So on Thursday, January 15, I got the phone call that I have been dreading – Mom had a stroke at the beauty shop and was in the emergency room. I flew home to Hot Springs the next morning.
The last week and a half have been sort of a fog. The first week, I slept in her room at night. David would come in the morning to relieve me while I ran home to shower. After a week of that, I started going home at night to sleep so I am feeling a lot more alert and rested.
Mom’s able to communicate somewhat – mostly yes and no answers, although some things pop out of her mouth with surprising clarity. She can sort of feed herself, with assistance. She was doing well in rehab until she developed some bleeding on her brain, so they moved her to ICU for a day or two to monitor her. Now they are saying they will move her back to a regular room today. While she can sort of wiggle her right finger and her foot/toes, most of her right side is still paralyzed.
She was at the beauty shop when this happened; apparently, it’s not that uncommon for strokes to occur when the person lies back in the chair to have her hair washed – it cuts off the circulation and the heart has to pump harder. It’s called “Salon Stroke Syndrome” – who knew?