This week in Duluth is Spirit Valley Days in our neighborhood. There's parades, a Miss Spirit Valley pageant, all kinds of sales from local business, and that kind of stuff. It is the premier event on this side of town. Tonight is the West Duluth Street Dance.
We have always called it the "Street Fight" because one or two of them occur. Take a couple thousand people, mix with alcohol, add a 2 block area, shake well. Lisa wants to go for a few hours. I don't' think she realizes how m
Well, we have finally decided on Oct. 1 for the day Lisa will be coming home. We keep pushing it back with each month of improvement, but I think that by that time enough will be enough. Lisa is still showing rapid improvement in therapy and after Oct. 1 she will be getting outpatient at that time. The extra 2 months will allow me to get the house ready for her return. She was worried that Bayshore might not release her, but the staff said she could be released now if that was what we chose.
Today is the National Night Out. A day when communities get together and introduce themselves to their neighbors. And grill tons of hot dogs.
Lisa's parents have had a party on National Night Out for the past 30 years. No Kidding, 30 years. The local newspaper has done many articles on them because it is one of the longest running parties on National Night Out. The Fire Department and a Police car always show up for the kids. Local businesses donate for raffles and door prizes. Las
I can't remember many things before Lisa had her stroke. I couldn't tell you what I did the day before it. Sure, I could talk about the big things (weddings, births, vacations) but, not the day to day stuff. It's kind of funny to me how all the mundane things got pushed way in the back or forgotten completely.
I find myself forgetting things all the time. Little things. If I have 5 things I need to remember or bring with me, I always seem to forget one of them. It's crazy. Yesterday,
I need a break. I have been making 2 trips every day to Bayshore to see Lisa. During my lunch hour and after work. It takes an hour and a half to get down there, stay for lunch, and return back. I am now getting flack for being gone that long for lunch. Then, after work, I am there for dinner and stay until Lisa gets ready for bed, about 2 1/2 hours. EVERY DAY! Well, almost every day, occasionally I will go play golf at night, but either I call her or she calls me and I feel terrible for
I was checking my profile today and realized I had the wrong website address there. I don't know if anyone has tried it, but I fixed the problem and now you could go to Lisa's webpage.
I don't have much to do with the content there. Her mother takes care of it. It had become more of her journal than Lisa's. That's O.K. I guess. BTW, the photos there are two months old and do not do either of us justice. Lisa had her trach removed months ago and I have lost another 20 pounds since then
Lisa!! Yep, today is her birthday. 39 years old. She is taking it rather well. I asked her what she would like as a gift and she said, "Nothing." Her reasoning is that is what I got from her. I told her I did get something for my birthday, her back to me. She just laughed because my answer was so sappy.
I won't be able to see her much today though, as I have committed to play in a golf tourney with one of my suppliers. I did get her something. I picked up a laptop for her. She ha
Well, Lisa is coming home for the day on Sat. It will be the first time in our house since Mar. 4th and she is really looking forward to it. Her birthday is on Monday so it is kind of an early present. Good thing that I have cleaned recently. I haven't had a ramp built on the front of the house yet, but it's in the works and a set of car ramps I have work slick.
This trip home has got me thinking about what I will need to do to adapt our home. I have said that with the benefit money she
I was down visiting Lisa last night for dinner. After she was done, she needed to go to the bathroom and I was waiting in the hall where some of the other residents were sitting. One of them is a nice older lady named Lois. She is very chatty and repeats the same things every time.
She looks at me and says, "You're Lisa's father?" "No, Lois, I'm Lisa's husband."
"Oh, Lisa's husband. I like you. You're a nice man." I said, "Thank you Lois. You're nice too."
I walked away a li
As time passes and my attitude has changed, I find I have less to blog about. Lisa's condition is stable and improving every day. All she has left from her hospital stay is a feeding tube and that comes out next week. I am working on adapting our home for her return. Not much else seems to be happening.
I am still very tired though. I never seem to have enough time in the day. Where does it go? My last blog was kind of along the same lines so it's my reaccuring thought. The days are
get some time off???
Many family and friends have been involved with Lisa. So far we have been able to help her cope with the changes she has faced mentally and physical quite well. Lisa has never needed anti-depressants through the whole ordeal and is in rather good spirits. She is dealing with being where she is and knows it is the best place for her at this moment in her life. As she continues to improve, going home is coming closer and closer.
But with the summer months, family
My back is killing me!!! I have never had any kind of back problems or a big gut in the front that sometimes causes back pain. But, it is really sore. I just hope that it's from sleeping funny and not from all the transfers I have been doing. Lisa had a funeral for her uncle yesterday and I had to get help to get her in the car. I stood there crying, one, because I couldn't do it alone, and, two, cause my damn back hurt so bad.
