Well I gotta say 2014 has not been good to my family. I lost a uncle in January and then came February I had an MRI and I will find out today exactly what is wrong with my back other than my rheumatoid arthritis from a neurosurgeon in little Rock. On the 26 of February my kids great grandmother passed away and on the night of her viewing I had my world rocked again with a phone call from my brother-in-law that my sister was on a med flight to Houston,Texas because she was having a stroke and it had affected her right side. Apparently she was home alone and had just been on the phone with our sister Deb when it hit her, Gail said she felt her limbs tingling and going numb so she started calling family for help. Her daughter Amy called 911 while her husband kept my sister talking on the phone. From what my sister has told me she had a very scary moment. she had to crawl to her front door and fight with her two dogs to get out on her porch so the ambulance staff could get to her and then they put her on the med flight helicopter flew her to Houston where she spent several days getting her blood pressure under control and the doctors were keeping an eye on the bleeding she had on her brain. This happened on Friday and the very next morning we had another medical emergency in the family, this time my brother. On the morning of March 1, my brother Larry had plans to go to the VA hospital in Little Rock to see if something could be done for a bad sinus infection he had. Well after Larry had gotten his shower and dressed he walked into the dining room and sat down to drink a cup a coffee only he never got a sip of it because he became unconscious but still breathing. My 75 year old mother could not get him to speak to her, he had just went completely limp and it was all she could do to keep his arms in his lap and keep his head up. On my moms first call to me she was calm and all she told me was Larry will not talk to me, so I told her that maybe his throat was sore and he just didnt want to talk to her that john and I were headed that way to take him to the VA since he didnt feel like driving. A few minutes later my mom called again and once again all she would say was he still wasnt talking to her so i told her that we had stopped at the gas station to fill up and that we would be there in a few minutes. Well what I seen when I walked into my moms house was my brother slumped over at the kitchen table ash gray and having problems breathing. I attempted a couple of painful stimuli things but the didnt work so I called 911 and told them what was going on and where we were located and I told the dispatcher that I wanted an ambulance ASAP, while waiting for them to arrive Larry had stopped breathing several times on me and the only way that I could keep him breathing was to put pressure on his chest and rub.If I stopped stimulating his chest he would quit breathing and there was no way I was going to let my brother die on me. I also had to stay calm for our mother who kept rubbing Larrys face and head and telling him to talk to her and that she loved him. I wanted to cry but knew i couldnt that I had to be strong and keep mom calm and my brother breathing. I wont lie I was scared that I was loosing him and with all the training Id ever had I was doing all I could. I called my sister Pat and told her what was happening because she was going to the great grandmothers funeral, which was being held in Morrilton. Pat was at her daughters house in Plumerville so she headed back to russellville.The ambulance arrived in 11 minutes.they did a finger stick on him and it made Larry wiggle a finger but no other response, then they tried the smelling salts that didnt effect him at all but just about knocked me out. Thats some nasty smelling stuff. Once the EMT and Paramedic arrived I never stopped rubbing my brothers chest until they were ready to pick him up and put him on the gurney, which was a job because of where he was sitting the chair had side arms, but they loaded him and Larry had his leather jacket that he wears everywhere and the EMT attempted to remove it do he could get a blood pressure and start an IV but he couldnt get it off so he was like Ill cut it off in the ambulance. I ask if I could take it off him while they did other things to get him ready to move to the ambulance, the guy was like if you think you can go ahead. I dont know how but I had it off of him before they had him strapped to the gurney. They ask me about his medications and i told them id gather them from his room while they were doing their things out in the ambulance. My husband and i got his medications and got mother ready to go so we could be behind the ambulance. We arrived at the hospital and had a two hour wait before they would let us go back to see him. In the mean time, I was making calls to Larrys daughter and his best friend and many other family members. Mom made calls too, I think mainly to keep calm because i know she was so worried because we all was. Thank God for my rock of a husband because without him i wouldnt have been able to do the things I