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Entries in this blog

Tough week

Well it's been a rough couple of weeks. Took Oliver to the neurologist for arm pain, thinking maybe he had carpal tunnel. The neurologist thought so as well. However, when he started doing the nerve conduction study...found that the nerves in his arm were not responding at all. So we had to go back on Labor Day (I knew it was serious when the neurologist had us to come back for more test when his office was closed). He did the nerve studies all over his body...none responded. So he was adm

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Sensation

Question - my husband is having the worst sensation on his right side. He has had this sensation (as he explains it) off and on since the stroke, however he says that it is the worst it has ever been. Explains it as tingling, needles, etc all on the right side. Anyone suffer from this? If so, what can be done about it? His doctor doesn't seem to know what to do about it. Thanks..

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Feeling sad

I am having a really sad day today. Some days are better than others but today just seems to be so hard. I feel like I am slowly watching my husband die a little each day. My heart if being ripped out of my chest. I have moments that I feel like he would be better off if God would just take him home but then he looks at me and smiles and then I think what would I do if I wasn't able to see his smile or hear his voice. I told myself that I would focus on all the things that he can do instead

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Been a while

It's been a while since I have been on the network. As a reminder, my husband had a brainstem stroke Janaury 2011...it will soon be two years since the stroke. I try so hard to be optimistic, however, watching him try to walk with a walker, brings tears to my eyes still. He has not regained his balance, still has difficulty swallowing and remains weak. He still has the feeding tube as he has not passed the swallow eval for liquids. Until he does, the TP will not remove the feeding tube. An

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PT - so discouraged

Well it's been a while since I've been on the site, hope all had a Merry Christmas. Ours was good, different but good. Everyone tells me that I should be so thankful for the progress Oliver has made, however, feel so discouraged lately. His physical therapist discharged him from PT this week. He said he couldn't continue to treat him without showing progress. Oliver is really down, the goal set for him when he started was that he would walk with a cane. He didn't meet that goal, so he thou

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The holidays

Well it has been a pretty good week. I was off work this week and spent most of my time with Oliver. It is such a joy! He has been in good spirits all week and therapy went well. He did go deer hunting with our oldest son and our 7-year old grandson. Oliver didn't get a deer, but the grandson did, so he was so thrilled. His endurance is much better. He was out hunting for 6 hours, keep in mind, they hunt from the truck as he has a permit that allows him to. But still, just riding around

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Hunting Day

It's 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Oliver, Mikey (son) and Caleb (grandson) went deer hunting (a favorite sport in southern WV). This is the first hunting trip with son since stroke. They hunted every week-end (rabbit hunting) prior to the stroke. I was excited for them both, but nervous at the same time. I planned to sleep this morning then go shopping for a little while maybe even get a pedicure, you know pamper myself a little. I haven't done that for almost a year now. I still work, b

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The day that changed our lives

I've posted several blogs lately on the advice of my friends on the network. I need to go back to the day that changed our lives and write about it. I'm sure it will be long, but I just need to do this for me.   1/16/11 - Sunday morning, we got up to start our normal Sunday day. Oliver always got up earlier than me, as he liked to study his Sunday school lessons again before church. I got up around 8:00 a.m. We sit in our chairs, drank our coffee and watched the birds. He got up to put

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Thankful for another good day

Well we've had another pretty good day. We went to church this morning. Oliver was pretty quiet (not like him). He ate pretty good today and then slept for a couple of hours. The grandkids came by for a visit, that always lifts his spirits. I am off work next week, so get to take him to therapy. He walked several times today with the walker. He seemed down today, only comment he made was he just wished this stroke would go away. I do too. While I realize it it around to stay but praying

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A great day!

We've had a pretty good day today. Oliver loves the outdoors and his beagles. So we loaded them up this morning and went to the woods to let them run. Oliver did great and he enjoyed it so much. Of course, we both took a 2-hour nap when we returned. A lot of folks told me that we need to get rid of his beagles as that was something else I had to take care of. But he loves them and getting rid of them to me was just accepting defeat. Our hopes and prayers are that he will soon be able to ta

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Swallow Test and Video Scope of Vocal Chords

I am taken some very good advice from the friends of the stroke community and noting blogs of our recovery. Oliver had a swallow test today, the results were the same as the last test. He can eat pudding consistency foods. I started to say that he can ONLY eat pudding consistency foods, but that sound negative. On the positive side, he can eat. We didn't go backwards. He also had a video scope of the vocal chords. The therapist stated that she expected the results to be that the right sid

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