It Was a Long Day

Last Wednesday, I was supposed to be in Florida to stay with a friend as she recuperated from surgery. She was healing quicker than she thought and asked if I would wait to visit at a time when we could have fun instead. So I was home.

I was being lazy and hadn’t gone into the shower when I said I was. That’s why I heard the “thump” downstairs.

I immediately ran to the stairs, but turned around for my phone in case I needed it.

I walked into Mike’s office to see him lying on the floor and his office chair on its side.

“You okay? Are you hurt? Don’t move,” I said as I knelt down beside him.

“Does my face look funny?” He replied, his voice sounded like he was tired or like his tongue was swollen.

“No,” I replied. “Let’s just sit here a second. I’m going to get you a blanket for under your head.”

I got to my feet and went into the living room, which is just outside his office door. When I came back, I eased up his head and let it rest on the soft blanket.

“What day is today?” I asked him.

“Wednesday,” he replied.

“Who is the president?” I asked.

“Biden,” he said, “For now.”

“Who is the hot blonde asking you these questions?” I smiled.

“JoJo.” He half smiled.

“Okay, you passed. We are going to sit here a minute before we get you in that chair. Does anything hurt?” I started to look him over.

“I fell on my hand.” He said. “My arm feels tingly.”

My mind was racing a little bit. Call 911 or just get him in the car? I cannot lift him myself.

I smiled at him as I touched his face.

“Are you able to stand up and get in this chair?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said as he tried to get to his knees.

“If you need to wait, we can,” I said as I tried to help him.

“This floor is hard,” he responded as he was getting on his knees.

He did not have any strength in his left arm. Getting up off the floor was harder than he thought it was going to be.

“Just take it slow,” I said, still fumbling to try to assist.

We managed to get him in a comfortable chair. I made sure he was stable and got him a glass of water.

“How are you doing now?” I asked him after he took a sip of water.

“The tingling is going away. My face feels a little better.” He said as he rubbed his arm and touched his left cheek.

“Ok. We are going to the emergency room” I told him.

“No,” he tried to argue. “I’m okay now.”

“Listen, we’re going in five minutes after I throw on a shirt and jeans or I call an ambulance. Either way, it’s up to you.”

He must have heard it in my voice.

“Let’s go.” He said.

“Sit here and rest a minute. I’m going upstairs and when I get back we will get in the car. You good?”

Thumbs up.

I ran upstairs, got dressed, put on a baseball cap and grabbed my purse. Then I ran downstairs, put on my shoes, grabbed his deck shoes and back to his office.

“Alright, let’s get your shoes on and walk to the car.” I said as I sat on my knees to put on his shoes.

“Do you feel ok to stand up?” I asked him.

“Yes.” He replied as he put his hands on the arms of the chair to balance himself.

He stopped. “My arm is still weak.”

I helped him stand and we walked to the front door.

We were careful as he walked down the front steps.  He appeared to be feeling a bit better.

We got in to my car and drove to the hospital ten minutes away. For those of you wondering why I didn’t call 911, it’s because the hospital is so close. I made a judgement call.

As we drove into the hospital complex, there was an urgent care next door to the emergency room.

“Look, can we go to urgent care instead of the ER?” He asked. “It’s right next door and I’m feeling better.”

He has always hated hospitals.

“If that makes you feel better. You seem to be more urgent than emergent,” I said. (When have I ever used the word emergent?!) “But, know that we are likely going to end up next door.”

I dropped him at the front door as I parked the car.

I walked in to the lobby as he was filling out paperwork on a clipboard. I took the clipboard from him and finished filling out the information.

I walked to the desk, handed them the paperwork, paid the copay and sat down next to him. I was barely in my seat when they called his name.

We walked back to a room. They took his vitals, asked him questions, checked his strength.

Next, I know you are going to be shocked when I tell you this… they sent us next door to the emergency room.

Like I said, it was the next building over, so we walked. He wasn’t walking fast, but he was feeling better.

I won’t bore you with all of the tests and conversations with the doctors or nurses. They were very thorough with their testing. Blood tests, EEG, EKG, MRI, CT scan, and others I can’t think of at the moment.

I spent most of the day waiting for him to come back from tests. I spent the time calling and texting the kids and family updates as we navigated through his care.

The summary was this: He had a stroke and they were admitting him for the night.

A stroke.

Actually, it was his third. He had had two others previously.

A stroke.

Okay.

His heart is fine. He doesn’t appear to have mental or physical deficits at the moment. Things just changed pretty significantly for our family.

They hadn’t admitted him yet when I had to leave to pick up our youngest son from school. I would come back after dinner once I got Nicholas settled. Mike has anxiety with the kids being around germs in hospitals, so I did not plan on bringing him back with me.

I brought Mike a change of clothes, his toiletries and a phone charger later that night.

When I entered the room, he was sitting on the edge of the bed eating a late dinner. He was starving since he couldn’t eat until they knew he wouldn’t be needing any type of surgery.

He was in good spirits. I don’t think the news fully kicked in for either of us. We were just thankful that he was going to be ok.

A nurse walked in the room and said, “I wanted to meet the woman who saved this man’s life.”

“Oh, I guess that’s me,” I replied. Then I thought for a second and looked over at Mike. “You know what? I am going to have to use that later at some point.” I winked at him.

Before I left him in that hospital bed, I hugged him a little bit tighter.

“I love you,” he said as I was opening the door to leave.

“Love you, too,” I looked at him, “Get better.”

I walked down the hall and stepped in to the elevator. I hit the button for the first floor and took a adeep breath. As the door to the elevator opened, I stepped into the lobby. I said hello to the maintenance man cleaning the floors as I went out the door. I walked to my car and thought about how our day instantly changed when I heard that thunk this morning.

It was a very long day.