Stroke at 57. Our story of recovery.

We keep slowly increasing our walking distance and recently went 1.6 miles. Gotta keep training for that 2.1 mile Christmas Eve trek we are shooting for.  We had a nice 3-day visit with Ben and Jake over the Thanksgiving weekend. They are both so awesome. LOVE those guys and they always show how much they love us too.

We had better weather and walked 1.5 miles twice this week. M did great! Today was especially beautiful with perfect fall weather on our favorite Potrero Creek North and South trails. On this Thanksgiving week, we are thankful for family, friends and co-workers who have been so supportive during the past 8 months. It hasn't been an easy journey, but we are getting stronger every day and will continue to keep positive and appreciate the little things.

Nothing much new to report this week. Our good weather became several days of high winds along with blowing dust. That type of weather definitely cramps our style! M is doing well, though, and we just continue honing his skills. I wanted to take this opportunity to give you information about how to recognize a stroke. Had I known this information I might have asked more questions the first night we went to Kaiser. But why would I expect my healthy 57 year old husband to suffer a stroke? Now I know that it happens to people of all ages. ______________________________________________________ According to the World Health Organization, 15 million people suffer stroke worldwide each year. Of these, 5 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled. High blood pressure contributes to more than 12.7 million strokes worldwide. Stroke is the leading cause of disability in America and the fifth-leading cause of death. With improved stroke treatment, which is more speciali

On Monday we resumed PT, OT, and SLP and Ballard. We haven't been for a month and the therapists were all happy with M's progress. The PT was having him do things she "never imagined he would be doing." That was pretty cool to hear. Still a lot of work to do, but he's up for the challenge. You never realize how something we take for granted, like making a sharp right while walking, is not easy for a stroke survivor. Practice, practice, practice is all we can do. Today we went on walk on an unmaintained trail in our community. Rough, rocky and a few parts were pretty steep and M did well. We've had some beautiful weather lately and we are enjoying our days outdoors whenever we can.