Here I was, engrossed in my work (well mostly), and planning the months ahead with crystallization and other things related to a drug that I want to develop in the current lab. And suddenly, I hear that my father had a stroke. His earlier cardiac problems in some sense gave some reason to be afraid for his life. So, abandoning all plans, I came rushing back only to realize that almost all was well. As in any stroke, it is not the near future that is affected. It forces you to think about the far future, and what faculties of the brain have been lost and things like that. I guess everyone copes in their own way with what happens after a stroke. We had our fears and doubts about what may or may not have been lost. I dont have scans of the actual MRI, but it looks very much like this one taken from some sciguru web-site on singing after stroke (http://www.sciguru.com/newsitem/10176/Singing-after-stroke-Why-rhythm-and-formulaic-phrases-may-be-more-important-melody). My father's MRI actually resembles the one on the right:
So, what happened before the stroke ? Well, from what my mother told me, he was reaching for his laptop bag, when he froze, unable to work the zipper. He was rushed to the hospital, where a CT scan and MRI confirmed a non-hemorrhagic stroke. Then they also found cardiac problems, which made us panic that he might have another cardiac arrest. Eventually, after being on blood thinners for a few days, he was released and brought home, at which time I landed home too.
First thing I noticed when I saw him and he saw me was no sense of recognition. At that point he had been home only for a while. After every few minutes, he would start laughing to himself. We were a bit concerned that he may have lost his mind. But eventually, the laughter subsided. The MRI and CT scan reports suggested a general and complete aphasia, which means a lack of language skills, both comprehension and spoken skills. He could re-trace words we wrote and showed him, but he could not form intelligible words on his own. Peculiarly, he is able to write letters, which seems a bit fascinating to me. So, anyway, we went to the Neurologist with a few of our observations. He looked at the MRI and said pretty much what was in the report, that there is aphasia, and recovery would take a very long time, if at all there is any recovery. Fortunately for us, all other bodily functions seem normal, and there is no paralysis.
After a few days, he started saying a few things, which were not understandable. Then one day I decided to make him say 'ball' seeing a small football that my one and a half years old niece plays with. Initially he just laughed, but later he tried to say it. From his gestures, I could gather (or I imagined I gathered), that he understands his predicament. He wants to speak, but the words would not come to him. I tried to make him look at my lip movements and made him feel the vibrations on my throat with his hand. He then tried, and luckily after a few attempts, was able to say 'ball', but not very efficiently. That is perhaps encouraging that he might re-learn if the proper rehabilitation is given.
His mechanical abilities seem quite fine to me. He is able to manipulate small objects and take them apart and put them back together like he has always done. One of my mother's mp3 players was broken and she kept pestering me to take a look at it. I did not as I dont know what to look for. She found it disassembled later, and I was not responsible for it. The question is, did he understand my mother telling me to take a look at it ? I am not so sure. Maybe, the gestures etc were enough to convey to him that something needed to be done with the mp3 player. So, he does seem to retain some level of understanding.
And since the temporal lobe and parietal lobe were also damaged, there were initial fears that perhaps his memories are also affected. These fears were exacerbated by his non-reaction to seeing me after 2 years. But, he did have an excessive positive reaction seeing one of my friends who used to visit him often. So, it was all a mixed bag of feelings. Maybe he was not too pleased seeing me back in India. No idea. Anyway, we took him to his apartment, and he seemed to recognize everyone there and he recalled where his important stuff was, such as bank documents etc. So, memories do not seem to be affected.
One peculiarity that I noticed was a lack of religious feelings. He is not a very devout person, but he is fairly regular in prayers. But, after the stroke, the 10 days I was with him, he did not show any overt religious feelings. It could be that he is not able to articulate his thoughts/prayers in language so he has not bothered. Or else, maybe religious thinking is lost due to some damage to his cuadate nucleus. This aspect is something I would like to examine in greater detail. In any case, at present the situation at least superficially seems normal. He seem to be able to do anything and everything on his own. He is also trying to say a lot of things, but the 'words' coming out dont make any sense. But I guess, there would be a point where natural language acquisition would kick in and he would learn. All in all, an interesting experience for me. I wonder how I would react to such a situation....
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