Nancy, you knew this day was coming, so I am glad for you that it is here. Now maybe Dan can get whatever help he needs and things will turn back around. I'm also glad that you can maybe have a little time to yourself and can get some rest. I hope you can get a good night's rest. Keep us posted, you're in my prayers.

It also would not have taught Dan anything about his stubborness if you had stayed. Now he knows he will land in the hospital, and be on his own, because you will need to go rest. I pray you get the best most refreshing sleep. Please keep us in the loop.

nancy :

please keep us updated how everything is going on. please take rest now that he is in hospital & being looked after

Asha

Get some rest. Bath, glass of wine, nice comfy pjs and bedtime. Let us know. Praying for all of you, you already know that. Debbie

Glad for the surgeon who saw the whole picture. Yes, I'd say an INR of 6.99 is enough to be scary. Lauren's has gotten as high as 5 and I was shaking in my boots with that. I hope you're sound asleep as I write this. Good for April. Sometimes our kids really do know best! Take as much advantage of the time as you can. ~~Donna

I take Coumadin too, and my number has never gone above 3.0. I hope they get this regulated soon.

-Will

lots of drama-- or i dont know what to call it... but dan is either in a coma or not, he might just be that stubborn and it is concievable to me his wife he is...... but he passes some nuero test and flunks others... checked for another stroke - none- but a ultra sound of his carotid ( both) show flow to both.... whoa- dans stroke was a total occlusion of his left carotid artery.. and the nuero said theoretically dan wouldnt have another stroke on that side, since it was a total occlusion... now today i find out there is flow there and a fair amount of flow.... so i asked the doc ( mind you i am staying in town not going to fargo if i can help it)-- so i am talking to a surgeon who is smart and compassionate, but as he says over and over again.. i am a surgeon not a nuero.... and he very gently is recommending we go to fargo for a nuero consult.. me , i dont want to go unless they can offer me something of value, all i know is, its full of confussion and miscommunicatioan and not much else... at any rate dans coumadin ( INR) is still at 6.93 it has dropped very little because there is no nutrition to metabalize. and it has to be nutrition from the gut, not IV... so it will be monitored and nothing invasive in anyway can be done till his INR is low much , much lower.... so right now he will stay here at this hospital, and it will take some time to get that INR lowered... then there is the potential for a lamictal overdose... in much the same way the coumadin didnt metabalize the lamictal might not have either, but a lamictal level draw takes 3 to 4 days to come back .. not a inhouse test... and if that were to be the case what is being done is the appropriate treatment.... now all his organ panels are good... so no liver or kidney issues ... i am sure i am forgetting something but thats my news for now...... i am taking debbies advice ( i got desperate) and had to call her.. and i am not going to stimulate him any further and leave him alone.. at this point that wont hurt and i am just wore out and need a little me time... and i feel selfish for that, but i know he is being vey well taken care of and if this happens to be a willful choice on his part my sitting there feeds into his behavior... if it is a actual coma then well, i just dont know... but it will be a long road................................................................................................

Nancy, I am following this probably along with many others. This must be so scary for you. Please take care and know you are doing what you think is best along with the doctor's advice.

I'm praying for you.

Julie

Nancy :

hopefully doctors will take care of most of his issues. I know this must be so hard and scary take care of yourself & leave everything in God's hands. you both will be in my prayers.

Asha

This is the time for you to take a well needed break, and for Dan to be in the hospital to get better under professional care. Gather your thoughts as you are doing, it's been a rough week or two for both of you. Let the doctors work their magic and don't feel there is anything you need to do, but to pray and to be there for him when he wakes up.

I really think leave him to the professionals. He doesn't respond to you so take yourself out of the picture. You can always just visit the staff and get a report without seeing him. I had to do that for one of Ray's hospital stays when all he wanted to do was go home, not do the work required to come home.

I don't know anything about the medical side of what he is going through. I always found Ray's long (2 1/2 hour) seizures confusing, he was marked "non-responsive" but I could get him out of it by using the pressure points on his feet. I don't know if that is possible with this semi-coma.

I guess you also need to look to the future, this may not be a one off, what do you want to do in the case of a series of "next times".

(((hugs))) and prayers.

Sue.

Nancy, just got to read up on all Dans issues and Wow! I had no idea how bad things are. I really hope he is just being difficult for the simple fact that a coma is such a dangerous thing! You just get some rest and keep us all posted on his condition ok?!!! Love you and am praying for Dan and you!!!!

would putting in that stomach tube help with mixing with the meds?

no tube for now........ the inr ( stickiness and or thiness of the blood) makes it crazy dangerous... any surgery, scratch , fall, or bump at this stage most likely would kill him... so till the INR comes to around 2 nothing invasive... after that the tube will be in never to come out again... this paticular stroke side effect is not something will allow to be repeated. but there is a chance he is stuck in that coma not to come out again,, but i believe and we all believe he will.. he opens his eyes for a few moments befor going back under... this tells me coma if it was behavior the second he knew you seen it he would close them...but now he seems to make contact for about 20 seconds then under again ,, that combined with rapid eye movement says coma... but i will not rule out dans stubborness still, but he is not moving at all when positioned and than is virtually impossible to do or not do...so lesson here is if the man does not eat maybe taking meds isent a good idea either.. although he only took them sparatically. during this behavior week which ironically got tipped off by a very small increase in the doseage ... in the past the nuero and docs said just do the best to get the meds and food into him... so i functioned under that advice and oops , here i am........but this has been done before by dan so for me it was deja vue.. and i should have sought help sooner but i feel like a pest... now i am really a great big bug... who didnt do what maybe should have been done different, but man oh man this stroke stuff is tough that combined with dans stroke side effects wow... i feel like i woulda, shoulda ,coulda done different, but looking back where does one draw the line...my god man... eat , drink, we all leave this life relativley quickly so enjoy what you can when you can in 50 yrs probably none of us on this forum will be here....midnight wisdom... maybe??

Hi Nancy~ I just caught up with things here... I am sorry to hear of your latest developments! Don't ever 'woulda coulda shoulda' yourself. We all do the best we can for those we love, as I am sure you did. Like you said, this stroke stuff is tough enough without adding the side effects into the mix. Dan is being well taken care of so you need to make sure you take care of yourself. I will keep good thoughts for you and Dan...

Kris is right. shoulda, coulda, woulda won't do you or Dan any good at this point and may even drag you further down. If any good can come of it at all, it's to do as Sue suggests. To help you plan how to handle this if it happens again...and then let yourself off the hook. We do better when we know better. I think that Dan will get better too. Take care of you so you're stronger when he does.

Jamie

we're still waiting with you Nancy, try to look forward to the next answer, what comes next.