MY 7 OR 8 DAYS IN ICU...

f have read the previous posting, then you know why I was in ICU. I first noticed all the wires coming out of my body. Liquids pumped into my body for nuition and other tubes pumping drugs to make me happy. The have to admit the second set of tubes made me much more pleasant to be around then the first.

You know they say that first impressions last forever? First thing I remember is my nurse next to my bed and introducing herself. I weakly smile and said, "Hi, I have to pee, bad." Trust me, I never used that as an opening line before... That's what I thought I said. I knew my mouth was moving. knew there were understandle sentences in my brain, but I don't know was coming out of my mouth... what was coming out of my mouth was nonsense... some kind of foreign language.

By this time the doctor was standing by my bed. He informed me that from what they had gathered so far was that I had another stroke... on my left side. Now if you take a quick look at the diagram at the bottom of this page you will see that Speech is governed by the left hemisphere of the brain. Seeing the panicked look in my eyes, he mentioned my speech problem. I began asking questions... the problem here was that he couldn't understand them.

Along with the speech problem I also noticed that my right hand wasn't moving. Neither was my arm... my right leg wasn't working as good either. I layed quietly listenting to the doctor talk about my condition. I could heard his words but my brain was a million miles away somewhere... in some kind of "home" for non-walking, non-talking people, like myself, where at 60 years old I will spend the rest of my life. Then it hit me... at least I wasn't a complete invalid... I was left-handed.

Then my brain filled with all of the horror movies I had ever seen about the manical nurse and the hospital orderly caring for my needs. Thank God in the nick of time before I was burgeoned to death, I heard the doctor say, "in normal in 6 to 9 months."

Huh? What? Say that again... What was that about "in normal in 6 to 9 months?"

To Be Continued...

Labels: stroke