Yesterday was an emotionally and physically exhausting day at the hospital: trying to restrain, cajole, feed, toilet ‘Teri’ who was a constant moving target, and, to find any vestige of her true self. After leaving, I went to pick up Ben at the airport. He was on his way to Camp Discovery in Minnesota to serve as a camp counselor for children with skin diseases. After I called him about Teri’s dramatic dementia, he decided to come home.
At 1 a.m. I received a call from the hospital. I dreaded answering because they only call if there has been a marked change in status. “Mr. Li, I know it’s late but I thought you would want to know. Teri is talking to us, she is lucid about you and your family although she cannot recall anything from the last two days.” JOY. RELIEF.
She just received two doses of IV thiamin (B1) at my suggestion and is already improving in 8 hours. I made the diagnosis of Wernicke’s encephalopathy, a long lost diagnosis pulled out of the faded recesses of my medical school memories 38 years ago. I’m happy. I feel good.
Today – Sunday – 48 hours after this started, Ben and I went to the hospital to see her. Teri’s door was ajar, she was radiant, she was smiling, she recognized me, she was coherent, her speech was clear and organized, she hugged Ben for the longest time and wouldn’t let go. She was still tethered to the EEG monitor.
She asked me to recount minute by minute what had transpired during her amnesia. She didn’t remember any part of Thursday night or all day Friday including the spinal tap. During that fateful Friday morning, she was disheartened to learn that she had left her neph tube valves open and they had leaked out. She asked if I had gotten the bloody urine stains out of the carpet. She was surprised to learn that she had six extra Depends on the outside of her pajamas. I suspect that the one down near her ankles triggered her fall. On Saturday, she recalled brief moments of resisting the nurses until she stated that she had decided to give up struggling and just resting (accurate). She was stunned to learn that she had bit one of the nurses who helped restrain her. I told her that that nurse had to get a rabies shot. She looked at me wide eyed for a second and then, began to laugh.
We dodged another bullet. Teri required one-to-one 24 hour nursing care. She was totally unmanageable. She had to be fed. She was at great risk of falling or hurting herself. She was about to be given major tranquilizers for control.
Teri has returned from nether, nether land.
Rhonda a friend from Columbus arrived in the afternoon.
We have missed participating in many, many things this past year due to Teri’s illness, none more important than this one. On Friday, the day of confusion and admission, we missed even attending in spirit the wedding of my best friend Steve’s daughter up in beautiful Crested Butte, CO at 10,000 feet. Ben represented us there and rendered real the family camaraderie, the ceremony, the cuisine, and the bucolic Alps-like setting. Congratulations to Becca and Josh!
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