Monica Sloan

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My mom, Monica Sloan, had a stroke on Sunday afternoon, May 21, at about 3:00 pm.  Her husband, Sterling, found her and she was rushed by ambulance to St. Luke's Hospital on the Plaza.  They immediately did a CT scan and determined there was a brain bleed.  To stop the bleeding, they administered blood platelets.  We waited 6 hours to do another CT scan, which showed the bleeding had stopped.  During this whole time my mom never lost consciousness, and was completely aware of everything going on around her.  However, she does have paralysis on the right side of her body and her speech is challenged because she can not always articulate what she is trying to say.  She knows what she wants to say. but the words don't come out right yet.  There has been a lot of eye rolling on her part.  We are getting very adept at reading facial expressions.

The doctors have determined the bleed was caused by her high blood pressure, which she does take medicine for.  The medical term for what happened is an intracranial hemorrhagic stroke.  (And by the way, the ER doctor told us it was not a stroke, but a brain bleed, which is why we told so many people in the beginning it wasn't a stroke!)  Stroke lesson #1:  most strokes are caused by a blood clot, not a bleed.  They can only guess at what caused the bleed, but most likely a spike in her blood pressure (for what ever reason that may have been).  The doctors know the bleed was caused by the high blood pressure because of where the bleeding was in the brain.  They did an MRI to be sure (she was NOT a fan of that procedure) and determined there were no other issues going on.  Stroke lesson #2:  the healing begins.  The brain will do its best to absorb the blood and heal itself.  There is good reason to believe she will make a full recovery.

Mom started speech and physical therapy on Monday, and it continues everyday.   She has done great with every session.  She is able to move her right leg and hip, but her hand is being a little stubborn.  The physical therapist says there is movement in the hand and arm, she just has to keep working on it.  Right now she is in ICU, but will move to a regular room as soon as one is available.  Shortly after that she should be discharged and will then go to a rehab facility, maybe by this weekend.  She will most likely be at the facility for 1-2 months.  All depends on her progress.

Monica is one tough bird.  She has the advantage of being a nurse and knowing and understanding everything.  This, of course, is also a disadvantage because she knows too much about whats going on.  Anyone who knows her, knows her will and determination and we are all very optimistic she will overcome all her current obstacles.  She has been so brave and tough thru her ordeal, and also so very frustrated not being able to verbalize everything she would like to (maybe sometimes that is a good thing, I'm sure she has an opinion about all that is going on, and it all can't be good :)  ). 

My sister, Jennie, and I, along with Sterling and our families are very grateful for the support,  well wishes, and prayers.  We are looking forward to getting her out of the hospital and on the road to recovery.  She would love to have visitors in the future, but not quite yet.  If you would like to send her a card, her address is :

Monica Sloan
9105 Washington Blvd.
Kansas City, MO 64114

I will post the information about the rehab facility as soon as she is there.  Thanks again for your happy thoughts.  We're going to need them!  -Amy

PS-Please do not donate money, this site is for information only and I can't remove that part of the page!