Chuck’s journey November 4 thru 7

Chuck post op day 1  (November 6 9:30 PM)
 

As you see there are many people on this list!  I call as many as I can but this is traumatic and I can’t often talk about it. I’m supported by, two friends (Debby Johnson and Pete Skipp) here to hug and help me to pray, and believe me, you all have helped me so much. Again, the role we all play here is prayer. I’d like to try to update you every day and ask you to continue to ask God for healing for our Chuck. Each of us has a special connection to Chuck even if it is only through your knowing me (some St Timothy friends have not yet met "the man Chuck," but you will one day! )   I can’t speak too much about this or I start crying so I hope these emails help and one day… Chuck will hear of how many loved him and prayed for him over these hard days. Your prayers keep me strong. Pete reminded me today at lunch when I saw the RN who put in Chuck’s feeding tube and I started to cry…… "stop going down that road, stop, and say a prayer," he said.. And that settled me down. 
 
To summarize. Chuck probably bumped his head on the car while he was loading equipment during a 3 day shooting range with FHP. He was under great stress to master a new weapon and indeed he shot a Master level in the course (I think 39 out of 40). But it exhausted him and sometime during the weekend he bumped his head.  Thinking the exhaustion and stiff neck he got were from the exertion we missed the bumped head. He began to lose functions, balance, signature and putting on socks and I made him an appointment with our family doctor who pretty much judged correctly that Chuck needed an MRI. That same afternoon we got heavy news that Chuck had bleeding on the brain and needed to get to the ER immediately. He was admitted to the ER on Thursday afternoon (11/4) about 6pm and lay in the ER until 3pm Friday. Surgery for a sub dural hemotoma on Friday (11/5) at 6pm followed by a rough recovery. He was finally moved to ICU Saturday morning (11/6) at 5:30am. When I saw him this morning (Saturday) at 7 I was frightened at the enormity of his suffering. He is basically non responsive and he is rigid and trembling at times. Other times he is fast asleep.  .. At about 10:30 am the surgeon reported that the surgery went well, the hemotoma has drained and there appears to be no more bleeding, but something else is going on inhibiting recovery that a neuro surgeon has to deal with. he ordered an EEG, MRI and MRA. These are scans of the brain looking for seizures.  The physician on duty said Chuck should be awake but the brain issue is causing the sleeping and tremors… so wait for the neuro surgeon.  At about noon they put in a feeding tube, which I know he needs, but it freaked me out. All I could see was long term this condition continuing. Peter’s advice to pray and give it to God helped me focus on the short term. he needs nutrition today and tomorrow…   We stalked the halls and made the Nurse Practitioner make 3 calls to the neurosurgeon who finally came at 8pm. The physical assessment indicated he responds to pain on fingers and toes (shades of prison torture in my eyes), his pupils respond correctly to light, his toes curled with the Babinsky test, but the clenched hands and tremors when he is stimulated might be seizures keeping him from communicating. Treat that first. …  he will be medicated with 3 new medications hopefully tonight… and we will see him in the morning.  I want you to keep praying and realize there is nothing else you can do at this time. Debby and I summarized and concluded in the car on the way home that this will take time (and that is what the neurologist said although I don’t know why we couldn’t see him at 10am this morning… we waited a day just watching Chuck twitch and sleep. It was awful. Please continue to pray and let us pray for Chuck’s recovery and health. I will send again tomorrow night. God bless you. Love Susie 
 

November 4 (10:43 PM)
Hi my dears. Today has been the hardest day for me as I had to be the strong one… Since he went to an extreme FHP training a few weeks ago,  Chuck has been feeling bad, headaches, exhausted, and finally when he had trouble getting his socks on, I put my foot down and got him to the doctor today at 10:30am (a very blessed find of a doctor from my church came to me by church friends). Doctor’s very able assistant got us scheduled for an MRI. The MRI tech alerted the Radiologist who moved very quickly to write up a preliminary report and by 6pm we were at the Baptist Hospital emergency room…. they were waiting for us. They covered Chuck with tubes and had a stroke kit ready and 2 people getting his history. Fortunately I know him well and was able to provide much information. The bottom line is he is having a sub dural hemotoma (hemorrhage) on the brain.  This is the reason everyone moved so quickly. They took him for a CT scan and confirmed what showed as bleeding on the MRI, but got some good news. It is veins bleeding and it is unlikely it is an aneurysm or embolism. I left him well cared for, ordered not to move and to relax, and reading a book. He is being moved from ER to neurological ICU and will see neurosurgeon tomorrow who will monitor him for a few days to see if bleeding stops…. It should stop and recede…  We know no more until tomorrow. This is day to day.  I’ll go back to the hospital after Mass and stay with him tomorrow. 
 

My role, you ask?  To carry his stuff, to document and give information, to give him his book when he needed it, and to pray. And that my dear is your role!  Say a little prayer for our Chuck. He will have to change his wild man lifestyle…. But he is alive and will live a long good life.  I will email you again tomorrow evening and keep you posted. I expect a full recovery and we will follow all orders and directions of neurosurgeon. I promise!  God bless you and God bless our Chuck. Love Sue