Karen was now off all sedation. Her pain was in check and everyday when she was awake, we struggled on with our attempts at communicating with her.

Today, she was due to have a CT scan of the brain to see why she has a left-sided weakness. The results were as follows ….

“1.50pm – CT of head this morning shows right MCA infarction (death of tissues due to blood supply interruption). Discussed with husband and family members. Explained to them that CT of head had shown infarction and will be reviewed by Stroke Consultant. Husband wanted to know about the prognosis from stroke. Explained that Stroke Consultant would answer.”

So, why wasn’t this seen on the initial CT scan……..Here are the consultant’s views on this………….

“She has certainly had a right MCA territory infarction. Signs noted on admission sugggest this was present from the start although initial CT reported normal. Now (off all sedation), moves eyes and lips in response to speech, noted left facial weakness and flaccid left arm/leg. mechanism of stroke unclear but I think right carotid dissection (traumatic) is quite likely. Could attempt carotid doppler in a week or so but it won’t affect immediate management.”

At about 10pm on the night, problems started to develop with Karen’s arterial line in her left arm. Karen is a bugger to get needles into and they spent a good while (2 hours+) trying to get another one in. In the end, they ended up inserting it in her left foot, securing it with sutures.