Larry saw little improvement with his right arm/leg this weekend. He says it's like they weigh a ton. He tires easily. He got a couple phone calls today which he appreciated. It's good for him to hear from people.
We see his primary care physician tomorrow so we will know more what to expect after that. I'm not sure if we will be seeing the neurologist this week or not. We'll know more tomorrow. He will see the Physical Therapist on Friday to start therapy. I haven't heard from the Occupational or Speech Therapist yet.
By the way, Larry said my drawing below was pretty accurate -- just more clear than he sees, but he said I got the picture (pardon the pun).
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Larry's Update - 5/8/09
Larry still did not feel good this am. He's having a sluggish feeling in his right arm and leg. Not a loss of strength, more of a delayed reaction to movement.
We saw the Ophthalmologist this AM. He said that Larry's eyes were still perfectly normal. His vision has not worsened, which is good. Larry described to the doctor and to me what he sees. This is my best description of what he sees. Note, he sees this way out of both of his eyes. He sees multiple ghost images plus a disto
rtion that tends to get larger the farther right the object is. The distortion is much greater than this as he can barely identify the letters or objects to the right, but I'm not that great of an artist. Everything to the left of his focal point is perfect. He has a tendency to walk into objects on his right if he is not careful.
After seeing the eye doctor, we stopped by the neurologists office and the nurse took a look at him. She was not concerned with his symptoms and said that is very normal for stroke victims. I think this helped Larry to know that.
Then we saw his medical doctor in the afternoon and that doctor said that he was not concerned with Larry's symptoms. He tested Larry's right side and found nothing alarming. He wants to see Larry Tuesday or Wednesday as a followup to his BP. He said, even if they found something else, his treatment would be the same. Larry asked him if his sleep apnea could be adding to his BP, etc. Doctor said yes and ordered a sleep study test. He also recommended continuation of Occupational, Physical & Speech theraphies.
Pray for Larry as he adjusts to the meds and deals with all the appts.
We saw the Ophthalmologist this AM. He said that Larry's eyes were still perfectly normal. His vision has not worsened, which is good. Larry described to the doctor and to me what he sees. This is my best description of what he sees. Note, he sees this way out of both of his eyes. He sees multiple ghost images plus a disto
rtion that tends to get larger the farther right the object is. The distortion is much greater than this as he can barely identify the letters or objects to the right, but I'm not that great of an artist. Everything to the left of his focal point is perfect. He has a tendency to walk into objects on his right if he is not careful.After seeing the eye doctor, we stopped by the neurologists office and the nurse took a look at him. She was not concerned with his symptoms and said that is very normal for stroke victims. I think this helped Larry to know that.
Then we saw his medical doctor in the afternoon and that doctor said that he was not concerned with Larry's symptoms. He tested Larry's right side and found nothing alarming. He wants to see Larry Tuesday or Wednesday as a followup to his BP. He said, even if they found something else, his treatment would be the same. Larry asked him if his sleep apnea could be adding to his BP, etc. Doctor said yes and ordered a sleep study test. He also recommended continuation of Occupational, Physical & Speech theraphies.
Pray for Larry as he adjusts to the meds and deals with all the appts.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Larry's update 5/7/09 PM
Larry stayed all day and I spoke to the medical doctor this afternoon and was advised that they are trying to get his BP under control and they seem to finally have a handle on it. If a change in meds doesn't work, then they will send him to a kidney specialist as they have had great success controlling high BP with that type of doctor. Go figure? Also, they want him to check in with their office tomorrow to have a BP check.
Larry was advised he'd been released around 4:30pm. So I left work early to go get him. After watching a 10 minute video on strokes, we packed up his stuff and headed home. We've hauled more stuff home than a week's worth of vacation souvenirs. Anyone need rubber gloves??? I have two boxes!!!
Larry is feeling very, very groggy. He hates that feeling so he is NOT happy. Pray he adjusts well to the meds and that they do not affect him in a bothersome way. Thank you for your prayers & meals!
Larry was advised he'd been released around 4:30pm. So I left work early to go get him. After watching a 10 minute video on strokes, we packed up his stuff and headed home. We've hauled more stuff home than a week's worth of vacation souvenirs. Anyone need rubber gloves??? I have two boxes!!!
Larry is feeling very, very groggy. He hates that feeling so he is NOT happy. Pray he adjusts well to the meds and that they do not affect him in a bothersome way. Thank you for your prayers & meals!
Larry's update 5/7/09
Well, we had quite a day yesterday. I went to work at the GCC Library, which is my usual for Wednesday AM. Met my friend Julie for a movie and when I got out at 3:15pm I had a voicemail message from Larry. Larry called the doctor because he woke up from a nap feeling funny. The doctor told him to call 911. I called the hospital right away but they had not arrived yet so I headed that way. Larry sounded pretty calm on the phone so I wasn't too terribly worried. I got to the hosptial ER and found Larry in the hallway where he stayed until 12:30am (this morning). They did bloodwork, a CT Scan and an MRI. Everything showed no issues. But the doctor kept him overnite because his BP is so high. It was 202/124 when the paramedics brought him in. It was down most of the day but then it went up again a little in the evening. They can't figure out why it's so high. Doctor wanted to play it safe. I went home to check on Nathan and to get dinner (around 11:00pm).
Pray they find out why his BP is so high. I think they are going to try different meds.
Pray they find out why his BP is so high. I think they are going to try different meds.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Larry's Update - 5/3/09
Larry has been doing great these past few days. Friday night he went with us to the Marietta Diner to have dinner with Nathan, his date, Cija Smith
, and Cija's mom before they went to the prom. Larry did very well considering all the chaos there. He said he got to a point where he just tuned out all the commotion and was able to deal with all the noise that way. I don't think Nathan knew what to think with Larry being so much less social than he usually is. It seemed strange. Usually he's the one doing the talking.
This week we see the Medical Doctor and the Ophthalmologist. Pray those appts go well. Larry's eyesight continues to improve slightly. He seems to notice the most improvement when we are out driving on the freeway. Larry has been taking walks in the neighborhood which does him good. He always calls me before he goes for a walk and he tells me that he carries his ID, medical insurance card & a note with my name and phone number on it when he goes. Is this man prepared, or what? Thank you again for all of you who are preparing meals and praying. They are greatly appreciated.
, and Cija's mom before they went to the prom. Larry did very well considering all the chaos there. He said he got to a point where he just tuned out all the commotion and was able to deal with all the noise that way. I don't think Nathan knew what to think with Larry being so much less social than he usually is. It seemed strange. Usually he's the one doing the talking. This week we see the Medical Doctor and the Ophthalmologist. Pray those appts go well. Larry's eyesight continues to improve slightly. He seems to notice the most improvement when we are out driving on the freeway. Larry has been taking walks in the neighborhood which does him good. He always calls me before he goes for a walk and he tells me that he carries his ID, medical insurance card & a note with my name and phone number on it when he goes. Is this man prepared, or what? Thank you again for all of you who are preparing meals and praying. They are greatly appreciated.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
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 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.
Friday, April 24, 2009
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 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.
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