Hooked on Phonics (Andrew’s headline)

We ended Friday’s ER stay with confirmation via MRI that Andrew did indeed have another stroke, characterized as “acute to subacute” by the radiologist. They increased his blood thinner dosage and released us around 9pm. Since then, he’s already started to regain his ability to read and recognize words. We started slow with some of Vivian’s books, and by Sunday he was able to read a much more sophisticated scientific study that his oncologist printed for him. 

Saturday and Sunday were good days. Without any doctor's appointments, we enjoyed the beautiful weather, walked, and focused on pain management. His new prescription from the palliative care doctor seems to be working much better than what he was sent home from the hospital with, and it’s allowed him to sleep better too. Saturday we went to Vivian’s recital and out to lunch, then Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day at the park.

We anticipate a very busy week. With only a little crying to the scheduler, I was able to move his cardiologist appointment to this afternoon, and hope we can get the transesophageal echo on the books ASAP. This is crucial, as we wanted to see the status of the heart vegetation prior to starting chemo and because he still had another stroke despite being on blood thinners. We have an appointment to place his mediport on Thursday and are still hoping to start chemo on Friday.