Larry's Update - 4/28/09

I took Larry to the Neurologist this AM. It was an encouraging visit. The doctor said that Larry should continue to improve with both his memory and vision loss. He expects that the nerves will rewire themselves bringing Larry's vision and memory back to or close to his before-stroke condition. He said that he will see the most improvement in the first 3 months. Then there will be some continued improvement between 3-6 months. Generally, after 6 months, a stroke victim will not see great improvement. So.... Larry has some work ahead of him but he is not afraid of that. I told the doctor that Larry is a therapist's dream.

Larry did notice on his way to the doctor, that his vision has improved on his right side. He can actually see a little more than the left half of his field-of-vision and the items on the right side are more recognizable. He can recognize colors and shapes but not the details. Things are still distorted, but will continue to improve in the coming months. The neurologist will not release him to drive yet, but will have an occupational therapist drive with Larry in a couple months to determine whether or not it is safe for him to drive. (Sooner if Larry sees remarkable improvement). This doctor mainly addressed the vision issues vs. the memory loss, but is confident that Larry's continued work at re-learning things will help his brain re-wire faster. We go back in 2 months at the latest.

Over the weekend, some of our longtime neighbors, Steve & Cherie, stopped by and talked with Larry & I for a bit. Then Steve said he was going to go get his twin boys, David & Paul, and pick up the branches in our yard. Larry had been working on trying to get our mower fixed the weekend before he had the stroke so we hadn't been able to mow the lawn. Then, another one of our dear neighbors, Gary, saw Steve and his boys working in the yard and asked what was going on. Steve told him about Larry's stroke and then Gary got his mower and mowed our lawn. What great neighbors!!!

Thank you to everyone who has offered a lending hand, word of encouragement, meal, prayer, etc. They are all greatly appreciated.

Larry's Update - 4/24/09

I took Larry out to dinner last night. It was the first time he's been out since the Monday after Easter. It was good for him. I took him to a place with not very much activity so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed. He really got a kick out of watching the cars disappear as they drove by before they were out of his vision site. It must be strange to have partial vision. Imagine scooping up a spoonful of something and bringing it up to your mouth and it all of a sudden appearing before your eyes. No handle, or hand for that matter. Just your spoon tip. Strange, huh?

Larry has been practicing excercises to help his brain think. He also checked with his doctor and switched his medicines so that he takes the one that makes him so drowsy at night instead of during the day. I think yesterday was the first day he didn't take a nap during the day.

I did not see as much clarity with Larry today. This past weekend was much better. He spends his days reading, researching the internet, tinkering on the piano and singing. Most of you don't know he has a beautiful tenor voice. Now that he is relaxed, it sounds really good.

Larry's Update - 4/23/09

Some of you have been asking some general questions and I thought I'd address them here in case others have the same questions and to update you.

First of all, Larry is NOT back at work. Larry is on a "Medical" Leave-of-Absence at 100% pay right now. The doctor will NOT discuss releasing him for another couple weeks after he's seen the vascular, neurology, medical & ophthalmology doctors once more. His doctor will NOT allow him to drive. He has NOT left the house since he left the hospital except to go to Easter Dinner and the doctor's office. His vision has NOT improved. His memory HAS improved immensely. He still struggles with words for certain things, but overall, he has improved greatly. You would probably not notice that he struggles. This is a blessing. Thank you, Lord.

He works constantly at taking in as much information as possible. Larry continues to work at studying his C++ book. For those of you who are not computer literate, C++ is a type of computer Language. This is what they are writing the new software in for Larry's work. Larry is a Software Engineer.

A friend from church gave us a wonderful book about the brain that Larry is absolutely devouring. Thanks, Cindy! He's trying to retrain his brain to see what it does not want to see. He feels very positive about this.

I am still working 4 days a week (M-Tu-Th-F), but try to leave early when Larry needs me home. I am the only driver in the household. (Nathan doesn't get his license back until possibly 5-20-09).