did. I called some of the ladies in my Sunday school class and ask them for another prayer chain, as I had just ask them to pray for my sister Gail the night before. Once we got to go back and see my brother once again we were not prepared for what we seen, apparently he had stopped breathing in the ambulance in route to the hospital so the had to incubate him and put a breathing tube down his throat and put on a ventalator. It was hard seeing him like thAT but we knew why he had to have it. The hospital ran all kinds of blood test, CT scans and xrays but could not find what had caused him to get into the shape he was in. Once he was stable they transfered him around four p.m. to the VA hospital where he was placed in the MICU ward. I picked up my sister Pat and dropped her and my mother at mom house to pack A bag and moms meds, while I went to my house to do the same. I then loaded the three of us up and we headed to the VA. Larry was kept in MICU until monday afternoon and then he was transferred to the 6th floor. On Sunday morning the doctor had the breathing tube removed and Larry was breathing on his own but he had to be kept on oxygen. The staff was awesome and took wonderful care of my brother and they tried to answer our questions but it was hard because they wasnt finding anything for his condition. I was always answering phone calls and text and tried to keep facebook updated until I just couldnt do it anymore because we had no new answers. After Larry was moved to the 6th floor the doctors finally started getting a few answers, one was the ENT clinic had a MRI OR CT scan that showed when Larry had a stroke one time and they were also monitoring his heart and was seeing Bradytacacardia signs showing he was missing heart beats and he has a fast heart rate. So once we were getting answers and the snow storm we had hit was gone and the ice was melting and we were all getting low on our medications and needing a good nights rest I brought mom,Pat home Wednesday night. i was going to go back Thursday morning after I had taken my granddaughter to school but when I called my brother to check on him he was waiting for the doctor to send him home so he told me to wait until he called me back to go pick him up. In the mean time my sister Gail had been released to go home and follow up with her doctor, but once she was home a day or two my brother in law had to take her into the emergency room for her blood pressure was elevated so she had to have meds to get it level again the she was sent back home. She is still having a little slurred speech and her right side is weak and her right foot drags on her so she still has a long ways to go. Larry came home last Thursday and hes taking things easy too and not pushing his self. He has an appointment on the 21st to go see what the monitor showed that he had to wear for 36 hours. Ill probably take him to his appointment if I can get Pat to take mom to her two local appointments on the same day. Larry wasnt feeling real good today but a cousin took him and mom to visit a couple of family members and then brought them back home. Larry had me check his pulse which was a little fast but I wanted to be sure so I took my blood pressure machine over for him to use. Mother also has gotten another diabetic ulcer on her toe again so been watching that before it gets out of control again. i think she may have gotten it from all the stress and walking we had to do at the VA just to eat a meal, but i knew there was no way mom would stay home and I really dont like her alone with her eyesight being the way it is, Im just happy to still have my sister and brother. I want to thank all my family and friends and church family for all the prayers because I truly believe that my siblings would not be here right now without them. There was five different churches praying for them that we are aware of but im sure there was more. I apologize if I didnt contact someone during all this its not because I wanted to i just had so much I was doing that I dont remember who I did or didnt contact. Just know that we tried to think of everyone but its not always easy. I can say I know what my cousins went through back in January and I apologize to you if i was a pain to you but i know how it is to deal with family emergencies and try to keep everyone updated. lots of love to everyone. Our God is an awesome God and through him anything is possible as long as you ask and you believe in Christ. Prayers are the answers to many questions and problems. I know prayers saved my sister and brother.. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to get everyone updated and now i must try to get some sleep as i have a good two hour drive ahead of me and thats after I get my grand daughter at 5:15. My appointment in little Rock is at 9:15 and with all the early morning traffic it will take a good two hour to drive and im going alone so that makes it even longer.. Have a wonder day and may God Bless everyone
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 07:37:29 +0000
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