Answers to questions you may have.
In mid-August, I suffered a pretty severe hemorrhagic stroke. Yes, a stroke at 55 years old!
August 18, 2021. at about 11:30PM
While sitting in bed with my dog on the fateful night, suddenly, my left arm felt tingly. That got my curiosity, but "I couldn’t be having a stroke. I've had a couple back surgeries, so I am no stranger to weird, tingly feelings in limbs, although it would more likely be in my legs. Then, my left shoulder felt wonky…”ok, time to start paying attention.” Within a few minutes, the left side of my face was tingly. “Welp, I’m having a stroke, I’ll call a neighbor. After all, our neighborhood bought an AED device. (Useless for strokes lol)." None of 4 neighbors answered. I’ll go to Clark’s (about 200 yards away and a Seattle cop.), and he’ll take care of business.” I began walking(!) to Clark’s, but decided I might not make it, and it would be a bad outcome if that happened. So I drove(!) to Clark’s instead of calling 911, as a stubborn, proud, self-reliant idiot might do to avoid inconveniencing the volunteer firemen. Arrived safely at Clark’s, and he called 911 immediately, and he and his daughter sat with me and kept me comfortable until paramedics arrived. We could hear the local volunteer fire department call sirens going off and knew those were for me. They toned out twice but Marblemount FD did not respond! The ambulance and EMTs had to come from Concrete, 25 minutes away. It took a full hour from the 911 call for them to arrive and begin assessing my condition. In any event, I got an ambulance ride (with lights and sirens!) to United General Hospital (UGH lol) in Sedro Woolley. After an eval there, they transferred me to the ICU at St. Joseph’s the next morning. (The place I was born.) in Bellingham. I spent a few days there and at some point, transferred to a regular room and then on to inpatient rehab at UGH/PeaceHealth Medical in Sedro. I was in a very delusional state at this point, and contacted everyone I could to get me out of there. I was terrified at the time but reviewing the messages I sent is a bit comical and embarrassing now. I think I offered someone $10,000 to perform an extraction from my evil oppressors ( not really evil or oppressive). Fortunately, my son Kyle was on top of it all and setting people straight on my state! After I signed off power of attorney to Kyle with a surprisingly elaborate signature, I started yelling that he couldn’t pull the plug on me or, sell the house, the Porsche, or Old Blue, the 1975 Ford F350 Super Camper Special! I had no feeling on my left side, and no use of my left arm or leg, and after two interesting, frustrating, and productive months of inpatient rehab, I was discharged to home. My current status is as follows: I have plenty of strength in my body, but my brain does not know how to control my muscles fully. I think I have my full faculties (well as much as I ever did.). I can walk with a cane but prefer a hemi walker. When walking or standing, I wear a brace on my lower leg and ankle to prevent my ankle from rolling and support for the dreaded foot-drop. I can move my left arm and hand a bit, but it’s basically useless for now. I have little or no feeling in the left side of my head including my face. This is exceedingly annoying, but isn't catastrophic. My left leg is coming along, but my hamstring is not yet cooperating. A lot of feeling has returned on my left side and it is continuing to return, but it’s far from normal. I haven’t really been cleared to walk or do much solo, so my super, amazing daughter, Ashley is living with me and providing all the help I need. We have home health nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy each come in twice a week. Since I need supervision , and I’m not that stable walking solo, I’m spending most of my time in a fancy wheelchair.(not motorized--yet.).
Nope! I was being treated for high blood pressure and had it well under control for years.
They told me the doctors suspended my license, but apparently they did not. Mainly because one-sided or left side neglect is a real thing. Google it! I've crashed my wheelchair into a number of things on my left that weren't there. Not great for driving.
I've been driving my side by side around the neighborhood, but I have not driven a car on an official road yet.
This entire post has been typed with my right hand. I'm Working on technology and other alternatives such as https://www.tapwithus.com/ (Borrowing one next week. Thank you, Gage! ) and speech recognition to help with typing.
I''m eternally thankful for:
At this point, I need continued positive thoughts and prayers. If you have direct experience with stroke recovery, I'd be especially interested in connecting,
One of my near term goals is to be able to get up by myself if I fall. Right now, I need help--almost there though!
My employer, Logic 20/20, has been totally supportive through all of this. I'm currently easing back into working, and am planning on engaging with clients again soon!
Update on Feb 16, 2022:
uioui
Yes, of course! Just shoot me an email.
Please email me at mrmikev@msn.com.. If it turns out we should talk, I'm happy to exchange numbers.