Prayers needed for my Uncle Jerry
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I have an aunt that is 47 years old and just had a baby, last night she sent us an email and then called us requesting prayers for her husband. She and my Uncle got married in March after many years of dating, the next month she went to the doctor thinking she was going through the "change" to her surprise she was 12 weeks pregnant. Little Miranda was born last month and is absolutely perfect (3 days before her nephew). Now her daddy is having mini strokes.
Below is an email from my aunt explaining what all is going on. Prayers are MUCH appreciated.
Please pray for Jerry. Sunday he woke up and was weak and stumbling around. He was a little incoherent and when I told him to stick his tongue out it was crooked. (sign of a stroke) EMS came and he was instantly better. 10 minutes after they left our house it happened again. He was taken to St. Johns and admitted. The docs said that he was most likely having TIA's, which are mini strokes that come and go. A CAT scan revealed that he had a small stroke either now or in the past. He seemed to decline drastically today and is not making any sense when he talks and does not seem to be "coming out" of these spells. He is able to walk, but has numbness in his right side. He has no blockage in his carotid arteries, ao they ruled that out. They have him on aspirin and high blood pressure meds. There is really nothing they can do but wait and see. Kind of like waiting to see if an earthquake is going to happen.
Please pray that he will come out of this stronger than ever. He is so in love with his new little baby and needs to see her blossom and grow up, as she and I need him too.
How sad.. In my prayers..
Very sad, and stressful, I am sure - thoughts and prayers for your aunt and your family...
Here is the latest update from my aunt... He seems to be getting MUCH better. Thank you for the prayers.
Everyone's prayers are working. Jerry was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. He was so happy to get out of the hospital. After I left the hospital on Wednesday night, the bed sitter left the room for 2 minutes and Jerry (who must have been pretending to be sleeping) left the room, walked down 3 flights of stairs and was on the first floor. They had an all points bulletin out on him. I was worried when they told me this, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He told me he "was discovering new territory", which he always says and was going to go back to the room. So, as you see.....his body is strong.
The stroke did not affect his body, but he has a little bit of neglect on his right side. He runs into the door jamb with his right shoulder, runs into the coffee table with his right leg. It is not numb and is strong and he uses his right hand fine, he just ignores his right side but this will improve 100% in time as his brain heals. I have already seen improvement. He does not need physical therapy, but will benefit from speech therapy. He has improved incredibly with finding the correct words. His mind is strong and even said he has a "hard time remembering words". I just tell him to take his time and eventually the words come to him, or words close to what he wants to say. It is good that he has always been such a mellow and easy going guy, because he is not really frustrated.
Life at home has been interesting. Jerry is a man that has worked 7 days a week for 16 years and he has ants in his pants. The first day or two I was so worried he would fall or slip, but he is steady on his feet. He is able to take care of all of his own needs, but watched him like a hawk in the beginning. I make a point to have him do what he normally does, but casually keep an eye on him to keep him safe without insulting him. He does make more messes and spills then normal but I just clean it up when he is not around. He is antsy so I find tasks for him to do and tell him how much I appreciate his help. There is some confusion. He had his shaver in his hand and I found it on the kitchen counter with the clean dishes. Just little things like that. But there are times I get scattered and do things like that too. Saturday my niece watched Miranda so Jerry and I went to the grocery store and lunch. I had him push the cart and he clipped a few display (on the right), but did pretty good. I had him pick out all the groceries and he bought what we normally do. He is back to shopping as usual. Yesterday Jerry, me, my sister and nieces went to Partridge Creek and walked around. I knew he was getting back to normal when he insisted on treating everyone to lunch. The old Jerry is slowly emerging and it is funny because the habits he had before that annoyed me are now welcome because he is alive.
The most daunting thing has been that he can hold Miranda when he is sitting down (I am always there), but he is not allowed just to pick her up or walk around with her. This is the most important thing and the one thing he seems to have short term memory about. I contantly put her in his lap and when I am changing her diapers or clothes I include him. But no sooner do I tell him not to pick her up, he is trying to pick her up. I feel very bad for him, but this is very serious. I can not leave her in the room with him because he tries to pick her up if she so much as whines. This has been the biggest source of stress for me. I cannot do anything unless I can see her too. If I need to leave the room I have to scoop her up and take her with me. I used to get things done when she was sleeping. Now it is when he is sleeping. I have a pack-n-play but I borrowed one that has a dome over it. I told Jerry it was so the cat did not get to the baby. My niece Audrey figured out how to put it together and we safety pinned the zipper opening to the pack-n-play. It was not up even 5 minutes and Jerry walked into the room, unpinned it and opened it. That idea was foiled, so we put bells on the zipper so I can hear it being opened. I have been sleeping with one eye open. My baby monitors are really coming in handy. My family has been such an incredible help and I seriously would have gone stark raving mad if I did not have their help. They have been her everyday to help me and they have been a God send. His family has been wonderful too and came to the hospital and are checking in everyday. His brother Sam came to the hospital every single day and he and his family stopped by on Saturday, which was really good for Jerry.
We just need to keep Jerry's blood pressure and cholesteral under control, so he does not have another stroke. He won't be driving for a while and I do not foresee him going back to the store anytime soon, if at all. That was a huge source of stress for him. Thanks to all who kept us in their thoughts and prayers. There is no doubt in my mind that they made all the difference in the outcome.
I'm so glad that he has improved. Your aunt sounds like such a wonderful woman, the way she is taking care of him. They way she lets/helps him do little things and cleans up his spills with out making a big deal about it.
I was wondering if he would be able to pick up his baby. It's sad that he can't. They both sound like such wonderful people. It's nice to hear that the family is helping out a lot. They really need that.
I will continue to say prayers for your aunt and uncle.
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