4/5/2010 Jim has a stroke

Karen was out for a lunch meeting and Jim was home working in the yard (as always) weed-whacking. When Karen came home she called out to Jim to open the garage door for her, which he did. Jim met her in the garage in the typical fashion, with a hug, and then mumbled something, and again mumbled. Karen new something was terribly wrong, but Jim was trying to take off his dirty clothes before coming into the house. Karen helped him into the kitchen and sat him down in a chair. She grabbed the phone and dialed 911 while she was running upstairs to grab clean clothes. On the way downstairs she called the neighbors who arrived immediately to help. The local fire truck arrived first with the ambulance shortly after. As all this was transpiring Jim's was continuing to degrade with stroke-like symptoms. The time was approximately 2:00 pm.

Jim was rushed to Mercy. He had a CAT scan which proved he was having a stroke. The doctors quickly called River Bend Sacred Heart in Eugene and Jim and Karen were rushed together in the ambulance. By 7:30 he was having a second CAT scan and after the doctors reviewed his condition with Karen and Sue he was moved to the "OR" for brain surgery. Surgery began at 11:30 and lasted two hours. The waiting room was filled with family and friends praying for Jim.

The CAT scan showed a Hemorrhagic Stroke the size of a tennis ball on the left front. A Hemorrhagic Stroke results from a weakened vessel that ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. The blood accumulates and compresses the surrounding brain tissue. The Neurosurgeon was concerned that with the amount of blood pressing on Jim's brain any swelling that was sure to occur in the coming days would greatly increase Jim's risk. At this point Jim was able to move the right side of his body but this movement was beginning to fade.

The surgery removed most of the blood but also reveled major brain damage. Jim recovered from the surgery fairly quickly but was very slow to wake up. The main concern after the surgery was his alertness. Jim was responsive to the nurse's test but rarely opened his eyes and for only brief moments at that. Other immediate concerns included his ability to expectorate fluid from his lungs (because pneumonia is so common)and maintaining good blood pressure (which they can do with medications).