Saturday, August 30, 2008

Clot Busters-- Who Ya Gonna Call?


When I got to the hospital I found I knew right what to do. After all, I used to come to this hospital on a daily basis a few years ago when Mum had pneumonia. I parked and went into the ER entrance. It was a weekday night and there were only a few “incidences” occurring. A couple of older guys sat in chairs facing the TV fast asleep, and two girls in their twenties played with a cell phone, looking at pictures.

The ambulance drivers recognized me and let me “in the back”. Mum was awake but not very alert, and her right side had the telltale droop of a stroke victim. Can you move your right leg? No. Can you move your right arm? No. Can you stick out your tongue? No. My Mum’s pleasing smile was no more and I thought that this was where it all got miserable.

The ER doctor came back from imaging with Mum’s Cat scan.

“What time did this occur?” he asked me.

“I’m not sure. Ask the ambulance guys what time they received the call. It was about five minutes before that.”

The doctor looked at some paperwork.

“So about eleven?”

“Yeah, about that.”

“Good. We normally don’t get stroke victims in time for this, but your Mum is a good candidate.”

The doctor told me about a drug they give early stroke victims called clot buster medicine (“Who ya gonna call?”) It thins the blood and dissolves any clots within the body. The trouble is, if you have a clot somewhere unknown, it will dissolve too and a patient may bleed out internally.

“There is a one in 100 chance this will occur. Sign here if you think the risk worth it.”

I looked at Momma with half her body missing from her. I thought death was better than this, so I signed.

The doctor left and a cool, hippy dude male nurse type came in with a lunch box and set it down. On the side of the grey plastic box, the words “Stroke Kit” were written in Sharpie.

(to be cont.)

4 comments:

Sweeti said...

isn't that picture of a medrona tree? I love them.
Do you know how much I hate to be continueds...I dieing to know how is she?

Schmoopie said...

Thanks for the update. Hang in there!

kario said...

Hope the meds do what they're designed to do. I'm crossing my fingers up here....

Anonymous said...

You knew what to do and you did it fast.

Clot busters are an amazing drug - I've seen them work miracles!