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.

Our goal of 2 miles by the end of the year seems within reach! Yesterday we walked 1.25 miles and M was tired, but did great! He was adamant about not using any type of help, and only even used my arm a couple of times when he drifted left as he sometimes does. Super proud of this progress! 1.25 miles Yessssireeee! Michael doing work! And finally just because it was a nice photo I took on our walk. It's so beautiful here and such motivation to enjoy the neighborhood! We are between physical therapy sessions again, and haven't been for around a month, but got word yesterday that we will resume next week. I think with all of the work he has put in lately the therapist will be very impressed.  We have an appointment with his Ophthalmologist later this week to see if that right eye is making any natural correction. Sometimes I see it drift down, but then it pops back up again. He has control over it though, so that's good. The brain just needs to tell...

We have a nice putting green at the clubhouse up the street from us. Jake and I took Michael there on Sunday morning. It was a beautiful day! So.... he gets all lined up and what does he do? Sinks a 20 ft put on his first attempt, that's what!! It was awesome to see. (this is the photo of the ball dropping in the hole) It was great getting him out there. 🏌

We were able to hit our final favorite trail today. We had some rain over the weekend, so were unable to do it then. I just measured on Google Earth and this is the longest we have gone yet! 1500 meters, or .93 mile. Half of the hike was on the trail and to get back to the cart we went on the sidewalk. He did great and, once again, did not want his cane. He stumbled a bit here and there, but I was always close and he regained his balance on his own. One of the biggest challenges was the wind! We had some pretty good gusts here and there! But as we've been told, they don't call this "Blowmont" for nothing!  😁 Afterwards, as we were taking a spin around the community on the cart, each time we'd pass a trail I'd ask him, "Have you conquered that one?" And he'd say, "YES" very proudly. He is so determined! In other news, this morning M had a CTA to check all of his arteries in his brain and the stent that was placed in June. The...