December 12, 2012
3435 Fox Run Road Apartment 333
Sarasota, FL 34231
6:00AM in Mom's apartment.
Mom is on the Neuro Ward at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. She has been in the hospital since suffering a stroke after walking on the beach on August 1, 2012. She had just finished walking her favorite walk at about 9:00AM. She was putting her beach chair in the back of her car when she collapsed. A bystander called 911. EMS arrived and was unable to bring Mom back to consciousness. She was taken to the hospital where she was evaluated with a CT scan of the brain. While in the Radiology Department in the hospital she vomited and had to be intubated and a nasal-gastric tube was placed in her stomach to drain gastric contents and acidic secretions thereby protecting her airway.
Phone calls were made to Lakehouse West (Mom's Residence of 4 years) and contact information was given to Janice and myself. I was in Key West with Sandy and Danielle completing a triathlon when I received the message. We took the ferry that afternoon back to Fort Myers, quickly stopped at home to pick up some clothes and drove up to Sarasota. We reached the Intensive Care Unit at around midnight.
The very competent ICU nurse took a history from Sandy and I. Mom had been in the hospital two months ago with intestinal issues and we were never able to come up with a definitive diagnosis in spite of numerous tests, scans and consults. After discharge two months ago Mom had done well and was able to resume her walks and other normal activities including a plane trip to Pittsburgh to visit Janice and her family for Janice's birthday in October.
I was shown the report of the initial CT scan which showed blockage of the left middle cerebral artery. Mom was sedated on a propothal drip. A respirator was ventilating her through her endotracheal tube. This hospital admission was unlike anything that had ever happened to Mom before.
The nurse enquired whether Mom had a living will or had given advanced directives or had designated a health care surrogate. Mom had taken care of this years ago and I was confident that we could get her documents from her attorney when his office opened on Monday morning. As health care surrogate I told the hospital's representatives that should there be little or no hope of regaining back the quality of life that Mom had been accustomed to, it was Mom's wish that life sustaining interventions... ie tubes, ventilators, iv's, feeding tubes be withheld.
The following day a follow up CT scan of the brain revealed that there had been massive injury to two separate portions of Mom's left brain. Apparently there had been blockage of the left middle cerebral artery proximal to where the posterior cerebral artery originates. This so called persistent fetal anatomy resulted in a cut off of blood flow to not only the motor strip of Mom's cerebrum but also the speech center as well.
In addition the massive injury resulted in swelling which distorted the brain anatomy by expanding the left side and pushing the brain's midline structures to the right side. Consulting neurologists agreed that even with intensive therapy in the best case there was little hope of Mom any semblance of normal function.
I spoke with Janice who was returning to Pittsburgh from a swim meet with her family in Cleveland, OH. We both agreed that Mom would not wish to have her life prolonged artificially and that Janice should join Sandy and I in Sarasota to carry out Mom's wishes.
While in route to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital from Key West Florida I contacted a old family friend, a Dr. Ted Probst. Ted was visiting one of his daughters in New Paltz,
New York when I called. He suggested the names of two neurologists for us to consult.
Dr. Sutherland was assigned to Mom's case. Dr. Sutherland reviewed Mom's CT Scans and agreed that the prognosis was poor for return to the life that Mom was accustomed to live.
Stuart
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Fwd: Thinking of you and Stu
Sent From Stuart
Begin forwarded message:
From: Janice <mirra7@comcast.net>
Date: December 6, 2012, 10:47:58 AM EST
To: Stuart levy <bigstu52@gmail.com>, Donald Jortner <jortner2@cox.net>
Subject: Fwd: Thinking of you and Stu
Thought you would like this one from Josh's wedding. My mother-in-law sent it this morning.
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:From: Sue <sue.mirra@gmail.com>
Date: December 6, 2012, 6:24:02 AM EST
To: Janice Mirra <mirra7@comcast.net>
Subject: Thinking of you and Stu
Sent from my iPad
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