So I awoke today with sad news (all sad news seems to come when Im in bed sleeping), I found out my Uncle had a Massive Stroke. The part of the brain that was effected is the Cerebrum, which includes Touch, your personalty and intelligance (amongst other things, Link). I just found this out since my mom just got home. They are giving his medicine (called TPA) and they say he is responsing well to it.

My uncle is relatively new in to the family, and is a well established Miltary man (I think he was a sargent in the Marines) He wore his Army Suit on My Aunts Wedding day, and it was very decorated (he had a couple medals I believe). My Aunt was single before meeting him and has never been married before.

For now, they have to wait 24 hours to see what happenes. They say he cant speak, and his Right side is paralized (which means, the Left side of this brain doesnt work, Dont ask, Thats how the brain works) He is as healthy as a horse, and weighs as much as a normal person (around 150lbs) But he has had a heart condition (heart murmor). They also said he has a sist on one of his heart valves, and it may have traveled up to the brain and caused a Clot.

Oy, Life seems to just get worse eh?

Damn, sorry to hear about your Uncle, my thoughts will be with you and you family.

Things will get better Nerdz. That which does not kill us only makes us stronger.

Don't give up hope yet, Nerdz... as you might know... I work at a Psychiatric Hospital and I've
seen people almost fully recover from this... (we call it a CVA.....). The human brain is still very
much a mistery to us... what I do know is with the right therapy & medicine, certain parts of the
brain can take over tasks the damaged parts used to do.... don't ask me how.... makes sense, though...
Afterall we only use like 10% of our brain's capacity...

So... hang in there... the road ahead for your uncle may be long & hard but it often isn't a hopeless cause...
I really hope he recovers... I have the highest respect for a Marine & a fellow 'Sarge...

Don't know if you're a believer but I'll say a prayer for him tonight...

TDR

Thanks all, So My mom went back to the hospital (only 2 people are allowed into the room at the same time) to check on my Aunt. She told me that it would be best if I stayed here (she is right and I agreed with her, since what can I do?) Im waiting for her to come home.

I asked her more questions about his conditions when she got home before. He still can feel emotions, can hear people, eyes do move (but that part of the brain for eyes is all the way in the back.), does respond to his name, but he can move a little bit of his right side (but the docs are saying that could be reflex). So the only thing he cant do is move, speak, or smile fully.

I know hes going to make a full recover, maybe not now but he will. Thanks again everyone.

Oh TDR, that 10% is actually alot if you think about it. You cant possibly name all the functions your brain handles at once. Hormones, bodily Functions, maintaning heart beat, blood pressure, even thoughts and memorys. Its impossible to name all that goes on side the brain.

I'm saddened by this.
but bear this in mind,
He is a marine.
Improvise,Adapt and overcome.

I have more news. It seems that a heart valve (2 of them) are infected and stopping blood flow to his brain. A 3rd valve that goes to the lungs it constantly open, and usualy it opens and closes. They are going to do surgery tommrow, and its a 10 hour long process. They are going to use Pig valves to replace his. Ive looked it up, and there is a high probablity of him surviving, both the stroke and surgery!

But as my mom pointed out, he cannot speak. Since he cannot speak, he cannot express his feelings towards it, or if something were to happen to him, what my aunt should do. I do have faith he will make it though, but there is a little part of me tthat says he might not make it. I ignore that person and focus on reality.

My mom was also amazed at how far science has come. Just think, if there were another way to get Stem Cells, how much better off the world would be?

Gosh, that goes beyond sucking. He sounds very healthy and conciderably young, so that's good in terms of his recovery and also adds to how much it sucks.
Im really sorry.

It sounds like your family is sticking together very well, Nerdz. That helps soo much I cant even begin to describe.

I wish your family the best of luck

Hes only 45 years old. The thing he, he knew about this, and didnt tell my Aunt. His Ex also knew, and also my Uncle Knew too. Opps.

Well His brain swelling the other day, on account there was blood in his brain. Hes on a blood thinner now, and will have to wait a couple weeks until they do surgery. However, He does wake up every so often to look around. He is eating (or atleast swallowing) So Right now they are taking baby steps.

Thats intresting you said he knew. About two years ago, my grandfather decided he was going to go to Germany to visit some family. Well, he was about 81, 82 and had a stroke. My mom was over there for over a month with him.
But its intresting that he had the stroke when he went back "home."

