Twenty Two Months...

Day 5: The Realities...

July 20, 2014 Afternoon: Well, we moved down the hall to a different ICU room. Our new nurse is like a drill sergeant grandma…sweet but serious. Warning: This is about to get real. If you are offended by foul language, you might skip this post. If you don't like the ugly truth, you might skip this post. So, here's the deal. I've been thinking a lot today about reality. Living in the moment. Not worrying about tomorrow and next week and next month. But that's hard for me. I'm a planner and I have to plan ahead some because I'm here and the girls are being shuffled around and everyone is being so incredibly kind and offering help. It all overwhelms me and I get to a place of feeling like "Screw this, I can't do it. This is shitty. There's just no other way to say it." And then I get a text or a call or a hug that brings me back to a different reality; one in which hundreds of people are rooting us on in th...

Matt's Stroke - Days 1-2...

July 16, 2014 - Day 1 2:00 am: Matt woke up with numbness on his right side. He was able to speak, move his arms and legs, walk, raise his hands, etc. We assumed it was a pinched nerve or that he had slept wrong and went back to bed. Neither of us slept well, but we did both fall back asleep for a bit. 7:00 am: I was getting ready to leave when he called me over to our bed. He complained that his head was hurting badly, that he had double vision and the room was spinning, and that his entire right side of his body was numb and tingly. We knew it was more by that point. We made it to the ER after a rather indirect route taken by a distracted and fearful wife and mother. A CT, MRI, and MRA confirmed a hemorrhage in the pons, which is a portion of the brainstem, along with a possible cavernous area. As a speech pathologist, I felt so stupid for not bringing him in that morning, but after learning it was a hemorrhage I knew there was noth...

Day 4: Part 2...

July 19, 2014 Afternoon: Matt has had a really busy afternoon of activities and visitors. His auditory issues have worsened today. In addition, his double vision is a little worse. However, we have lots of things to be thankful for that I'll explain through pictures. His right arm has been working in overdrive all day. He was able to reach over and pull up his blood pressure cuff. Lots of effort? Yes. Worth it? Yes. He was insistent on preparing his own breakfast this morning. Holding the spoon and stirring were challenging, but he did it. As he's been saying "It wasn't pretty, but I did it." Stood up for the first time today. He described the feeling as wobbly and it really exhausted him just to stand. However, standing wasn't good enough... …he decided to walk. And again, as he said, "It wasn't pretty, but I did it." He was able to go about 52 feet, which is really great for his first ti...

House of Hoelscher

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