Had a good Speech Therapy session today with Megan. He is sustaining his voice a lot longer than he was even a few days ago. So that is one positive for today. Also, he is officially is on chunky foods for all meals. Small steps!
Things are going well. We just hit the FOUR year post-stroke mark last week. IN-FRICKING-CREDIBLE! Seems like a lifetime ago but other times it seems like last year. Michael continues to do well. He had a CT of the brain last month and all looks good. Doc just wants to repeat every few years to be sure blood flow is normal and the stent in the vertebral artery is holding up. Gym, twice a week and walking are our main activities. We went nearly 3 miles just today. M is strong and wonderful!! Most importantly he is happy and positive. Here he is on a recent walk in our neighborhood. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. We LOVE our slice of paradise.
What we thought was the event in fact was not. At 4:00 PM on Saturday, March 24, Michael suffered what was actually THE EVENT. He looked at me and said, "Left side tingle, I'm OK." and then started looking like he was having a seizure. Frothing at the mouth, shaking uncontrollably. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen. I pushed the nurse call button, then ran to get them. Before long I was being rushed out of the room, and all of the medical personnel came in. The thing that freaked me out was the calmness that everyone had. I know it is their job and they encounter this daily. You want to scream "MOVE FASTER!!!!!" You notice other people walking by with their lives in full tact while mine is falling apart. I'm sitting in the hallway across from the room watching the activity the best I could....I just knew it was bad. They took him down to ICU to consult with the stroke team. They got my belongings and took me to the downstairs waiting...
Two weeks ago, I would have never guessed I would be making a post about speech therapy assessments, but here I go. This whole thing continues to be entirely surreal. I keep wanting to wake up from this very bad dream, but I need to come to the acceptance that it is just part of our new reality for now. Speech therapy - Michael did well with his assessment today. He verbalized all the pictures his therapist showed him. He has problems with writing, seeing letters (seeing anything, really, due to the constant double vision), and using his voice. He is not very conversational, but when you ask him something he will reply. We have to remind him to speak louder, and he tries so hard. The funniest exchange of the day was during lunch, after his pathologist left, in the loudest voice I had heard all day, he said "she's hot." Jake and I cracked up! Truly though, she is a super cute, late 20s something. I'm hoping he tries to dazzle her with his awesomeness. She was patient...