Nov 16, 2007

For those of you who may not know, Stan had a stroke Wednesday morning. This email is an update on how he is doing today.

Hi All....Today's news is NOT good. I wish with all my heart I could email something better. I didn't really notice much change in Stan this morning, but when I talked to the doctor after his CAT scan today, and then when a friend here who works in the radiation dept. showed Pete, Andy, and me the three scans....things are not good. The doctor told me that this scan showed things had got much worse, that the bleeding hadn't stopped. When I tried to ask him some questions about future possibilities, he was very frank about right now we need to concentrate on today and not think about the future. He emphasized that Stan is VERY sick, and even said there is a 50% or more chance he will not survive. Dave (a young man we have known our entire Alaska life) does MRIs at the hospital Stan is in) took Andy, Pete, and me to his office and showed us the three scans on his computer. The first one when we got to the ER shows a very small bleed that is pushing into the right ventrical. The second showed the bleed about twice as large and pushing much more into the ventrical. The third scan taken today about 11a.m. shows the bleed area is more than three times larger than the second scan and the right ventrical is almost non existant. It does not appear as though they have managed to get the bleeding stopped. Stan's mental acuity seems to be sharp. He is not confused about time or space. When asked where he is, he not only answers correctly, but names the hospital. When asked the date he knows it.

He still does not have the use of his left side, cannot swallow or open his eyes. They are talking about putting in a feeding tube tomorrow. He seems to be sleeping a lot. It was much harder to get any response out of him this evening, but I did persist just before I had to leave, and he did say, "I love you."

Pete got here about 4 this afternoon, and Cheri and Sara will be here about midnight - thirty. There were many friends and all the family at the hospital during the day. He is a very loved guy.

I really appreciate all the prayers and loving emails. Thank you.

Love, M