What We Know So Far

At some point Saturday morning Alicia had left her house and only made it as far as trying to get in her car. She passed out from lack of oxygen (something we are speculating based on findings from the doctor now). A neighbor saw her and after checking on her, called 911 to report her unconscious and not responding. She was taken by ambulance to our local hospital. She did not gain consciousness there and was having multiple seizures. They did an MRI and found that she'd had a major stroke and was not breathing on her own. She was placed on a ventilator. It was decided at that point she would get better care in Wichita at their Neuro Critical Care unit where she arrived early Saturday evening. She began looking better to all of us that same evening and was gripping our hands.

By Sunday morning nurses were reporting that she was opening her eyes when told and had held up 2 fingers when asked. Throughout the morning she was delighting us with one wonderful sign after another. She opened her eyes and would turn towards us when asked. Her hands and feet were all moving. By afternoon the doctors decided to try taking her off of her ventilator and removed the breathing tube. They were happy that her breathing wasn't labored but it sounded very bad. She was able to speak to us. There was no slurring and her thoughts were clear and not confused. They had pinpointed the problem to something upper respiratory related.

After a few hours she began getting agitated and had trouble breathing again to the point that the breathing tube had to be replaced. There were a few other minor setbacks along the way but she has remained on the ventilator since then and sedated to a point that she can relax but respond when asked to. This episode with her breathing pointed the doctors in a new direction. They went back to X-rays to investigate further and found that her thyroid was VERY enlarged. So much so that they felt it was compressing her windpipe and in turn, compromising her breathing. They now speculate that this was what caused her to pass out at her car and then due to head position blood flow was restricted to her brain thus causing the strokes.

Her mind is clear and is able to answer yes and no questions with a nod and you can see expression on her face even though she's unable to speak due to the tube. The doctors have said that there were two major strokes in the area of the brain that control sight. They aren't being optimistic about the state of her vision at this time but we are still very early on. She showed amazing signs in less than 24 hours and this too could be something that improves or heals.

Today, Monday, was pretty uneventful from our stand point. They ran several tests and are still working on a treatment plan or course of action. We haven't heard much in the way of results of these tests. I am happy to report that not only did I get a wave from her today but just moments before visiting hours were over, while I was telling her something ornery, she rolled her eyes at me!!