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.