Margaret's Stroke

Margaret suffered a pretty bad stroke on Tuesday, November 22nd while on vacation in Madrid, Spain. She was taken to a very good teaching hospital in Madrid.  The stroke was a blockage of the vessels as opposed to the rupture of a blood vessel type.  The stroke occurred in the right hemisphere which is the better side as her speech was not affected.  She was awake and could talk though she weakness to paralysis on her left side.  She received immediate medical treatment but the drugs used to treat this type of stroke were not effective.  The brain tends to swell after a stroke for several days.  On Thursday the doctors determined that the swelling in her brain was starting to affect the left hemisphere and brain stem.  There is no extra room in the skull for the brain to expand so surgery was performed to remove part of her skull to allow the brain room to expand.  The skull is being well kept by her in her abdomen for replacement after her brain in no longer swollen.  The surgery has been successful in it has reduced the pressure on the left hemisphere and brain stem to normal levels.