About 3 years ago my dad, Glenn, suffered a mini stroke. Luckily his condition didn't affect his daily living at that time and he was able to continue going to work, driving, talking and being who he is making a difference as an Engineer. Recently on Monday, April 3rd, 2017, my dad, 52 years young, went to the ER because he felt some numbness, tingling and weakness on his body. The medical doctor then sent my dad home with prescribed medications. The following day on April 4th, he went back to the ER due to slurred speech. They did labs , CT, and MRI and said everything was clear and just sent him home and prescribed more medications.  Then on Wednesday, April 5th, my dad went back to the ER because he was not able to walk anymore, and his slurred speech had become worse. During the time he was in the ER they failed to monitor and keep him under observation for at least 24 hours and said he was outside the treatment for the stroke window to prevent progressive symptoms. And that same afternoon, he was finally admitted to ICU with a diagnosis of Pontine Stroke which also caused locked in syndrome. 

Locked-In Syndrome (LIS) is a condition in which a patient is aware but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for vertical eye movements and blinking.


Status: So far, Glenn is alert and is able to communicate by facial expression, blinking but is weak and quadriplegic from the neck down. He is currently still hospitalized at Kaiser North on Normandie and PCH and has a trach and vent to help him breathe because his lung muscles are weak. He cannot move his fingers, arms, and legs or any extremities at the time being. But he will need extensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy to regain his strength. Our plans are to send him to a rehabilitation facility once he is stablized at the hospital but most importantly our goal is to take him home so he can continue living the normal life he had prior to his stroke.

MY family and I are grateful for giving us the time to hear our story.  He is a loving husband of Elisa, father of three kids and now a grandfather of two beautiful energetic twins, Adam and Gwen, who just turned One on April 11th. We appreciate all your help to my dad's recovery and my mom especially during this struggle. We will keep you updated.