you nurses with experience with stroke victims, please, please tell me what you can!
i'm a nicu nurse--- i'm at a complete loss.
my stepmother in new mexico (i'm in alabama) just called my sister (in georgia) who called me on my cell phone to let us know our dad has suffered a stroke and they are moving him to intensive care very shortly. he fell monday and hit his head on a rock in a mountain stream... didn't go to the doctor. thursday when checking his sugar (insulin diabetic) he didn't return from the bedroom. his wife checked on him and found him rather confused. thought it was his sugar. they went to the hospital. very soon he became weak on his left side. he's progressed to the point where he can't talk but can understand things being said to him and answers with "uh huh or unh unh", barely moves his left arm and leg by himself.
the worst part is that because of the subdural hematoma they cannot give him blood thinners as a treatment for the stroke.
dad is 69 years old. his dad died at 57 of a cerebral aneurysm.
my sister is a rn too and has adult intensive care experience. she is going to wait a couple of hours for the icu to get dad settled into his new bed and for their shift change to occur and then call to ask them, "if it was your dad and you were on the other side of the country, would you hop on an airplane right now or wait to see what transpires?" and hopefully they will be able to give some feedback.
i just hate it that they can't give him the blood thinners!
any thoughts on the subject would be very, very appreciated!
