Day 4 Update: Therapists, Doctors, and a Breakfast Win

Today was a full one.

It started on a good note — dad ate breakfast on his own. A banana, half a buckwheat pancake, a bite of scrambled eggs, and a lot of water. After where we were just a few days ago, that felt significant.

The doctor came in midday and gave us the most detailed picture yet. Dad experienced two types of strokes — an ischemic stroke, where a blood clot blocks blood flow to the brain, and a hemorrhagic stroke, where a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain. There are areas affected in both the left and right hemispheres. Two of the impacted areas are vision and the connection between understanding speech and actually producing it, which explains what we’ve been witnessing. He clearly knows what he wants to say; the pathway to getting it out is just disrupted right now. Vision is another area that the stroke has affected. He can see, but things may not be as sharp or clear as they were before — at least for now. The doctors are continuing to monitor these areas as he recovers. They’re still working to get an echocardiogram done — an internal look at the heart and its valves — which should give them more insight. Despite all of that, the doctor was genuinely hopeful and optimistic, and they’re planning to move Dad out of the ICU soon.

The afternoon brought two firsts. While the family had stepped away, thinking he was resting, Dad got his first session with a physical therapist. They got him up on his feet, and his very first steps were straight to the urinal — honestly, a completely perfect first destination. And today he also met with his speech therapist for the first time — early results were described as very promising.

There’s still work being done on the cardiology side — the team is working to get the right person involved to keep the ball moving forward.

Today felt like the day things started moving in a more structured, intentional direction. The care team is engaged, the specialists are showing up, and dad keeps finding ways to surprise us.