About us
In case you do not know us (as I see on our stats that we have some followers from other countries) let me introduce ourselves.
Michael is 57 years old. I am 51. We recently moved to a beautiful, active senior retirement community in Beaumont, CA. Our sons, Ben and Jake live in Irvine.
Prior to Michael's stroke we made an effort to get in the suggested 10,000 steps each day. Many days we ended up with more like 13,000 or more. So in other words we moved an average of 5 miles per day. We also rode our bikes, hiked, played pickle ball, worked out, and stayed active whenever we could.
Even at work (we work at the same place) we would take a loop around the District Office campus when we could. Days we didn't get out on the nature trails in our community seemed like wasted days. We even incorporated night walks during the summer when I work 10 hour days and the temperatures get in the 100s here. We love to see the wildlife in the neighborhood. Birds & rabbits in the day, and in the evenings we've seen skunks, bobcats and coyotes. We see footprints and try to figure out what animal went through the area the previous night. WE LOVE OUR LIFE!
Michael wasn't a strong candidate for a stroke, especially considering his age. He took medicine for borderline high blood pressure, and that's about it. We have found out since that there are heart issues on his maternal side but we do not yet know if his stroke was caused by his heart. More tests will be taken once we get through his rehabilitation.
When I tell people of his diagnosis it is almost met 100% with, "You've got to be kidding?" You think of old, out of shape, smoking & drinking people getting strokes, not people who make a conscious effort to stay in shape with clean eating and clean living. But from what we've heard from others through the last week, victims are getting younger and younger. This is frightening. According to strokecenter.org, "Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. Each year, approximately 795,000 people suffer a stroke. About 600,000 of these are first attacks, and 185,000 are recurrent attacks. Nearly three-quarters of all strokes occur in people over the age of 65."
These numbers are staggering to me. I am not sure of what type of research is being done to prevent strokes, but I do hope that scientific advances are made for Michael and also for others who have potential to suffer from this awful ailment. For now we are just one-day-at-a-time hoping that his rehab will bring him home to continue our happily ever after.
Michael is 57 years old. I am 51. We recently moved to a beautiful, active senior retirement community in Beaumont, CA. Our sons, Ben and Jake live in Irvine.
Prior to Michael's stroke we made an effort to get in the suggested 10,000 steps each day. Many days we ended up with more like 13,000 or more. So in other words we moved an average of 5 miles per day. We also rode our bikes, hiked, played pickle ball, worked out, and stayed active whenever we could.
Even at work (we work at the same place) we would take a loop around the District Office campus when we could. Days we didn't get out on the nature trails in our community seemed like wasted days. We even incorporated night walks during the summer when I work 10 hour days and the temperatures get in the 100s here. We love to see the wildlife in the neighborhood. Birds & rabbits in the day, and in the evenings we've seen skunks, bobcats and coyotes. We see footprints and try to figure out what animal went through the area the previous night. WE LOVE OUR LIFE!
Michael wasn't a strong candidate for a stroke, especially considering his age. He took medicine for borderline high blood pressure, and that's about it. We have found out since that there are heart issues on his maternal side but we do not yet know if his stroke was caused by his heart. More tests will be taken once we get through his rehabilitation.
When I tell people of his diagnosis it is almost met 100% with, "You've got to be kidding?" You think of old, out of shape, smoking & drinking people getting strokes, not people who make a conscious effort to stay in shape with clean eating and clean living. But from what we've heard from others through the last week, victims are getting younger and younger. This is frightening. According to strokecenter.org, "Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. Each year, approximately 795,000 people suffer a stroke. About 600,000 of these are first attacks, and 185,000 are recurrent attacks. Nearly three-quarters of all strokes occur in people over the age of 65."
These numbers are staggering to me. I am not sure of what type of research is being done to prevent strokes, but I do hope that scientific advances are made for Michael and also for others who have potential to suffer from this awful ailment. For now we are just one-day-at-a-time hoping that his rehab will bring him home to continue our happily ever after.