We have no plans to go anywhere until Sat., so I'll give
It went well. We met with her Rheumatologist today. All her blood stuff was in normal ranges and her liver looked good. Lisa has Lupus and we think that is what causes her stroke so we really have to watch her counts. Her doctor can not believe the amount of improvement she sees every 6 weeks. It's like night and day. Also, Lisa had an MRI on her brain last week and the doctor said it looked "stable" compared to the last on. So, her stroke hasn't progressed any. Great News!!! She's goin
It was a great 4th of July Weekend for all of us. I was unable to keep Lisa from Bayshore overnight because of some insurance thing, but it was O.K. She was really tired out by the time I got her back. We had a blast!!
I did learn something though. We still have a long way to go. I think Lisa realizes it too. She even stated that she doesn't think she will be ready to come home on Aug. 1st. I reassured her that if not we'll just keep working toward that day and it will happen when she
Nothing is really going on. Things are pretty much status quo. I picked up Lisa last night and brought her to family dinner at her mothers. It was the first time she has been there in 4 months. Now that she can eat anything I think it will be part of her routine.
We are planning on having Lisa HOME for the 4th of July weekend. It is a really big step for us. It will let me know what kind of problems we will have when she eventually comes home for good (hopefully in one month). We wil
After such a great weekend, it's no surprise something comes up....literally.
Lisa has been having a hard time keeping food down. Her Dr's seem to think it may be because she isn't regular. She has had days where a meal might come up, but her motion sickness patch was due to be changed. Today is not the case. The patch was changed yesterday. I hope they can get this figured out by Sat. I was planning on having her home over the weekend.
Has anyone else had this problem and if so,
Thanks you guys for the support and kind words in Part I. I have told Lisa about this site and what you have done for me. This place has really helped me out since I have joined.
Now on to the Day!!! Lisa was supposed to have an MRI that morning, but Bayshore screwed up transportation so we rescheduled. Lisa said "Great! Let's get out of here!!" I'm like, "Right now?" She says, "Hell Yes." So, I sign her out and it's down to PT to get her therapist to assist us in getting Lisa tra
Our anniversary is today. 16 glorious years. Yes, we got married when we were quite young (both 22). Plus, we had dated for 2 years before that.
I have heard alot lately about "for better or worse" and "most men wouldn't have stuck it out" from people lately. I am shocked. I love this woman more than myself. What do people think? That I was going to run out on her? Leave her to take care of herself? This is just a setback. We have been able to find the humor in much of the thing
I'm sitting with Lisa a few days ago and there is a lull in the conversation. She turns to me and asks how the plant is doing. Now, over the course of 4 months, many a plant has come and gone from our house. When she first went in the hospital she received about 20 bouquets of flowers. Her room looked like a florist shop.
I do not have a green thumb. No slight to male gardeners, but I know 2 things about plants: 1. A dozen red roses are very expensive!! 2. A dozen red roses will get m
Lisa has a big day in PT. As I stated yesterday, we attempted to get Lisa in to the passenger seat of my car. Without a slide board, it didn't go to well. Today we are going to try it with her PT person there.
A little about my car. It's a Hyundai Tiburon GT. One of those low kind of sports cars with two roomy front seats and no room in the back seat to speak of. The gap between her chair and the seat is about 6-12 inches. When Lisa explained this to PT they said it should be no prob
When I started this blog, I said I was going to write about my thoughts and feelings with honesty, good or bad. I am going to hold myself to it.
With that said, Father's Day pretty much sucked for me. I know I shouldn't be having a pity party, but what the hell? I got to sleep in until 10:00 and I really needed it. I could hear our daughter making breakfast and thought I would give her a little time. By the time I got downstairs, her and our son had eaten it. Oh, Well. I got dressed
They say that with a stroke may come some personality changes. That's what I have been told. Man, they aren't kidding.
Lisa and I had 2 different sets of morals I guess you would call it. Hers was "Don't tell the truth if it would hurt someone's feelings". Mine was "You can say anything as long as it's the truth". It's crazy but our morals have reversed. I don't know when it happened, but it did. I find myself more conscience of others now, and she will say whatever she feels like.
It went well. The staff had nothing but praise for Lisa. She is very well liked by all the doctors and nurses. Her improvement on the past month has been remarkable according to them. Like we didn't know that already.
Speech Therapist said that Lisa's speech pattern is 95% clear and her swallowing is much improved.
OT Therapist said that her left arm (the good one) is much stronger than when she first came in. Her right arm (the bad one) is slowly coming back but it is still too e
Man, do I have to work a lot this week.
My normal work hours are 8:00 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. Your normal kind of work week. But, with all the appointments and stuff I have to make all that time up. I will be working 6:00 to 5:30 almost every day this week just to get Friday off. Lisa has a couple of Dr. appointments and I am playing in a golf tournament (YEAH!!!) Luckily, the kids are out of school and we got the car back if they need rides.
I did have one thing I wanted
Well, another week begins.
Lisa and I spent alot of this weekend talking about when she should come home. She has set a date of Aug. 1. I think that is a realistic goal for her. She has been in the hospital or nursing home since Mar. 4 and had her stroke on Mar. 17. I would like to believe that 5 months of in-patient rehab would be enough. We have a Care Conference with the staff on Tuesday. Lisa really wants to start working hard on her transfers. Our anniversary is on the 24th and