Larry's Update 4/20/09

Sorry I haven't updated you lately but the weekend was busy. Larry had an excellent weekend as far as his memory went. I saw a huge improvement. He still gets his dates wrong and is quick to forget new stuff, but is able to pull information out of "storage" more quickly now. This is huge! He seems more clear of mind but still does not do well with multiple things going on -- that's why he was not up to going to church this Sunday. I think that would overload him. John Harris called him Saturday PM and I listened in on the conversation and Larry did really well. The only thing I detected that was incorrect was that he is NOT having surgery on the arteries in his neck, John. They did a scan and are going to do a 3-D reconstruction of that arteries going to his kidneys to see if there are any issues, but have not heard the results of that yet. He still gets this kind of information mixed up.

THE CAT CAME HOME!!!!! Thanks for praying!

Again, thank you for your prayers and you are welcome to call Larry and talk to him. Mornings are best. Try to limit calls to 5 or 10 minutes if you don't mind.

Larry's Update - 4/17/09

Larry was a bit more tired today than he was yesterday. He said he didn't feel like doing a whole lot (I think he overdid it yesterday -- you should have seen him). He tends to do best in the morning hours and then starts to wind down in the afternoon. If you want to call him, mornings are best.

He started to watch a movie with Nathan & I but he got overwhelmed with it. I'm not surprised, it was quite an involved movie. Futuristic, loud, not the thing to recommend for Larry. He went back in our room and read.

I'm finding myself a little overwhelmed today -- feeling the burden of everything on me. I know that God will see me through this, but my human nature kicks in when I think of having to make sure Larry's medical & physical needs are taken care of along with everything else. I'm having a hard time balancing work & home because I'm torn between doing a good job at work and being home for Larry. I've been trying to leave work early -- especially when Larry is having a tough day. This helps. Pray for my endurance.

Thanks again for your prayers. I will continue to keep you updated.

Larry's Update - 4/16/09

Larry had a great day today. The Occupational Therapist came by and evaluated Larry and said there was no need for him to return to do therapy with Larry. He encouraged Larry to do as many things as possible and not to worry about overload. He advised Larry to not get frustrated but to stop and pause if he runs into an obstacle. He feels that Larry’s eyesight will improve to the point where he won’t even notice he has a problem. The eyes are amazing.
Larry spent a lot of time going around the house and doing things including identifying objects. He did a couple dishes, read a lot, spent some time on the phone with his son Jason, who lives in Italy. He e-mailed some people and talked to a couple people on the phone. He handled this quite well.
This evening he spent some time reading an online book about C++ .... oh, joy!!! Just how I would like to spend my evening. I teased Larry and told him I could picture him going to work and having no trouble programming, etc., but that he probably couldn't find his pencil. He laughed.
He has a lot of energy tonight -- I may have to tie him down once he gets going. I also didn't see as much repeating of sentences. Thank you for all your prayers -- they are helping.

Larry's Update - 4/15/09

Larry had a fairly busy day today. Probably his first day being somewhat normal. The speech therapist came out (this is the person who will work on his memory). That went well and they gave him homework to do trying to identify objects around the house. He went over the taxes and got them mailed. I feel good about that. He managed to turn on the computer for the first time since he’s been home. He was trying to read an online book about C++ to see how much he remembers. I told him he was trying to do too much. He’s persistent!!! He did a lot of reading which gave him no trouble except for the little 2-letter words like “it”. He got a little agitated with Nathan who doesn’t seem to notice that dad is not quite himself yet. I guess that’s a good sign. It’s really hard to notice that he had a stroke except that he repeats himself a lot and has a little trouble identifying things quickly. He seems to remember what day of the week it is now and the things he is relearning seem to be sticking and take less time to recall. I see a significant improvement compared to a couple days ago. His occupational therapist is supposed to come out on Thursday.

Specifically pray that he will be patient with himself. I don’t know many people who would take the initiative to do the things he’s doing to get better. He’s a therapist’s dream. Larry – you get an “A+”.

