Baba developed a bout of pneumonia and struggled with a fever overnight. When the night shift brought him down for his daily CT scan (which requires them to reduce sedation), he opened his eyes and literally fought the doctors, flailing his right arm and leg - they said he was strong. They were able to get the CT scan they needed with some motion artefacts. This morning the doctors ordered antibiotics to treat the infection - but that is the least of our worries. Our greatest concern is the swelling in his brain following the trauma of the pressure from the haemorrhaging. The catheter is maintaining pressure levels by allowing excess blood to drain from the brain, but his body needs be weened off of the catheter slowly as the swelling subsides. This is to prevent him from loosing too much of his spinal fluids and allow his body to slowly regain control and self-heal. The tube that is assisting him with his breathing also needs to be removed to avoid the need for a tracheotomy. In order to allow for that to happen, he needs to be more conscious, which means weaning him off of the sedatives.
The next few days are going to be a game of patience until the dust settles. Prantik and I are tying to give Baba some space to keep stimulus levels low and allow him to rest. We (semi) moved out of his room and started making ourselves at home in the family waiting area, while making frequent trips to his room to make sure he's alright. We're also going home (to the house in B'ville) at night around 10pm and returning in the morning around 6am when the doctors start making their rounds.
Baba is still in critical condition, but we are praying that he gets through this phase in his recovery. We are cautiously optimistic of a positive outcome, fully realizing that life will never be the same for him, and us. He will be left with motor deficits on his left side, which has been unresponsive to date. We also won't learn how the stroke has effected him cognitively until the swelling goes down and he wakes up a little more.
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