March 2020

Wow. Wasn't March the longest month ever? It seemed to drag on and on. But here we are. April.

We passed our two year mark since Michael's series of strokes. It came and went without little notice, as our thoughts are more with the millions of people who are affected by COVID-19. We cannot fathom the pain and suffering so many people are experiencing. It's heart-wrenching.

March 26th was Michael's official last day of "work" as he had been on the district payroll until then. We are so grateful for the dozens of his colleagues who collectively donated just over a year of sick leave so we could postpone the inevitable for as long as possible. Now we are a couple of retired folks! Not quite in the mood to celebrate, as this was not exactly entered into under ideal circumstances. But we have had two years of practice and we enjoy our carefree days. We have already perfected the art of napping...that's for sure.

All our facilities here are closed, so we have just been doing lots of walking and riding in the cart. M has been doing lots of writing on his computer. He spends a few hours each day creating fabulous works of fiction. 

We had a nice visit with the boys mid-month. We just took a great walk and hung out for a couple days. Not much more we could do. Ben and Jake are doing great and both have the luxury of working from home. 


We invited my mom to join us for a drive earlier this week. We all needed some mental therapy and get a change of scenery. We did the scenic "Palms to Pines Highway" which is a drive up and around Mt. San Jacinto. It was a beautiful day.

On Hwy 243 with Mr. San Jacinto the the background.

Hitting the trails



Popular posts from this blog

Saturday Update

Our final Saturday as an inpatient. Yay! M is doing his one hour of OT right now with our buddy Jean from Haiti. He rocked the bike thing again for 20 minutes this time. He had another entirely choke-free lunch and had me laughing a couple of times with his facial expressions..reactions to a couple of things that happened while there. He is expressing his excitement to go home. The nurses are already telling him they are going to miss him. ☺
Read more

All is well

Image
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.
Read more

March 28 - More awake today

Image
When I arrived this morning, Michael was much more awake. He had both eyes wide open and gave me a great smile. His voice sounded even better than yesterday. As with all hospitals they continuously poke and prod all day and night long and he's such a champ through it all. He is still often sleepy and needs lots of rest. Ups and downs...that is the norm. They did an Echocardiogram this morning and did not see anything abnormal. They want to do another type that is more thorough. Clots originate in the heart, so we need to find anything that might look suspicious. They will compare all of the Echos he has had (we are going on 4). His vitals are maintaining normal readings. But they have all the time, so that's nothing new. He is on blood thinners, so hopefully the clots stay away. They have also recommended him for acute physical care, so when he can be released medically he will most likely enter a facility for intensive treatment due to his age and good body strengt...
Read more