RSLancastr - Progress and news

[RSL's better half]

Hello, Everyone.

I just wanted you to know that my hubby will be out of commission for a while. Robert suffered a stroke last night (8/4). Some bleeding showed up in the cat scan, and it's in an inoperable place - dead center in the brain. The good news is that it is draining somewhat into the spinal cord. The stroke has left him paralyzed on the left side - the blood is mostly on the right side of the brain.

Right now we are in a "wait and see" phase. He is in CCU at a local hospital, and I'm told he'll likely be there a week. (Before anyone asks, no - he can't have flowers in the CCU.) He may go on from there to a rehabilitation facility where he may learn how to get the strength back on his left side. That, however, is too far down the road to think about now. There will be another cat scan to see if he is still bleeding or if it has stopped.

I will try to keep you posted on his progress, but news from me may be slow in coming. Please think good thoughts or pray if you are of the mind to. God bless you all.

Susan


Edit: Please read on. As of 8/11, there has been some progress. Robert is doing better.

[RSL's better half]

Good morning.

I wish I had more to tell you. I believe I will just give you the possitives:

He sought out, found and squeezed my hand, all the while with his eyes closed. Two separate nurses (both male) told me that he can hear me, and that Robert is respnsive but you have to be insistant and loud to get his attention. His son spent some quality time with him yesterday, recalling his favorite "Dad" stories. His eldest daughter, the one who gave up her daughter in an open adoption, came down from Oregon yesterday. He squeezed her hand as well. His eldest sister came in last night and we will see her this morning. My church and his mom's church have prayer chains going. Our family is receiving such an outpouring of love and support that it brings us to tears.

God bless you all (whether you want it or not). I love you. I'll try to give you another update tonight.

Susan

[RSL's better half]

HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!

Do I have your attention? Well, for the first time we have a better understanding of what's been going on, what is to come in the immediate future, and what we have to look forward to. One of the doctors began at the beginning and went all the way into his prognosis. Finally.

The slight difference between the first and second cat scans was not a bad turn. It actually meant there was "no change." The millimeter more blood that showed up in the second was seepage from the original bleed, not new bleeding. The third cat scan done today shows "no change" again. This isn't necessarily bad news. It means there has been no further bleeding, which is good news. Everything he's going through is "expected."

The doctor says Robert will be in the hospital for weeks. The doctor expects him to wake up next week - the week after at the latest. He'll likely be in rehab weeks to months. BUT THEN HE WILL COME HOME!!!!!!

The location of the damage is not expected to affect what we know of as "Robert." His sense of humor, the way he thinks, communicates, reasons, will be the same as it always has been. This got me to thinking . . . so, what if he remains on disability for the rest of his life? What if he can never return to computer programming? What will he do?

HEY SYLVIA, JOHN, JAMES, BENNY, PETER, KEVIN, ETC - ARE YOU LISTENING? IF ROBERT LANCASTER DOES NOT RETURN TO A 40-HR WORK WEEK, IT WILL MEAN HE'LL HAVE MORE TIME TO COME AFTER YOU! Maybe you should be praying alongside all of those praying for a full recovery!

Forumites, the Lancaster clan is ever so grateful for, and a bit overwhelmed by, the outpouring of love for Robert. His mother especially wanted me to express her gratitude to you all.

Good things are coming. They will take some time to get here, but they are coming.

Much love,
Susan

[RSL's better half]

I wasn't expecting to be updating you again so soon, but there has been a small but significant event. Robert opened his baby-blue eyes today. The nurse told me when I first got in that he had taken her hand and squeezed it. She said he tried to open his eyes, but could not. This was something that she and I both counted as a huge step towards waking up. When she left the room, I asked Robert to take my hand and he reached out and grabbed it.

Later, our friend Neil, the one who married us, came by. He saw Robert, talked to him a bit, then came to the waiting room where I was having my lunch. After some chatting, I asked if he would try to get Robert to move his big toe or something, as the neurosurgeon had suggested. He was all too happy to be of help, so we went together back to Robert's room. We talked about starting with his big toe on his right foot while at the foot of the bed. I went up to Robert's face and said hello and told him Neil was there. His eyelids started to flicker. Before Neil had a chance to say anything, Robert opened his eyes ever so slightly. I squealed with delight, so he did it again. Then I told him that was quite an accomplishment and to go back to sleep, which he did. I have a witness! I told his nurse and she was ecstatic!

A short time later, I sat down with his "primary" doctor. I excitedly told him what had happened, and he said not to "make too much of it." He's a real wet blanket! Then he told me that Robert now has a feeding tube up his nose. I had noticed that. He wanted to take it out and put one at his belly. He said it would be more comfortable. I agreed. He talked about taking Robert off the ventilator and putting in a traec (sp?). I agreed for many reasons. He also talked about a "pick line," which would remain in his arm and they could give him medications through it that would go straight into the blood stream or take blood for testing without jabbing him with needles over and over again. Since Robert is deathly afraid of needles, I wholeheartedly agreed! This will all take place this week. If he wakes up and can breathe fine on his own, and he can swallow OK, they may not do the traec. The doctor thought it would have to be done, though. After he wakes up, and the feeding tube is in his belly, he will still be able to eat by mouth if he is able to swallow.

So, now "things" are beginning. Here we go. The beginning of a long haul. All I have to say is "YAY!"

Much love to All!
Susan

[RSL's better half]

Susan,

I am encouraged by what you wrote. The road ahead of you may be long and difficult. You may take comfort in knowing that you have many friends who are rooting for you.

[After my stroke 12 years ago,] I was constantly beset with passivity. I just wanted to lie in my bed and do nothing. Fortunately, my wife believes in tough love. When I lay there feeling sorry for myself, Anne would say, "Get your ass out of bed and work on your speech therapy." That helped.

You may be tempted to baby Robert in the coming months, but there is at least one stroke victim who might counsel otherwise:The author is actor Kirk Douglas, and the quotation comes from a column Kirk wrote for the current issue of Newsweek.

You can bet I am just this kind of wife. Robert is a very stubborn man, but he married a stubborn woman. He may be hearing sympathy now, but that will change once he's been told what he has to do to recover. You can bet his siblings will be there prodding him on as well.

P.S. There is a whole lot of praying going on - in a few different religions. I'm sure each would like to take the credit you're taking for science, cgallaga. I am of the mind that it all helps.

[RSL's better half]

Good Morning, Everyone!

My name is Janie Lancaster-Busch and I am Robert's Beeg Seestor!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who is thinking of my baby brother and offering support. Our entire family appreciates it. I am also grateful to see the support and wonderful encouragement given to Susan. As you can imagine, as hard as this is on the rest of the family, it is especially hard on RSL's Better Half (a description we all agree with, by the way!)

I wish all of you could have seen the look on Susan's face when she and Neal came back to the waiting room after the "eye incident"! We were getting worried about her ....she was so tired and worried she looked like she had been hit by a Mack truck! But after seeing RSL's baby-blues she was on cloud nine and it was a wonderful thing to see!

I woke up with a sore throat this morning, so I won't be able to see Robert today. I'm hoping it is just an alergic reaction to something but I want to make sure first. I will be here until next Monday night when I will head back to East Tennessee so I plan on spending tons of time torturing Robert with memories of him from our childhood (like when he drove us all crazy while learning to play the violin! Ouch!)

Thanks again to one and all!

RSL's Beeg Seestor

(And in case you are wondering ...Beeg Seestor (aka Big Sister) came from RSL. He is now, of course, Leetle Brotherness.)