Michelle is still in the hospital. They did an angiogram to look at her anterior spinal arteries. There was a rupture on the left side. If you picture the letter Y, the stem is your spine and the left and right arms are arteries that supply blood to the spine. The left side ruptured (probably from coughing) causing the blood to clot and blocking the blood from flowing on that side. This caused her arms to go numb. The right side started to work overtime to compensate for the lack of blood flow which brought the feeling back to her arms. Still with me, ok. To fix this she is getting a blood thinner through IV while she takes a blood thinner by mouth called Coumadin. Once the right level of Coumadin is in her they will take the IV out and send her home (2 or 3 days). She will have to take Coumadin forever, I think. The blood clot will harden like concrete in like 6 months and she will never regain the blood flow through the left artery. The blood thinner will make it easier for the right artery to do all the work.
Some fun facts from the doctor. The doctor walked in the room and said she should buy a lottery ticket. The fact that the blood clot didn't come loose and go into her brain is a miracle. The fact that the right artery kicked in to overdrive is a miracle. The fact that she isn't paralyzed or dead is a miracle.
Thank you for praying for her.
Wow So scary. I am so glad she is ok. I will pray for a nice recovery.
ReplyDeleteReading this makes my heart race.... I cant believe she is ok and there weren't major side effects.... Praying she gets home soon.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Pete you are great. I am thankful for your report, and to hear she is doing well considering. You hang in there.
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