Where do we begin......

For those of you who do not already know Shawn Wiggins has suffered a major stroke last thursday night (10/14/10). I decided to set up a blog site so that everyone could follow his journey to recovery. I want to take a minute to thank everyone's prayers and thoughts I do not know how we could have made it this far without you!



Shawn called me last thursday and said he had stopped at the Metter, GA hospital on his way home from Savannah for work. He was complaining of chest and stomach pains. He walked into the hospital and they immediatley treated and diagnosed him with pancreatitis. When I arrived at the Metter hospital he was talking to me about what had happened and he was very sleepy because they had just given him some pain meds for his pancreatitis. I noticed through the night that his speech was getting slurred and he could not really hold himself up, the nurses continued to tell me that it was the medicine and that it would wear off. Six o'clock the next morning shawn woke me up still speech slurred to where I could barely understand what he was saying when I had finally figured out he was telling me that he could not feel his right leg and arm. I immediatley called the nurses and they ordered a CT scan. After pacing the nurses station and calling some close friends in a panic they had decided that Shawn has had or is having a stroke. They then decided that at this point he would need to be life flighted to Savannah where he could be in a bigger and better hospital that could handle stroke patients. Well I thought in the next thirty minutes we would be out of that Metter hospital and on our way to Savannah boy was I wrong. The next three hours, yes that is right three hours, I spent cussing out nurses and doing everything I could to get Shawn out of Metter and to a hospital. Trust me Metter hospital will be hearing from me again when all of this is over. So moving along after three hours had passed they finally took shawn by life flight to Macon Colliseum hospital, there he was checked into ICU at about 1:30 and had numerous tests done. As we all anxiously the test results they decided at 6:00 that evening to come and tell us that we would once be moving again to Augusta MCG hospital because the Colliseum hospital did not have a neurologist on staff on the weekends. So my first thought was not again I do not want to move, second thought why would they move us to a hospital they knew could not handle a stroke patient on the weekend, third was we still did not know anymore answers than we knew when we left Metter. So at 2:00a.m. Shawn was finally sent by ambulance to Augusta MCG hospital. We were behind him in the car which felt like the longest two hour drive ever. We arrived there about 4:00 in the morning on Saturday, when we arrived the neurologist met us at the door. She did not have good news at the point telling us that Shawn has suffered a "major" stroke, we were told that his brain was going to swell and that he was going to have to have surgery where they would have taken a piece of his skull to allow for the swelling, we were also told that he would probably not walk again. At this point myself, his sister, and his mom and stepdad were all in shock and an emotional wreck. At this point we all felt knumb and did not know where to go from here. I tried to stay positive and think only the best and that shawn would be strong and he would not have to have the surgery because there still at this point was a small chance that he would not have it. When you have a stroke there is a 48-72 hour period after the stroke that is very critical meaning this is when the brain swells the most. Saturday and Sunday were his critical periods where he was on neurological watch at all times, if any of his signs changed they were on standby to do the surgery. Well long story short a mirical has happened. Shawn is now past his fifth day of his stroke and has proved us all wrong. He has been a miricale and unexplainable case to the doctors here at MCG. THe doctor that met us at the door on Saturday morning came to us on Monday and hugged shawns kneck and could not believe he is where he is today. The part of Shawn's brain that got damaged from the stroke is the left side. Luckily this side does not hold the memory, he has done good at remembering everyone who has walked in to visit him. He is going to have to have therapy and rehab on his speach and his right arm and leg but we are expecting a full recovery!! The only other turning point in this whole story is the original reason he went into the hospital is his pancriantitis. They are still today watching him in ICU for his pancriatitis and his liver, hopefully we will have this diagnosed and treated soon.



Through this whole time shawn has still been himself. He has come around more and more each day, today was the first day he has been really alert and has talked and asked so many questions. I knew today he was back to himself when he wanted me to call his boss and get her to do some things for his work!! Some other funny things shawn has done, Saturday we had on the Georgia game for him and I obviously was standing in his way because he pushed me out of the way and pointed at the television so he could see the game. By Sunday he was starving and thirsting to death, all he talked about was eating and drinking. His sister and I explained to him he could not have anything to eat or drink because of his pancreatitis and they would be doing multiple tests on him the next day. After hours of asking us the same question of when he was going to get food and water we told him it would not happen and his response was typical shawn "that is bull shit"!!!! Tuesday still not being able to drink or eat he is still a little agitated so when they went to brush his teeth that morning they gave him a cup with mouthwash, well shawn being as thirst as he was chugged the mouthwash and then made a face after her realized that it was not water!! I have been sleeping in his room with him every night and have had the pleasure of waking up to him snapping his fingers at me throughout the night when he needs something, one of his friends suggested they get him a bell and I kindly declined that request!!! Last night I was hoping we would all get some sleep, but little did I know shawn had other plans. All night shawn kept waking me up telling me he was going to get out of bed and that he needed to get out of here, I told him he needed to lay back down and rest and it would be soon. I also looked over at one point in the night and he was taking out one of his tubes, I am so glad it was not an important one and he would not need it today!!

We are still waiting on several results to find out exactly what caused the stroke, hopefully we will have answers soon!! We got some good news today, we are moving out of ICU and into a room today on the third floor!! It is supposed to be the nicest floor in the hospital!! Shawn has been pretty tired today, but he is still in good spirits! Please keep posted to the blog and I will let you know the room number once we get moved today, you know how hospitals are it will probably be supper time before we get into another room!!

Joanne