The second time I went to the hospital was on Saturday morning late June. I was having a bad reaction to the halidol and was admitted through the ER. The doctors gave me Benadryl to counteract the medicine. So as I am in the hospital, mind you I don’t remember a lot of what happened so some of this was told to me because it is fuzzy. On Saturday evening my husband called the resident in to show him my facial droop, which I had no idea what was happening. I was having a stroke. They hooked me up to a neuro machine with electrodes to my head and was told if I felt anything to press a button on the machine that would record what was going on in my brain as well as visually what the doctors are doing in the room on camera. The next day I had a seizure. The last thing I remember was saying to my husband “these aren’t the chills, press the button”. From what I was told about 25 nurses and doctors ran into the room and I was taken to the ICU. For the next three days I was in and out of it. Apparently I had a nurse named Todd helping me most of those three days and he was red haired. I guess I picked up on it from one of the other nurses saying something. So from that point on whenever he would come in the room I would say to him, “I can’t trust you ginger.” I had no idea I was saying this to this poor man.
Next thing I really remember is waking up and not being able to use my left half of my body. I was begging my husband and my dad to take me home every ten minutes. I was told that I had a stroke and seizure. It was like waking up in a nightmare. I was in the ICU, getting neuro tests everyday. Count backward by 7 from 100, spell world backwards, squeeze my hand. So after a couple more days (seven total), they were planning on transferring me to RIC for rehab and to learn how to walk again. Finally on a Sunday I was transfer down the street to RIC.
At RIC, I was in a room with another woman on the 9th floor. They have no single rooms there. I spent seven days there learning how to walk, use my left hand again, and dress and take care of myself. This was harder mentally than physically learning how to do everything again. Sharing a room with a total stranger and their family, allowed to leave on “day” passes only. It sucked. Physically I was exhausted, sleeping almost 12 hours a night. I wanted to leave but knew it was for the best being there. So, after another seven days over the fourth of July weekend they finally let me go home.
Another story that I forgot to add earlier, was that my Oncologist came to visit me in the ICU. Mind you I had just kind of come out of my medically induced coma so I was a little out of it. So I guess I talked to her for about an hour, when really all I remember is about a 10 min conversation of it. I told her that her team of doctors, including herself, were all VERY attractive. I also, asked about her husband and said something along the lines of “I’m trying to picture in my head what he looks like.” So she indulged me and asked, “Do you want to see a picture?” Of course I said yes. Then I proceed to tell her that “he is very attractive”, and how much of an attractive couple they are. Yeah I am completely inappropriate. Whoops, because I guess these kinds of person questions continued. WOW, I am something.
Looking back now, having the stroke and seizure is and has been much harder than just having cancer. Mentally and physically exhausting, even still going too rehab everyday. Slowly getting back to my “baseline”.