markus29

Stroke Survivor - female
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About markus29

  • Birthday 03/29/1965

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    Arizona

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  1. Happy Anniversary markus29!

  2. Happy Anniversary markus29!

  3. Happy Anniversary markus29!

  4. I have a cat named Cat. Hey don't laugh I didn't pick out her name. She acts more like a dog than a cat. When she need more food or should I say fresh food she will let me know. She is very picky. If the dry food sts for more than a few hours in her dish she wants "new" food put in and then she will eat it. Some how she knows where to stop because the "older" food is always left behind. :uhm: When she wants to go outside she will sit at the door and meow and if you aren't paying attention she will seek you out and make sure you know. I call her my GAC (guardian angel cat) She watches over me more than I have ever seen an animal do. At night when I go to sleep she will jump up on the bed and look at me almost like she is making sure I am ok. After I tell her I am fine she lays down with her head on my arm and goes to sleep. There have been several mornings when I have over slept (because I forgot to set the alarm) that she has jumped up on the bed and mewed until I woke up. What is really weird about this is that it is within 10 minutes of when I should have gotten up. I watch my neighbors foster child for an hour in the morning before he and my son go to school or lately I have taken them to the summer program just so they have something to do. I think it is really strange that Cat knows when it is time for me to get up. When I first came home from the hospital after my stroke she never left my side. As I got stronger and was able to take a shower on my own she would sit in the bathroom and wait until I was done then would follow me into the bedroom while I got dressed. Whatever room I am in she is there. I have come to firmly believe she is a reincarnated family member. I know there have been several time when a family pet has saved the life of someone who cares for them so I don't think this is too far off base. I also have 3 dogs and one of them watches over me when I go outside. If one of the other dogs jump up to get my attention she will jump on them and with her front paws pull them down off of me. It is almost like she knows I have balance issues and doesn't want me to fall. I guess what I am trying to get to with all this rambling is........ Do any of you have a pet or know of a pet that acts this way?? I don't think I am the only one out there and I would like to hear of your experiences with your animals.
  5. It was Saturday September 24, 2005 a typical summer day in Phoenix, Arizona. HOT!!!!! I had come back from a drive clearing my head a bit. I had been arguing with my fiance' (now husband) so I went to "cool off" hard to do in the heat. LOL I had just put pork chops in the oven for dinner and went outside to watch the kids riding their bikes. My 6 year old (now 7) was showing off. He kept saying "watch me mom". I was sitting in the chair on my porch just watching him ride back and forth. All of a sudden I felt really dizzy. All I could think of at the time as to put my head between my knees as I had heard that before if you felt faint. It didn't help it started to get worse. I knew I had to do something because if I fainted I would be behind the rose bush and the kids wouldn't see me to help. I yelled at my son to get John (my husband). Just as I got the words out of my mouth he walked out the door and asked me what was wrong? I told him I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up one or the other. At that point I started throwing up. He stood by me to make sure I was ok. After several minutes I asked him to help me in the house as I didn't feel good. He helped me into the bedroom where I layed down. All I could think of was maybe I had the flue or food poisoning. No pain. No paralysis. Just felt sick as a dog. All I wanted to do was to make the world stop spinning. I hadn't felt like this in many years. It felt like I was really drunk. Have you ever been so drunk the world spins??? That was pretty mush the last thing I remember from that night. I went to sleep and just kept sleeping until the next day. On Sunday John was supposed to go to work but I was still sick so he decided to stay home and take care of the boys for me so I could get some rest. At this point every time I tried to sit up the world would spin sooo fast. It actually hurt. I didn't want to move at all. John had brought in some soup and I couldn't keep it down. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I have had the flu before but this was the worse I had ever had. All I did was sleep most of the day. When I was awake I would get sick and then go back to sleep. By Monday I told John he needed to go to work but I still felt the same. My 19 year old son stayed home and he had called my job to tell them I Had the flu or food poisoning and would not be in. John came home around 3 or 4 and I still was sick. We called the 24 hour nurse on my insurance who told me if I was not better in an hour I should go to the ER as I was probably dehydrating myself. I just kept telling John I was ok but just felt sick. By 6:00 I was still sick. After my son came in and told me "mom you need to go in and see what is wrong"we went to the ER. It took both of them to carry me to the truck as the world was still spinning and I knew I couldn't walk without falling over. After 45 mins I was taken back to be seen. After checking me out they sent me for a CAT scan (I don't even remember having it) At that point the doctor told be it looked like I had a stroke. I don't remember anything else until I had been admitted. I had had 2 cat scans and an MRI and yes it was confirmed I had had a cerabellar stroke. I slept a lot the next few days. Once I got into a spot on my bed where I didn't move because the world was still spinning. At that point I got the worse headache I have ever had in my life. I just layed in one spot and didn't move. After 5 days a therapist had come in and wanted me to try sitting up. LOL Yeah right. I told her if I tried I would pass out because the world was still spinning. John was there in the room with me when we tried. I slowly sat up and just looked at the therapist and said "I'm going" and down I went. I told her I would pass out. The look on John's face was of horror as I went down. Luckily I was sitting as there was no one there to catch me when I passed out. At that point they decided to wait a few days before trying anything else hoping that the spinning would stop. After a week they sent me over to the rehab hospital to get me on my feet. I was assigned a vestibular therapist who has dealt with cerebellar strokes. It was a slow process. I couldn't do much. I was soo tired and got dizzy very easily. The Drs had told me if I could get to the point that I could go to the bathroom with a walker on my own I could go home. Well 2 weeks later I was able to atleast walk to the bathroom so they sent me home. Well here it is 9 months later. I still have problems with double vision and balance. I walk like I am drunk sometimes but I am able to walk on my own. I am lucky that I have very light deficits. (If there is such a thing) I miss being able to do some of the things I used to be able to do but I would rather give them up to be alive and where I am now. I haven't gone back to work. (My job let me go after 10 years of service to them) and I still don't drive but I am working on that soon and then hopefully back to work to get some of the medical bills paid off. For now I have all of you to thank for helping me thru this site. I don't post much but I read a lot and have learned thru others. On February 4th of 2006 I got married to the man who stood by me thru it all. I don't know what I would have done without him. Maybe for our 1st anniversary we can do it again for all the friends and family as we got married by a minister and it was just to 2 of us. That is a whole noher story that I will post about soon. For now I just keep going and count my blessings for all that I have. [/code]
  6. I was having a kind of bad day yesterday. Not physically but emotionally. I was thinking of an episode of Friends I had seen the other day and it got me thinking. For the record I am happy in my marriage I guess it was just a what if kind of thought. The episode talked about a "List" they had made. The list was of the 5 celebrities they would like to "be with" for one night if they could with no strings or problems with who they were with at the time. Here is my list in no particular order 1. Kurt Russell 2. Kevin Sorbo (in his Hurcules days with the long hair not when he did the Sci-Fi program) 3. Steven Segal 4. Tim Mcgraw ( you have to admit in that hat he is hot) 5. The Rock (If he wasn't so cocky but he is good looking) Ok these are just 5 of the ones I like. How about about you?????
  7. Have you ever had something taken away from you?? Sometimes life throws things at you that you don't expect and you loose things you have had. Take driving for example. I haven't driven since Sept. I have a wonderful husband and son who take me to do anything I need or want to do. But there are just times when I want to jump in my truck and go somewhere. I miss those days. Simple things that you don't realize until you can't have or don't have any more. When was the last time you were on a city bus??????? OMG it is an eye opening experience to say the least. There are many different people who ride the bus. Different shapes, sizes, ages and colors. Professional people going to work. Kids going to school. Disabled people who can no longer drive. And then there are the hmmmm what is a nice word to use??? bums? homeless? just plain dirty people?? These are the ones that sit next to you on the bus and their smell takes your breath away. LOL Some look the part. Others look clean but smell like they haven't showered in months. These are the ones that make you think "can I make it to the next stop or should I get off now and walk the rest of the way?" I know some are just getting out of the heat who wouldn't it is hotter that hell outside. Let me tell you it makes you wish you you were in your own car, with a/c and the radio blasting your favorite tunes. Then there are the bus drivers. I wonder how much the city pays for maintenence on these busses. The drivers can be nice and greet you everytime they see you even if you see them every day OR just drive and not care who you are. They see you at a buss stop but yet they slam on their brakes just before the stop and send the passengers flying. I am not kidding on this!!! No matter if they see someone waiting at a bus stop or someone on the bus has requested a stop 1/4 of a mile away they hit the breaks like something just jumped out in front of the bus. You grab onto the seat or anything you can just so you don't go bouncing down the isle. When you are done with your ride and make it home the first thing you do is take a shower because you know it isn't you that you keep smelling. Then you think DAMN I wish I could drive again. For those of you who have the luxury of driving your own vehicle, count your blessings.