…That Ends Well

Wednesday was a long, difficult day.

The difficult day actually began early last Friday morning, although we weren’t aware of it. While at work, EJ had a sudden severe headache. It was so bad that he came home early. The headache disappeared, but over the next few days he began complaining that it felt as if something was in his eye. His eye felt irritated and his vision was blurry so he had trouble reading. Then he started to complain that his mouth felt numb and sort of twisted. Then he realized he could no longer stick his tongue straight out. It bent downwards.

It wasn’t until late Tuesday afternoon that I remembered that my brother-in-law lost his sight in one eye because of high blood pressure. So I searched on-line and learned that sudden change in sight or numbness in the face are some signs of a stroke. When EJ suffered his mini-stroke last September, his symptoms had been dizziness and incoherence. I was watchful of those symptoms but I hadn’t recognized these. Crap.

I tried to contact EJ at work, but I didn’t get hold of him until his lunch break at 7 p.m. We decided that he should come home because if his symptoms worsened and he was at work, I would have no transportation to get him; we have only one vehicle. If he was home, I could take him to the hospital that is closer and easier to get to than the hospital he was taken to last September. Medical information says that it’s important that a person having a stroke get to a hospital ASAP, but we were already 5 days late, so we decided to wait until the next morning to do anything. Unless his symptoms worsened, of course.

EJ got a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday morning. With EJ’s medical history, the doctor thought that it was likely he had had another stroke. He wanted to EJ to get a CT Scan to make sure. Since it might be several days before he could schedule one, the doctor suggested we go to the Emergency Room because they could get him in quickly. EJ’s doctor’s office is within the hospital, which is very handy. It was just a short walk through a hallway or two to the ER.

The doctor called ahead to alert the ER that we were on our way. The medical staff quickly got him hooked up to machines reading his vitals. An ER doctor asked him a series of questions and examined his face. After a short time, EJ was taken away for the CT Scan. The results showed no new stroke damage so the ER doctor believed that he has Bell’s Palsey. However, he ordered an MRI to double-check because MRI’s are more exact than CT Scans. This test, also, showed no stroke damage. The doctor prescribed a steroid and anti-viral medications for him.

We learned Wednesday that Bell’s Palsey has many of the same symptoms of a stroke, but it is less serious. The effects of Bell’s Palsey can be permanent or disappear within 6 months. Some people have very pronounced effects from it, but It’s not very obvious that part of EJ’s face is paralyzed. EJ complains about not being able to spit or puff his cheeks. His eyes get irritated because one eye doesn’t fully close. Sometimes eye patches are used to help Bell’s Palsey sufferers keep their eye closed at night so it doesn’t get dried out, but we forgot to look for one when we picked up his medications at the store. Instead, we made one at home. I suggested EJ use a mask a friend had sent me when I struggled with sinus infections. It has openings for eyes, but I told EJ he could cover his eye with a pad and use the mask to hold it in place. He looked like a goofy superhero when he put it on and I couldn’t help laughing every time I looked at him. He took it off and decided to make a more masculine-looking one with a strap and buckles I have for craft projects. It wasn’t as comfortable as the superhero mask so he switched back to the superhero mask. He put it on when we went to bed. With the lights off, I couldn’t see him so I could keep myself from laughing. It did help his eyes not feel so irritated.

Bell’s Palsey is an irritation for poor EJ, but we are very relieved that he didn’t have another stroke. Wednesday started out difficult but ended less bad. All’s well that ends well.

On a happier note, we were able to get the lawn mowed yesterday and the screens in the windows which we opened to let fresh air into the house. EJ planted a few more seeds in his garden. With the rain and warmer temperatures, our world is turning a beautiful green. Soon the leafy trees will block our view of the neighbors. Nothing against the neighbors, but we prefer to be surrounded by views of nature.

Our two Buff Orpington chicks are growing quickly. They were outgrowing their cat carrier so I replaced the carrier in the bathtub with the half-dog crate we’ve used for other chicks. EJ made the chicks a small perch that they can roost on. They seem to be very happy with their roomier quarters. Hannah Joy gets anxious when she hears them running around and chirping. She’s such a Nanny dog. LOL.