It all began on Thursday around 5 p.m. Butch was napping when I woke him up since we were leaving at 5:15. A couple weeks before, he had agreed to drive some of my friends and me-- downtown for "Boozy Bingo" at the Nashville City Club where Justin is the Event Manager. You might recall that we did this last month and had so much fun! This time, I wanted to be able to have a couple of cocktails.
Anyway, Butch acted a little confused--sort of like you can be when waking from a deep sleep. I didn't really think much of it at first when he said he had no recollection of the plans.
When we got in the car, he said he didn't know how to get to our friend's house--friends of ours for 35+ years. He's been there dozens of times. That alarmed me. On the way to Karolyn's, he asked me three more times what the plans were. Now I was really worried--something wasn't right.
I got Stephanie on the phone and told her what was happening. She agreed that I needed to take Butch to the emergency room or at the very least, a walk-in clinic. He said he wasn't going. He could not answer some simple questions--like who the president is or the month, or how long we've been married along with many more (many of these asked by the doctors).
We got to Karolyn's where she and Pam jumped in the car. I told them immediately to get out. They didn't know what was happening. I got out and quickly filled them in. Butch got out of the car and kept insisting that he wasn't going.
I kind of yelled at him to get in the car. I got behind the wheel and started for the hospital. He continued to complain, "Just take me home! I am NOT going to the hospital! I won't get out of the car!" I just ignored him--something was obviously very wrong.
Once we arrived, I got a male nurse to come out and get him. By then, he acquiesced. Stephanie and Nicky arrived soon after.
To make a very long story short, and after every possible test: chest x-ray, EKG, EEG, blood tests and an MRI--everything was perfectly normal. Except for one very alarming thing--his blood pressure was 209/124--dangerously high--stroke level high--which is what I thought was happening. But according to all of the tests, that was not it. Surprisingly, the blood pressure had nothing to do with it and was a separate issue.
Anyway, they kept him all night. The next day, after visits by 2 dozen (we counted) assorted doctors, nurses, techs, a priest (who gave us Communion) and other workers, he was ready to go home. The neurologist said that he had what is called TGA: Transient Global Amnesia or retrograde amnesia. It's a rare occurrence and considered a "one-off"--meaning it won't happen again. It's a period of time from 2-6 hours where you lose your memory. And when it's over, and your memory returns, you have no memory of anything that happened during those hours.
As best as we can figure, Butch lost 4 hours--possibly 6. He came home from golf, we had a brief conversation where he told me that he played 9 holes and it was very, very hot! He then showered and went upstairs to watch golf--which is when he naps.
When we were trying to piece together the sequence of events, Butch said he had no recollection of golf other than tipping the guy who put his clubs in the car.
Saturday afternoon, he showed me his golf score card. He did not enter any scores for the last two holes. So either he didn't play them, or didn't record them. He has no idea.
And then he said that he had laid out 3 sets of clothes including shoes to wear. Instead, he wore something completely different and his flip-flops. I remember thinking that was a little odd because he doesn't usually wear flip-flops. Plus later, I didn't know why he had all these clothes and shoes around--like he was packing for a trip. I didn't put 2 and 2 together until he realized what had happened.
Now we're not exactly sure of the timeline. It could have been 6 hours that he lost. We'll never know. It will forever remain a mystery!
Lastly, about the blood pressure--he was sent home with instructions to take it every day and create a log, see his doctor within two weeks and a prescription for some bp medicine.
I made the comment that even though it was a hassle to be in the hospital overnight, he's had every big test there is. It's reassuring to know that he's as healthy as we think he is!
Alls well that ends well!
What a worry! That is very strange. Good that he has had all the tests to rule everything else out. I am sure you will be keeping a very close eye on him!
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