Thursday; CBS, Chicken or Egg? Diane and Mary visit. Debi call. TV. Pacemaker Upgrade.
Created: 2023-03-09
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2023-03-09 (Thursday) - CBS, Chicken or Egg? Diane and Mary visit. Debi call. TV. Pacemaker upgrade pending.
CBS (Charles Bonnet Syndrome, aka Magic Mushrooms)
- Melissa was talking about hallucinations she has been having for a while (and I told the doctors/nurses), they just nodded, but didn't say anything. She knew they were hallucinations, and I figured it was the brain just filling in for a field of vision reduction, and they would likely go away as her vision came back, or brain got bored.
- Turns out, that's exactly what it is, and it's called Charles Bonnet Syndrome (pronounced Bone-nay"), and is common with people that lose field of vision.
- I'm irked that the staff didn't just say that. (I think it was my fault, as sometimes I state what I was thinking it was, and I was close enough that they thought I knew?) And some of the staff seemed surprised by the name (they didn't know it), or that I knew what it was called. But I think they all knew that halucinations after a stroke (especially that impacted vision) was commmon.
- From what I can tell, many people get the optical processing back, and the halucinations go away (it can take a few/many weeks). For a few, it stays, but it doesn't bother them (as they can distinguish it from RL). So it's just having the Magic Mushroom channel to watch, whenever you're bored.
- Melissa was talking about hallucinations she has been having for a while (and I told the doctors/nurses), they just nodded, but didn't say anything. She knew they were hallucinations, and I figured it was the brain just filling in for a field of vision reduction, and they would likely go away as her vision came back, or brain got bored.
- Turns out, that's exactly what it is, and it's called Charles Bonnet Syndrome (pronounced Bone-nay"), and is common with people that lose field of vision.
- I'm irked that the staff didn't just say that. (I think it was my fault, as sometimes I state what I was thinking it was, and I was close enough that they thought I knew?) And some of the staff seemed surprised by the name (they didn't know it), or that I knew what it was called. But I think they all knew that halucinations after a stroke (especially that impacted vision) was commmon.
- From what I can tell, many people get the optical processing back, and the halucinations go away (it can take a few/many weeks). For a few, it stays, but it doesn't bother them (as they can distinguish it from RL). So it's just having the Magic Mushroom channel to watch, whenever you're bored.
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- Diane and Mary Diane and Mary visited (workout buddies from Mandy's fitness class). Melissa was talking up a storm, and in full form. Diane got to see how much improvement there was over just one week. They also got to see my charming wit, and Melissa knocking the pins down as fast as I set them up.
- Debi call I put in a call to Debi (Melissa's friend since 1st grade) so she and Melissa could chat. (Make up for missed call the day before). Melissa had a problem with Facetime, she can't see something as small as a face on a phone. But she can talk to the voice just fine, and they chatted about all sorts of stuff. Both sides enjoyed their time together.
- Pacemaker Upgrade The hospital called, and they're going to want me to sign off on them upgrading her to a 3 lead pacemaker on March 14th (now with kung fu grip and lower-chamber de-fib). Her current pacemaker is only 2-lead and does upper chamber de-Fibrillation, but her Ventricalar-Tachachardia wsa a lower chamber event, making it less than useful for what happened. So we're upgrading from Melissa 4.0 to 4.1 (2 prior heart surgeries count as previous upgrades, as well as her pacemaker+ablations count as another). Hoping to get that software debugged soon. She and I were discussing this today, and Melissa wanted it done sooner rather than later, as she figures one Rehab is better than two -- even if this interferes with her rehab a little. So the timing of them calling later in the day, was perfect.
- TV In the past, Melissa couldn't focus on the TV. Basically, some of the stroke effects or something. It was rolling, she couldn't find it, too much visual noise. But she asked about it, used my voice to focus on it, and was happily watching HGTV when we left. This is a major upgrade in quality of life. As someone with zero training in the area of Neuropsychology, I think the TV is a great distraction to keep her optical processing busy, which should reduce halucinations as well as help with the rewiring she needs to do.
Chicken or Egg?
What came first, the chicken or egg (stroke or heart attack)? I don't know why I woke up pondering this, could the stroke have caused it? As it matched some symptoms at the start of the event. I talked to the cardiologist, and they doubt it. But the view is based on second-hand reports.
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- Call I got a surprising call from the room, and it was Melissa. "Why didn't you leave me my cell phone and charger? I had to ask the nurse to get her to call you. We talked a little. The halucinations are bugging her, and she had a little time distortion. But was great, and said she was going to try to get some sleep. And I promised to bring her phone and charger tomorrow. I think having it gives her security.
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