Friday, October 25 was a very long day. We arrived at Covenant emergency at 12:30 am. I was on the helicopter to the U of I by 3:00 am. It took 22 minutes to fly there. I didn't open my eyes once. It was my first helicopter ride and I didn't see any of it! I just stayed huddled on my right side in the fetal position and tried to stay as calm as I could. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law met me there since Patrick had to drive on his own. Upon arrival I was immediately swarmed by nurses and doctors. They got me hooked up to my machines and immediately took me to get another CT scan. Luckily, I was able to stay in the fetal position for it. The CT scan revealed that the bleeding had stopped. The neurosurgery, OB, and neurology teams met me back in the emergency room. The main ER doctor talked to me first and told me, " I do not need your permission, but since you are conscious and aware I am going to ask you if you are okay with receiving a blood transfusion (platelets)?" Of course I said yes. After that, the OB team assured me that all the medication and scans were not harming the baby because I was past the first trimester. Neurosurgery told me about my CT scan results and said that they didn't think they needed to do surgery immediately but would know more after the MRI results. Then came the fun part-the neurology assessment. Keep in mind that I am doing all of these things while the nurses are checking me over from head to toe. My neurologist asked me to recite my story and did many strength and function tests. Many of the tests required me to lay on my back so I was incredibly nauseous. I would literally answer one of their questions and puke immediately after. This went on for 10 minutes.
Finally everything was done and there was absolute calm and quiet. Patrick arrived somewhere during that time and came in to let me know he was there. I heard my in-laws telling them what had occurred so far. I tried to sleep but couldn't. I knew that one of the possible deficiencies of a stroke was memory and communication loss so I just tried to think of everything. I thought about my childhood memories, my parents, my family, meeting Patrick, getting married, the birth of our daughters.....everything I didn't want to forget. I just tried my best to burn it in to my head.
I am sure that I looked like I felt incredibly sick and in pain on the outside. On the inside it was different though. Yes, I was nauseous but it just came on right before I would throw up and then it would immediately go away so it really wasn't that much of a bother. My head really didn't hurt and I was fine as long as I didn't open my eyes or roll onto my back. I didn't hurt. I was calm, I was lost in positive thoughts, and I honestly wasn't even scared. I just kept thinking, "Okay, this is happening and I can't change it. Put on your big girl pants and fight, Jamie. You got this and God has you. Work together and trust each other."
It felt like forever before I finally got transferred up to the ICU. When I got there the nurses got me all rearranged and hooked up to my permanent equipment. My parents, brother and sister-in-law, and my sister and brother-in-law all arrived around 6 am. The nurses let two people in at a time. My parents came in first. They were both crying. I wanted so badly to show them that even though I looked awful, I was really okay. But there was nothing I could do. I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't move, and I was still puking at this point. So, instead I just talked so that they knew I was still me. I remember as they left for next group to come in I told them, "Don't worry, I am a fighter and I am strong." My brother and sister-in-law were next and I remember my sister-in-law grabbing my hand, kissing it, and holding it next to her cheek. I felt her tears on my hand. I got the feeling she was just glad I was still there. It was honestly the first time I realized how bad this all was and how scared everyone had to be for my life. Before then I was completely oblivious to the actual seriousness of my condition. My sister and brother-in-law came in next. They got to see me get sick quite a few times which I am sure wasn't easy to watch.
The nurses finally found a nausea medicine that helped and I was stable enough to get an MRI by 1 pm. The MRI took about 25 minutes and I was completely calm and relaxed the entire time. The MRI revealed that I didn't have a tumor or a clot and that I wouldn't need surgery right away. They could not tell us what caused the bleed because the blood was impeding their view of the affected area. We were just going to have to wait until my next MRI on December 26. By then most of the blood would be reabsorbed and my doctors would have a better idea of what they were looking for.
The rest of the day consisted of my family/friends visiting, numerous doctors visiting me, asking me my story, and completing physical assessments. I also had a complete nurse checkup every hour. My blood pressure cuff went off every twenty minutes. It was on my left arm and I couldn't even feel it inflate. My sensation was decreased that much. My heart rate machine was set to beep if my heart rate dropped below 60. My nurses finally changed that to 50 when they realized it was normal for my resting heart rate to be between 50-55. I could only lay on my right side because my left felt so weird and I was still too scared to lay on my back. Plus, I had to sleep with the bed elevated at the head so my blood would reabsorb better. So, needless to say it was impossible to sleep.
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