Larry - Tuesday PM, 4/14

Larry had a great day. He stayed home by himself all day which he said did him some good. He practiced writing words which he said helped him greatly. He has a stack of words sorted out by the letters of the alphabet and cut into little squares. I guess OCD runs in the family. Love ya, Larry!!!!

He finished the taxes and, although he had to take his time, he did a great job. Physical Therapist came out and said that there was NO NEED for Physical Therapy. An Occupational Therapist will come out tomorrow and then they will have a Speech Therapist help him with his word association.

I see improvement today and am very thankful for that. Praise God!

Larry's Stroke 4/8 through 4/14

Wed PM 4/8: He got home from work on Wednesday night got out of his car and his eyesight was blurred and partially impaired on the right side. He told me he thought his retina was detaching. I took him to the ER. They found his BP to be 200/110. They did some tests but counted it as high blood pressure and prescribed a HBP medicine. We got home at 3am with the generic drugs.

Thurs AM 4/9: Larry says he feels fine so he goes to work. He thought his vision was ok. I thought he should stay home. He goes to work -- then around 10am, his vision starts getting blurry, etc. He gets an appt with an Opthomologist at 1pm that day.

Thurs 1PM: He sees the Opthomologist and the Opth realizes that Larry might have had a stroke and tells him to get into his medical doctor right away. I make the appt and tell him I'll come get him and take him (I'm at work 45 min away). He says NO he'll drive. Insists. Can't remember how to get to the freeway, though. I told him NOT to drive. He does. The med doc examines him and agrees that he may have had a stroke and insists that he check into the hospital right away. Med doc refuses to let Larry drive (good man) so I come get him and take him.

Thurs 5PM: I get Larry checked into the hospital and he sees the neurologist who orders MRI of brain and arteries in neck plus an EKG.

Fri AM 4/10: Gets tests done

Fri afternoon: Get results -- there has been a moderate stroke. Right Quadrant still not able to see and short term memory loss. Larry can't remember names, or what he's told you or done. Repeats himself a lot. Doctor asks him all kinds of questions. Some of them are quite entertaining: Doctor: How long have you been taking ADD meds?

Larry: Oh, about 6 mos.

Me: No doctor, he's been taking them for 2 years

Doctor: Who prescribed the ADD meds?

Larry: My Eye doctor

Me: No

Larry: I mean my primary care physician

Doctor: I'm your primary care physician (We were laughing at this point)

Doctor: How old is your mom?

Larry: 62

Me: No

Doctor: Larry, you're 56, are you sure she's 62?

He finally had to calculate it because he knew what year she was born (1925) and then he could figure it out.

Sat 4/11: More tests. Results show no blockage in arteries in neck but they are checking the ones leading to the kidneys. They will do a 3-D Reconstruction of that area on Monday and determine what options are (stint, etc.) This will be done by the Vascular doctor. BP still high but it being Easter tomorrow, they let him go home. We get home around 8PM.

Sun 4/12 EASTER: We stay home in the AM -- Larry tired and I'm concerned that it will be too much for him to go to church -- he doesn't recognize people's names and gets them confused. We have a lovely Easter meal at the O'Days -- thank you. Some normalcy was nice.

Mon 4/13: Take Larry to the medical doctor. No change in vision -- still can't see anything to the right. Memory a little better but not much. He can read, but doesn't know his alphabet. Can calculate numbers but does not know the numbers. It's really strange. Doctor says no driving or work for at least 3 weeks. Requests follow up with Neurologist and Opthamologist. We will see Vascular doctor in a month.

Tues 4/14: Larry feels great today. Rested. A little bored but struggles with simple tasks like where to find a bowl and what a microwave does. He looks at an object and has to think a long time before he can figure out what it is. I caught him looking for the milk in the pantry. Simple things we take for granted. Physical Therapist is supposed to come out starting today. Thankfully, they will come to the house as I am the only designated driver in the house and I work outside the home.

Prayer Requests: That Larry's memory & vision will return to normal. For patience for him -- he's being a wonderful patient. For endurance for me to deal with all of this. Nathan lost his license so I have to drive him everywhere also. FUN!