Saturday, July 18, 1992
O. J. woke up about 5:15 and went to the bathroom. He came back to the bed to get me up. He complained of a bad toothache on the left side of his mouth and wanted me to get some pain killer and a cup of coffee. He lay back down and I went to the kitchen for coffee and aspirin.
I put water and coffee in the coffee maker and turned it on. Then I transferred the wet clothes washed at bedtime to the dryer and turned on the dryer. The coffee grounds and water began overflowing and running all over the counter. At the same time smoke began billowing from behind the dryer. After I stopped the dryer and fanned the smoke out I cleaned up the coffee the coffee mess and made a new pot of coffee. I was too frustrated by the mess to be spooked by all that was going on.
About 25 minutes after I left to make coffee I returned to O. J. with the hot coffee and placed it on a table by his bed about 14 inches from his face.
“Where’s my coffee? What took you so long? His speech was slurred as it often was when he first waked. I thought he was teasing .
“If it was a snake..." I teased.
“Damn it, where is the coffee?" he said growing angry.
He can’t see it.
“Here, O. J., let me help you sit up.” I helped him to an upright position with both feet on the floor and handed him the cup.
He made a grasping movement about 12 inches from the cup. I placed the cup in his right hand and guided his left to a steadying position.While he was drinking it I called Missy, our daughter, who lived next door. She dressed and hurried over.
By the time Missy arrived I had helped O. J. get his pants on and had tested his sight by holding up fingers in front of his eyes one at a time. We finished dressing him to go to the hospital and called Martha, the daughter with an RN, to meet us there.
With our help he walked to the pickup still complaining of a toothache and talked drowsily as we went to the hospital. He wanted to walk in but Martha and an orderly persuaded him to ride in the wheelchair while I parked the car.
O. j. was immediately checked by the triage nurse then sent into an examination room. A resident took more information from me and Martha with O. J. giving weak responses when asked direct questions. We related facts about a major stroke in June, 1977, and the increasing frequency of TIAS within the past 28 months. We listed occurrences and the time lapses before the recovery with small residual effects.
After a CAT scan it was documented that there had been a “significant stroke” possibly the beginning of a larger episode. O. J. was sent to the 7th floor to the stroke unit for care and observation.
