Hi,
Eric was having a good morning; his blood pressure and heart rate were under control, and he was looking a lot calmer than last night. Then around 10 am, he started having another seizure. This one lasted a bit longer than last time. The neurologists last night had said that sometimes chemo patients can have problems with seizures if their blood pressure goes up too high, which is why they were so aggressive with his medications last night. However, this morning, his blood pressure was not high at all, so that kind of ruins their theory. So, now we're back in the ICU. We're scheduled to have an MRI tonight, hopefully around 8 pm. They were saying that they would try to get him in between 6 and 7, but you know how hospital schedules are... :) So now, Eric is on seizure medicine. We're hoping they find a reason for the seizures with the MRI. That way, thay can treat the cause and take away the seizure medicine. If they don't find a reason, he'll continue to take the seizure medicine for 5 years before they start to ween him off. Seizure medicine = no driving for Eric, which I know would disappoint him.
On the bright side, Eric came out of AFib with only the help of some medication. They started the meds around 2 pm and by 2:20, he was back in normal sinus rhythm. He's been pretty dopey all day today, since they gave him a lot of ativan (one of the sedatives that he had been on) to treat the seizure he was having. Apparently, ativan is also the medicine of choice to calm a patient down while he is having a seizure. Now, he is starting to come around a bit. It is just enough that he'll answer questions, but then falls immediately back to sleep. I asked him if he remembered having a seizure today, and he said no and looked confused, so that made me really happy. After watching him go through two seizures, I would not wish anyone to remember going through one.
Well, now we are just waiting for the MRI and will hopefully get results tonight. The resident assigned to Eric is on call all night. He's been pretty nice. He's a tall guy, too -- actually a half inch taller than Eric. So he's been connecting well with Eric. They were joking around about it before Eric went into his first seizure. I was happy that both the nurse and his doctor were in the room at that time. I guess until then, we are back to waiting! Oh boy! (Ok, I'm being a bit sarcastic.) I was just hoping that the roller coaster was finished.
Love,
Melissa
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Hey Melissa,
ReplyDeleteHang in there! That's really great news that his afib corrected itself! Fantastic news, actually! Remember how far he's come and it's so great that you can communicate with him again! He's definitely on his journey back so try not to get too frustrated with the bumps along the way! The seizures are a bit confusing, but to shed some positive light, just remember that even if they can't find a cause, that they are manageable!
Eric's overcome so much and his spirit is so strong. Don't get to frustrated with his body - it's kept up with his spirit all this time and I'm sure it will straighten out eventually. Unfortunately, it just takes time. I know that's the hardest part right now, but trust me, a year from now you'll look back and this will all seem like it happened a lifetime ago! Keep your chin up, get rest, and enjoy all your time to joke with Eric now. :)
-Kim R.
P.S. That's really funny about him bonding with the really tall doctor! :)