cindy

My husband is the strongest person ever. Some days I can understand about 60% of everything he says. Pretty amazing since he couldn't speak a word or even know his own name when the stroke first hit. He's overcoming it, continuing to get better even after 4 years. He recovered amazingly from the AAA surgery. His surgery for the colon cancer is 4/6/2007. We'll know more about the extremity once they get it out and do the biopsy. I hope he doesn't have to go through chemo. He's been through enough!! He went to the grocery store today. When I think of all the things he can do it blows me away. Okay, so guess we'll hit this one head on too. I want to just plow through it with him and be on the other side a winner already. All overwith but it will be here soon enough I suppose.

Thank you all for your encouraging words and prayers. His next surgery is set for April 6.

My husband is saying full sentences and phrases now where in the beginning he couldn't speak a word. Only now he has colon cancer. :Tantrum: He just recovered from surgery where he had an abdominal aneurism in the aorta. It made the artery 4 times the normal size. The only reason we found it was because when they found the colon cancer they wanted a ct scan of the torso. He says he won't take chemo if need be after the surgery. We'll see. We go see the surgeon tomorrow to find out when the next surgery is. The last 4 years since his stroke have been an extreme ride of ups, downs, emotions, trials, tribulations, victories and failures, well you know. You name it. God.........I wonder if and when it's gonna stop. I've never met or known anyone as unbelievably strong as my husband.

Fred, It's a western saddle. I don't ride english. Why? The saddles are too small!! Cindy

So I have a new love. He's my avitar. His name is Axel and he's a dapple grey Thoroughbred gelding. My sister gave him to me. He's needs trained and I'm on my way to doing just that. I've never had a thoroughbred and can tell a big difference in the Quarter Horses I've always been used to. He's much more spunky. Yikes!! So I wear a helmet when I ride him. I don't want these old bones breaking at my age. Especially my head. It's messed up enough as it is!! LOL!! Anyway I'm really happy I have a new purpose and goal in my life. Time for me every afternoon when I get off work. My hubby is still doing great. He has a colonoscopy tomorrow so he has to drink that yucky stuff starting tonight. They found some blood so I'm hoping it's nothing even though I can't help but to worry a bit. Of course I won't let him know I'm worrying so we'll see. Love you guys........and so glad you're here. Cindy : )

I just LOVE your spunk and attitude. Oh my...........if some of the rest of the world could jump on your wagon and ride along I think we would all be a lot better off!!!!! A HUGE congratulations on the diploma and accomplishments you've made in your life. YOU GO GIRL!!! Cindy p.s. I'm a big fat scaredy cat when it comes to roller coasters and jumping out of planes.

Hi Dorrie, I'm really sorry for you and your Mom. My husband had his first seizure a little over a year after his stroke. Then a couple of months later he had two more. His last siezure was Jan. 1, 2005. The doctor kept him on the dilantin he was taking and added Lamictal. He hasn't had one since. I want to add that the last seizure was both a curse and a blessing as it jolted something in his brain and he started to progress in his recovery. Both his cognitive and speech ablilities. Do you think maybe a change in medication might prevent another one? Just a thought and our experience regarding the seizures. I hope and pray that you will find the financial aid you are seeking and things get better. Take care and hugz to you and your Mom. :hug: Cindy

Geez.....Been busy I guess. I usually come on the site while I'm at work but Real Estate has actually picked up a bit. I started riding horses again and man am I SORE! I called my Mom the next day and told her every muscle in my body hurt except for my face. My sister has an equestrian center about 35 minutes from me and has plenty of horses for me to ride. Right now I'm riding the oldie goldie so I don't kill myself since it's been about 20 years since I've ridden minus once. I used to show Western Pleasure and am having fun with my new adventure. My hubby is doing great. He went to the drug store for the first time and refilled his prescription yesterday all by himself. We've been working on him doing things by himself in case something happens to me. My greatest fear is I go before him and he not be able to do things on his own. His speech continues to improve daily. It's almost unbelievable because, well we all know what the doctors say. LIES.........LIES !!!!!!!! But I won't go there. Lately I've noticed my honey's vocabulary expanding. It's all very exciting and living in good times right now. I remember when I first came here I was a mess......confused, depressed, felt all alone, felt like my world had been pulled from right out under my feet, BUT................... Thank you Strokenet. Cindy

I tape the show House all the time. I love it and the new season just started not too long ago so we haven't seen it in a while. Well we were watching it for the first time (of the new season) last night and my husband pointed to the t.v. and said he has no cane!! I didn't even notice it. Why does that make me so happy? In fact I was thrilled and still am. I like writing about what might seem to be so small to others but so big to me. It makes me happy. Funny thing is when I told several people about it today they were polite but I don't think they got it. Oh well, guess they don't have to. Oh, by the way. House is a doctor and always used a cane if you never watched the show. I feel good today. Cindy

Hi JoAnn, You've gotten good advice and such and I welcome you too. Like you, I found this site in desperation. My husband had a stroke in Jan. 2003. He was laid out from the massive stroke and the doc.'s etc. thought he would never be able to even walk. He was completely paralyzed on his right side and didn't even know his name much less be able to speak a word. Today he is driving, walking, talking much better and living as close to a normal life as possible at this point. He continues to get better all the time so recovery is still taking place. He tires easily though. What I missed the most about him in the first year or so was his personality. It was like I was living with someone I didn't know. But that has returned as well. I know what you mean when you say your friends and family members don't understand. I had no one that understood what I was feeling or going through until I found this place, even though they tried. I understand that no two survivors are the same and it depends on a lot of things in regards to recovering from something this devastating. Take care of yourself and I'll be thinking of you. Cindy

