Ed's had a series of strokes starting Sunday, leading to him, me, and Darling Wife spending the night in ICU. Roller coaster time with swings from "1/3 or more of his brain is damaged/best case end state is a vegetative state" to Ed screwing with the ICU nurses by tapping his finger on his EKG leads to make his heart monitor look like a crisis and cracking jokes about bad baby raising techniques.

Next 48 to 72 hours will set the tone for here on out. Gonna be a long weekend.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

I will keep Ed and yourself in my Prayers.

__________________
For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

get well soon!

__________________
hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Sorry to hear this. I can fully understand what you're going through.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

I am very sorry to hear this. Thoughts and prayers going out.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Ed playing games should be a good sign.

Jeesh Jim, don't you folks ever get a break? Glad to see Ed is alert enough to tease people. He can't be too bad if his normal character is showing through...and he is a character! Hope this isn't too hard on DW or you. Nap when you can. Will keep you all in our prayers.

Very best of luck with it. It's very challenging, but family comes first.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Dang! Our thoughts are with you all, Jim!

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Hour by hour changes. Ed was much more lethargic and harder to wake up overnight. Speech more difficult, less and less movement and strength. Docs say roller coaster is quite possibly going to continue.... better for a while, then worse, then back to slightly up.

Bottom line is we won't know extent or permanence of damage until.... we know. Neurologist says "there is no model for Ed - based on his MRI, he should be completely paralyzed on his left side - I can't explain why he can move."

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

the brain is a marvelous and mysterious thing, I hope he continues to improve, not everyone can say they befuddled a neurologist

__________________
hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Hi Jim and Meredyth- let me know if there is anything i can do. Thoughts and prayers are with you.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Day to day progressions and regressions. At this point, he can talk some, remembers everything (housekeeping person who cleaned his room 4 days ago was back today, and he said she had 13 grand kids..... and she laughed and said he was right). Not everything makes it back out - he drifts off, loses focus, falls asleep, all of the above. Then he'll make a comment or ask a question that makes it clear he's heard and understood everything going on in the room.

Immediate challenges include getting him to the point he can eat - getting pureed everything and thickened liquids (never knew thick water existed - he's had that, OJ, milk - all the consistency of honey). Even with that, it's tiny spoonfuls and multiple chasers to make sure he gets everything out of his mouth. Aspiration risk is high.....

Side note on pureed foods: thought they'd screwed up his breakfast since there was a waffle on his plate. Questioned the gal who'd dropped his tray - turns out it was in fact a pureed waffle, molded (and tinted) to look like a waffle. Turns out the have a mold for peas and green beans too. One step this side of Soylent Green if you ask me

Other immediate challenge is movement. Ed's a big guy (he claims 250, I'd guess closer to 300). Seriously bum knee which gets all manner of aggravated when he's immobile. Weakened now by.... being immobile. And his balance is an unknown, as he's not been up since the second round of strokes hit Tuesday.

Part of what really sucks about all this is that Ed's been working an honest to goodness full time job for the past couple months - first employment in ~ 5 years or so. He's a life skills coach for the ARC; taking clients to their jobs, helping them cook, etc. He is actually quite good at it - which is all sorts of ironic given his inability to demonstrate full functionality in his own life.

Anyhow - day by day. Immediate event of the moment (what has me sitting out in the hall) is a crew is in his room trying to figure out how to get him up enough to do his business. 4 big ladies debating bed pan (he simply can't/won't do the big deal on one) vs. bedside commode (one of the ladies says no way he's not gonna wobble off) vs. bed pan + bed bent into full sitting position.

And Darling Wife is in there orchestrating. Bless her soul - she is amazing.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Thanks very much Mistress. Do you know anything about Kernan or Shady Grove Rockville inpatient stroke rehabs?

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Tough day yesterday. Ed's got a "raging" (doc's term) UTI. Resorted to asking one-choice questions and getting him to wiggle his foot to answer (wiggle your foot if you want the TV on .....). It is absolutely clear that Ed's in there - and that everything going on around him is tracked and understood. He just can't put together enough resources to get much of anything back out for portions of the day - and yesterday the "can't" portion was damn near every minute of the day. Yet he was fighting to raise his left arm for a good solid hour after the neurologist's last check in of the day - managing to touch his hat and wiggle his feet in victory when he did.

All the docs agree that the UTI can and has contributed to a pretty dramatic backslide yesterday; no answers or even predictions on how much improvement will recur once the antibiotics do their thing. Next three days are critical. Again.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife