could be there for a while. Mikey says possibly a few more weeks.
I talked to Jan on Saturday and he sounded good, just like himself. Yesterday he didn't sound so good again, like he was really sick. He seems to go up and down, even from hour to hour. When he's feeling better, he can use his phone. When he's worse, he can't. Mike delivered a new phone to the hospital screening station, which he'd set up with Netflix. They still continue to accept deliveries for patients as long as they can be wiped down. So all the grandkid's artwork is still here piling up for when Jan eventually comes home. In the meantime he has something to occupy his mind when he's good enough to figure out how to access it.
Mike and Tanya still come for a few hours each day, even though due to the pandemic, it's becoming a chargeable offence to be with people you don't live with.
Each time in the past two weeks when grocery shopping, I've been buying a bunch of green bananas, thinking they would be ripe by the time Jan comes home. He has one every morning when he gets up, and I was trying to think ahead. But So far I've done that three times already. Who knows how many more bananas will make it home before he will actually be home to eat one?
Edited to add; Jan called me this morning after I'd already posted this update, and he sounded good. He said the doctor had been to see him this morning (neurologist ?) and that he might be coming home soon. But he said they've been saying that all along. So what about all the tests we were told about, and what about after care if they send him home? It won't be possible to see a doctor in person after he's discharged? So who knows? The situation just seems so confusing.
His CT had showed signs of a possible stroke, but now they aren't sure he even had one. The MRI came back inconclusive, and it doesn't look like a definitive stroke, but there were a few spots in his brain that were uninterpretable at the time.
They did not trust that he even had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, and thought he might have meningitis so tried doing a lumbar puncture - twice - but were unable to get any fluids. They want to they again, but can't until he's off of the blood thinners.
They had initially thought he had had a heart attack, but the enzyme level went down. His EKG was weird at the beginning but then normalized. Right now it seems like he may have a brain infection.....or it might be a stroke, but they really don't know. They are doing every test under the sun, and today he's seeing a neurologist.
The doctor said that Jan is safe, but they don't actually know what is happening, and he could be there for a while. Mikey says possibly a few more weeks.
I talked to Jan on Saturday and he sounded good, just like himself. Yesterday he didn't sound so good again, like he was really sick. He seems to go up and down, even from hour to hour. When he's feeling better, he can use his phone. When he's worse, he can't. Mike delivered a new phone to the hospital screening station, which he'd set up with Netflix. They still continue to accept deliveries for patients as long as they can be wiped down. So all the grandkid's artwork is still here piling up for when Jan eventually comes home. In the meantime he has something to occupy his mind when he's good enough to figure out how to access it.
Mike and Tanya still come for a few hours each day, even though due to the pandemic, it's becoming a chargeable offence to be with people you don't live with.
Each time in the past two weeks when grocery shopping, I've been buying a bunch of green bananas, thinking they would be ripe by the time Jan comes home. He has one every morning when he gets up, and I was trying to think ahead. But So far I've done that three times already. Who knows how many more bananas will make it home before he will actually be home to eat one?
Edited to add; Jan called me this morning after I'd already posted this update, and he sounded good. He said the doctor had been to see him this morning (neurologist ?) and that he might be coming home soon. But he said they've been saying that all along. So what about all the tests we were told about, and what about after care if they send him home? It won't be possible to see a doctor in person after he's discharged? So who knows? The situation just seems so confusing.
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