Hi Asha, LOL....that was funny about hotcindy. Yes, most of the time I am hot. I live in Fla. and it's hot as "blank" down here. As far as the other type of hot....NOT!!!!!!!!!! Cindy

Thanks everyone. You have all encouraged me to keep on keeping on. And I will never stop praising him for the things he accomplishes. Love ya's, Cindy

My last blog was regarding Bob's step towards more independance. Our next accomplishment will be him going to the pharmacy and refilling his own prescriptions. I'm making a calendar as to when they run out and the doctor will need to be notified. He can't understand all the info. on the bottle. I'm not quite sure how we can notify the doc.'s without me, but we'll figure something out. I want him to be able to lead as normal a life as possible not just now but in case something happens to me he'll be able to do these things like second nature. Another good thing is when we go out to dinner I've stopped taking over and I let him pay the bill like we used to do. It's quite amazing what happened when I stopped taking control and doing everything just because it's "easier". Plus I need to be more trusting in his abilities I think. Cindy

I know this might sound trivial but I can't help but to write about Bob's improvements. Last week he found a nail in the tire of the SUV he drives and he went to Firestone and had it fixed on his own. Woo hoo!! I didn't even know about it until I got home and he told me what he had done. I praised, praised, praised him and told everyone, everywhere we went about what he had done. I think it encourages him to continue to do things without me. Awesome!! We went to the neurologist the other day and told him too! He also has a hand written message in his wallet that he had a stroke and it affected his speech. My name and cell phone number is on it in case he tries to get something across to someone when I'm not with him. He went to Sears repair center a couple of weeks ago and he couldn't decide if I wanted them to order a vaccuum cleaner belt and have it shipped to us so they called me and it worked perfect. When I showed the neurologist what we had written in the wallet he was surprised and said what a great idea. Anyway I'm just so happy that he just keeps getting better and better because just in case I go before he does he's learning to do seemingly small things on his own. YAY! Cindy

Hi Sue, I'm sorry about what you are going through. I totally understand except for the length of time you have had to deal with this. My situation is not even close to yours and I feel nothing but compassion for you. Please don't ever apologize for writing your feelings here. Life is what it is no matter if someone is worse or better off than anyone else. As far as what people say about you taking time off? I say to them *beep* you. They either don't know or obviously have no clue what it's like. And I don't think you are on the pitty potty. You are expressing your feelings in a difficult time. Please take care of YOU and I'll be thinking of you. Cindy

Hi Kristen, I wouldn't walk through any intersections but how about doing other things such as shopping, restaurants, movie theater, etc. We didn't let those types of things stop us and if he did have one, I could see it coming on and even though he's a big man, I could get him to the floor and out of any danger. I think a lot of people do "normal" things even when they're dealing with seizures. I know it's scary but I wouldn't let it beat me or my husband down. When my husband had the last seizure in Jan. it actually helped in his recovery from the stroke. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes it happens. In layman terms it jiggled some stuff up there in his brain. His speech got better and some of the numbness in his right side disappeared. I know seizures suck, but in this case after I saw what it did, it was a catch 22. Again, I hope they get the medication right very soon for Patrick. Cindy

Hi Kristen, My husband was dealing with seizure's too. About a year and a half after the stroke he had the first one. They put him on Dilantin but he still had 3 more. The last one was 6 months after the first which was around July 2004. Like Patrick each one set him back as he was so looking forward to getting his license back too. After they put him on Lamictal along with keeping him on the Dilantin he's not had any episodes since the last one in Jan. 2005 and got his license back in May (I think) of this year. He's a happy camper now and has so much more freedom. Has Patrick tried the Lamictal? Take care and you'll both be in my prayers for NO MORE. Cindy

Hi Cindy, I was giggling through the whole blog. You're right it's great when we can laugh and not take ourselves too seriously. Sorry the thumb still hurts but sounds like it's getting better and no condoms involved!! LOL..... :hahaha: Cindy

You say comedy is not your thing but you had me smiling all the way through reading this!! You sound like such a cutie pie. Oh, and I read the last comment of yours on Sunday and we sound sorta alike only I AM a blonde!! LOL.........By choice of course, only not the airhead part. I'm getting to that age where gray is wanting to take over. :yikes: No way hozay. No gray on this girl. Take care, and I'm glad you got to take a shower! Cindy

Hi Bill, I'm sorry you had to put him down. I had a horse that I had to make the decision to put down a couple of years ago. He was 36 which is pretty old for a horse as 16 is for a large dog. It was not an easy decision so I understand how difficult it is. He was the best horse I ever owned and had him since he was 12. When I started to heal from it, I just kept thinking what a good life he had with me. He could have had a rotten one and not taken care of the way he was by someone else. AND.......I'm glad you can still swim. My husband used to swim all the time as we live in a condo that has a pool. He still goes down there but can't swim again yet. He sinks!....so he uses a noodle and stays in the shallow end unless I'm with him. Take Care..... Cindy

Hi Cindy, I agree, you're not stupid. I have the use of both my hands and when I used to cook I would cut myself occaisonally. I'm a cg. and my husband does the cooking again. He loves it and I don't. Lucky me!! Anyway, regarding the bathing thing. When he was in the hospital they had this stuff to wash with and didn't need rinsing if you coudln't rinse. It works in hair too! I don't know if they have it in the stores but it's great stuff!! Maybe you could get it from your local hospital if you can't find it in the store. Take Care....... Cindy

Steve.........No Waaahhhh's here!! LOL Ann.......You don't feel like you were taking over the boards because you weren't my dear. You are being who you are. :friends: Sue......Right on sistah.