This past Saturday marked the one year anniversary of when Lisa went into the hospital. I still remember the day vividely.

She had an early appointment for an MRI. We thought her Lupus had flared up so her Drs recommended one. I took the day day off and we were both in a great mood, laughing and looking forward to spending an entire day together. Her MRI would take about an hour. She told me to go get som breakfast in a cafe at the hospital and come back later. Little did I know then that I would be eating alot of meals in that cafe.

I returned an hour later and Lisa said she slept the entire time. For those of you who have never had a MRI, once that table starts vibrating and humming, it is very relaxing. Anyway, the MRI tech told that she would look at the results and we would hear from Lisa's doctor in a few days. I, luckily, forgot something at home so we ran there quick. We were barely in the door when the phone rang. Lisa answered it. Other than hello, I don't remember saying much. She was very pale.

She hung up and I asked her what they said. "I have to go back. They're admitting me right away.", she said. I'm thinking for what, from the outside nothing looks wrong with her. Her MRI revealed a few "ghosts" as they called them. Apparently, her Dr thought the vessels of her brain might be flaring up because of her Lupus (they were proven to be wrong by the Mayo Clinic). We were told it would be a couple of days for tests and observation.

Lupus is treated with steroids (the one Lisa takes is Prednizone (sp)). She was taking 5mg a day for maintenence. She started receiving increased doses. A few days turned into a week.

Then the crap hit the fan. She started showing clear symptoms of stroke (Iknow now but at the time had no clue). Lisa started complaining about double vision. Her speech was getting slurred, like she was drunk all the time. She had her first fall. She slept all the time and was having trouble walking, to the point where she hardly could anymore. I was numb by now. I didn't know what to do and we were supposed to be taking a cruise in 2 weeks.

All caused by "small strokes". We were at our local hopital from March 4 to March 16 and I had not heard the word stroke mentioned once.

I'll stop here with the story because, to me, it's in 5 parts on 5 dates: Admission, the Big one, Mayo, Bayshore, and Home. Anyone who has read my blog knows the last two. I feels good talking about the beginning.

Butch