Today he was actually up. He could eat (but it has to have the consitancy of honey) was talking a bit (well, he cant exactly talk like you and me, he makes grunting sorta noises, but they do have meaning, and they are deciperable) He is working on moving his right arm, and if you make him do it, he gives you this evil "Dont make me do that" look.. They are waiting until next week to do surgery, the stronger he gets the better.

Ive heard they had him walking too, which is good.

i feel for you man. This kind of thing is always bad...i believe we all are destined and have a time and a place...for things including death....but obviousely, at the age of 45 his time hasn't yet come.

The problem is, No one knows How much Memory he has lost.

Now I pose to you this question: Is it possible (or likely) that he has forgotten that he loved my Aunt? Could he have fallen out of love with her when he had his stroke? I dont think it would be possible, unless the stroke effected his emotions side of the brain..

Quote: Originally Posted by Nerdz The problem is, No one knows How much Memory he has lost. Now I pose to you this question: Is it possible (or likely) that he has forgotten that he loved my Aunt? Could he have fallen out of love with her when he had his stroke? I dont think it would be possible, unless the stroke effected his emotions side of the brain..

I dont think hes forgoten about her. My granfather had a stroke and his emotions are really skrewed up. One minute he was describing the texture of a muffin, the next he was crying, then he was describing the colour of the muffin (true story). Prettie messed up, huh? Apparently the majority of people who have suffered a stroke have altered emotions. My grandfather did not forget about his girl friend at all.
When my other grandfather was in the hospital (I think he was 92 at the time), he had large short-term memory problems. During the day, he would come in and out of short sleeps every minute or so. When he would wake, he could rembember where he was and why he was there. He couldnt put faces to names, though. When he would wake up, someone would tell him who every body was and all the feelings he had for everyone came back to him. He didnt have a stroke, but he had poor blood circulation (and gang-green in one leg).

Summed all up, I dont think you uncle has "forgoten" what he feels for your aunt.

Well he going into surgery tommrow at 7:30AM. Hes been bumped up since they said his heart (now this is what I heard, I think people have their stories messed up) is at 40% or so..When I went tonight his heart spiked to about 130BPM, not good in my book since thats excercising heart rate...His Average was around 80 to 85BPM

So we all all hoping for the best. He can speak a bit, and I actually heard him speak..

Well, He got out of Surgery. I recieved word about 1 hour ago. They replaced 2 of his valves, and the3rd one leading to the lung was just in the wrong place, so they moved it and made sure it was in the right place.

So all he needs now is rest. We probably wont get to see him until Friday. They have him hooked up to machines to monitor his heart rate and other things.

Thanks Everyone! I am grateful of your prayer's and thoughts (and so it my family)

That's good news. I wish him a fast recovery.

Thanks PD, I got to see him today. I noticed his vitals were alot more stable, his heart rate was lower (66 to 70 BPM's), and something else (called SPo2 which I cant figure out what that is...) which looked like a triangle waveform. They are giving him perks (perkasets) for pain.

So for the next couple of days he will be healing and then (well after he recovers) go to a rehab center.

Oh, I know I said he was a marine, but I made a mistake (opps!) He was in the reserves and served for about 21 years (but he is a sarge). As for the memory, I think he knows who we all are, just by the way he looks at you, Im sure of it.

Very Bad news guys...I got word this morning at 9:53AM when I was still in bed....

He had another massive stroke. It effected his left side. Now he is brain dead, they have him on a breathing tube. They are waiting for his family to come...Looks like the surgery didnt work... Once the breathing tube is removed...well, you can guess the rest.

Man, wtf?

And to think, this could have been prevented on his part....That may be the hardest thing to get over right now.

Its Raining out today, and my dish doesnt work..

They removed the breathing tube, but hes breathing on his own. There must have been hemmeraging in the brain and caused the brain to be crushed.They said one of his pupils are bulging outwards. I wonder though, if one is brain dead, do you still have a soul or a concious? Are you still aware of your surroundings?

This seems like a joke to me. God played a joke and the joke backfired. Now he/she is saying "Oh crap". God is just a captalistic bastard who only awards those with money. Of course, god may or may not exsist. Sometimes life seems like a dream, or better yet a nightmare. It seems to unreal, the people and the hurt we feel. But is life is not a dream, for the pain we feel is real.