#285

Elaine woke up this morning ready for a "normal" day. Today was anything but normal! Fred was going to play golf, but there was a golf tournament at the Vintage so he took Elaine to her mammogram appointment this morning. Yesterday, Elaine woke up with this huge bruise on her left left, covering her thigh to her knee. We tried to figure out what happened, and nothing came to mind. They had a lovely dinner with the Blackmores last night, and went to bed. This morning the bruise was bigger and Elaine's leg was swollen. She also started have a little blood in her urine. She was having this pain in the back of her head for over a week now as well. We had gone to the doctor to check her head, and he said it was fine, but it was still weighing heavily on her mind.

Thankfully, Fred has his superhero cape on today and was VERY proactive! They went to the mammogram, and in the meantime, he had called her Newport internist to discuss what was going on with Elaine. Fred was settling for nothing less than seeing a doctor. After the mammogram, they headed over to the ER at Eisenhower. They did a blood panel and a scan of her brain. Thankfully, the brain scan came back completely normal. Unfortunately, the blood test showed that her Coumadin level was 12.9, which is considered critical. They immediately admitted her to the hospital, and started to thicken her blood. Her blood was so thin that had she bumped into anything, even softly, she could have internally bled to death. They have started her on vitamin K, and taken her off the Coumadin. They will check her levels again in the morning, and hopefully they will be able to go home tomorrow. I say "they" because Fred will not leave her side and insisted on staying with Elaine in the hospital. He undoubtedly saved her life tonight! I am personally so grateful for his unconditional love, her proactive behavior, and being the most unbelievable caretaker that anyone could possible ask for!

Make no mistake about it, today was very serious, however Elaine is stable and in going to be fine. Thank you Fred! Elaine is also fortunate to be under amazing care. Dr. Hackshaw once again came to our rescue! He was the doctor that talked Ben through the first few hours of Elaine's stroke over the phone, an opinion we value and trust.  He is a rarity in the medical field, someone who truly cares, and we are forever grateful to have him on our side as part of our team! Thank you so much!

A special thank you to Pat, who came to stay with Elaine while Fred went to change out of his shorts he started the day in. She is a true friend!  No one knew this day would bring this, but we feel so fortunate with the outcome. As we usually talk about progress, today we are grateful for Elaine to still be with us! She had many angels on her shoulder and we are so thankful!

Our deepest thoughts and love are with Mike and Diana tonight as well. Mike suffered a minor stroke today. We send our love, thoughts, and prayers to them.