I’ve been home a little over a week now and have had a little time to decompress from the flight and think about the trip as a whole. My sleeping schedule is still a bit out of sorts and Tanja’s fluctuating shifts don’t help regulate it. A few times I’ve woken up, confused as to where I was, but the plushness of my surroundings quickly helped me realize I was at home. When I fall asleep at an appropriate time, I’m still waking early in the morning, unaided. My body still isn’t used to the cold, but I think this year will feel a little colder than last since I’ve dropped a good amount of organic insulation.
Although I’ve packed away all my luggage and laundered all the clothes, there’s still one important piece of business that lingers after the trip has concluded, the health of my father. We took him directly to the hospital emergency room from the airport and admitted him for care. The first day, they performed a head CT to get a baseline, and monitored his health over night. When a nurse noticed that he was slightly less responsive the following day, they ordered another head CT and thought they saw something of concern, thus admitting him to the neurological ICU. Stroke was suspected, but more test were needed to confirm and see if there was any damage.
After moving him, an MRI was ordered since it provided a higher resolution of the brain and the supplying arteries. We requested a digital copy of the scans so Tanja could take a look at them too and help us decode what’s going on. She said she couldn’t see what was concerning about the brain, and the arteries looked clear so if it was a stroke, it most likely wasn’t the traditional massive blockage or leakage, but something more along the lines of a transient ischemia, or mini strokes. An enhanced MRI might provide further answers as to where the effected area was and how it happened.
The EMRI was performed the next day, and Tanja wasn’t scheduled to work, so she accompanied me to the hospital for a visit. She suggested we go in the morning during the shift change, as it would be the best time to ask questions and perhaps see the doctor. Of course she was correct, and the doctor in charge of my father was actually a doctor she served under during one of her rotations through the ICU at Henry Ford. To her credit, he instantly recognized her and treated her as an old colleague, showing her the scan images and discussing the diagnosis, almost exclusively with her, despite the presence of his PA and 5 other nurses in the room. It’s always a source of pride for me to see her in her professional element, and the information she dumbed down for us provided a greatly needed source of security concerning the future course of treatment. The EMRI showed some diffused lesions in the area of a few meninges (brain folds), which were areas of slight inflammation, likely the source of the odd decrease in brain functions. This sort of meningitis isn’t common in stroke so the cause of his ailments would was hypothesized to be an infection of some sort, either viral or fungal since if it was bacterial, he would likely have died already. A lumbar puncture (spinal tap) was ordered and the spinal fluid pressure was recorded, with the withdrawn fluids being sent to infectious diseases to have whatever the foreign invader was cultured for identification.
The culprit was found within the day, to be Cryptococcus, a yeast common to everyone. For some reason, perhaps diabetes and travel stress, my father was immune suppressed enough for some inhaled spores to invade his cerebral spinal fluid and work their way to his brain. Now that the cause was known, the course of treatment was clear and administration began immediately.
So that is where we stand, the immediate course of treatment is an IV administered antibiotic for ten to fourteen days followed by an oral pill for much longer, as much as two years, until the infection has cleared. During his stay, more lumbar punctures and CT scans will be used to diagnose his progress, but every day shows some sign of promise. He still sleeps much of the day, but some cognitive abilities are returning. Seven days into the treatment, and he is starting to be able to definitively recognize faces, and recall and say their names. His ability to read aloud is returning and image recognition is staring to return. It will probably be a long road to recovery, and we’re still not sure what to expect in terms of autonomy. One positive from these events is the retirement that was forced upon him. I’m just hoping for enough recovery for him to fully enjoy it without hindering my mom’s plans too much.
I think until that happens, a part of me will still be on that trip to Taiwan. His illness started about halfway through the trip and really reduced the amount of time we had to experience the trip together. While I still tried to remain active and see the required sights, much was lost because he wasn’t there with me. I got one good, very hectic, week with him but I can’t resolve to file away any memories of the trip until all aspects of the journey have been completed. As far as I’m concerned, this journey isn’t complete until he’s better, so I remain in a limbo; at home, but not completely here. So I hope you’ll allow me to further bore you with posts, until I feel complete.
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