Bob Suffered a Stroke

Bob, my american Dad, suffered a stroke on thursday, January 19, 2012, late in the afternoon.

He was in my grandmother's apartment in Flamengo and was found by my mom shortly after he arrived home from my cousin Pedro's house.
The ambulance was immediately called and so was my cousin, Juliana who is a doctor.
They took him to a hospital in Botafogo called Pro-Cardiaco, where has been in intensive care.
The risk of hemorrhaging now keeps decreasing, if it is going to happen it will within 7 days of the stroke. After 48 hrs have passed, if hemorrhaging happens, it won't be because of the drugs that were administered, it will be his own body's way of reabsorbing or flushing out the clot.
Yesterday he had a brain scan and they found the clot but no hemorrhaging.

Bob is paralyzed on the right side. He can't talk, he can't swallow - although he has done it once, he doesn't have a gag reflex - although he has shown one once.
He can move his left arm and it is a good thing he is a lefty because he has been writing to communicate. Sometimes it is legible, sometimes it is gibberish, but he has put a sentence together: "HOW YOU LEFT HOME?" The "How" was just like his handwriting used to be, my mom said. He gets confused about where his right side has gone. It's not only that he is paralyzed on that side, it's as if that side has disappeared to him. Sometimes he will reach his left side over to feel it or my mom will raise his right arm to show him that it is in fact still there.

Bob has physical and speech therapy a few times a day. Usually my mom or Tia Rita are there to help with the translation. Yesterday Bob moved his right leg ever so slightly.

There is a chance of him getting pneumonia, but the doctor is not too concerned about it and said it can be treated easily with antibiotics.

Yesterday evening they inserted a feeding tube through his nose. He also has IV fluids going through his left hand. He does not need a breathing tube. He can breathe on his own.

Bob can recognize the people in the room and can wave his left arm to indicate a need. He also blinks to communicate.

Today he had a lot of mucus that required suction. He is more lethargic than he has been in the past and less responsive.  Bob has been in a completely horizontal position up to now as to allow the blood to go to the brain, but he might go into a chair later today.

Thank you to all that called and emailed, and especially those who could be physically present and hold my mom's hand when I can't.  A special thanks to Juliana without whom we would have much less access to Bob in his ICU room and no insider connections to provide Bob with the best care possible.

I'll write more as soon as I have news.