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| I went to Outback Australia in 2013 |
I suffered a stroke on October 5th 2009.
My last day of work, at the job I had for twenty-five years, was on September 9th that same year. In effect, I had twenty-five days of early retirement.
Laura and I planned on taking a year off to travel, and then see where life led us. Where life led us was nowhere we had planned.
Fortunately all the heavy lifting of raising two kids and seeing them through university was done. Our daughter Kathryn was teaching in Turkey, and our son David was to leave for a pilgrimage to India on October 6th.
What Happened
I went to get my hair cut that morning, a Monday, but didn't feel all that well - almost like the flu coming on. When I got home, I bugged Laura and David to take the dog out for a long walk, and then lay down on the couch for a bit. I was sitting up on the couch when I felt a warm sensation as my entire right side - arms, legs - went numb. I knew what this was, and fortunately the telephone had been left on the coffee table, instead of in it's stand across the room. I called 911 with my left hand as I slowly started to slide down into the couch - I could no longer prop myself up.
The ambulance took me away, leaving the couch moved and the living room floor littered with the jetsam of a paramedic. Laura and Dave weren't even home from walking the dog. Fortunately one of our neighbors saw me being wheeled out, and she let them know where we were heading.
Diagnosis
I was at Royal Columbian Hospital inside a half hour from the phone call. At this point I could talk and was quite rational about the whole thing. They ran me through a quick battery of tests, and then asked for my approval for TPA - the clot-busting drug. It's supposed to reverse the effects of a stroke - with me it just slowed things down.
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| At RCH before things went sideways |
The next few days are a bit of a blur. A couple were spent in a bed in Emergency, and then I was moved up to Neurology. Other than the right side paralysis, everything else worked just fine.
The final diagnosis was an ischemic stoke (blood clot) in the cerebellum (at the base of the spine). The clot was in an artery the diameter of a hair.
I was transferred to Eagle Ridge Hospital after ten days or so - it was very close to home, and had a stroke rehab facility. I started their program of relearning to walk, and was even able to get day passes on the weekend so I could get out with the family.
Relapse
Somewhere along that path to recovery, near the end of the month, things went sideways. I was having lunch with a good friend of mine (Andrew), and suddenly could not chew. I asked him to wheel me back to the rehab wing, and they ran a bunch more tests. The CAT scan revealed that there was a bruising in the area of the stoke in my brain, and that it would subside with time. It probably did, but the whole adventure cost me to lose my voice and the ability to swallow.
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| Ruth (the physiotherapist) and me learning stairs |
I remained up in a critical care and step-down ward of Eagle Ridge for a couple of weeks. Eventually things stabilized enough for me to get back down to the rehab wing where I picked up where I left off - with the new addition of Speech Therapy.
93 Days
In all, I was in the hospital for 93 days. Near the end, I could get weekend passes so Laura and Dave could pick me up on Friday afternoon and drop me back on Sunday night (Dave cancelled his trip to India to help out).
When I was released I could speak a few words at one time - fortunately for me there was no problem with knowing what to say, how to say it, or being understood when the words finally came out. I could also walk about 1km - but then would have to relax the rest of the day.
Over the entire stay at Eagle Ridge, I had visitors every single day. I'm grateful to all of them! The boost you get from knowing others care is huge. (It's sad to report that one of the young men on the rehab ward with me had no visitors the entire time I was there. He was depressed, and people wondered why.)
After months of tests, the cause of the stroke was undetermined - bad luck.
Long Term
All things heal with time.
When I first had the stroke, we understood that most of the recovery takes place in the first few months. After living through this, I can say that the most noticeable recovery takes place then, but it continues subtlety for years.
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| Even tried catamaran sailing with Dave and Sherri |
I can now speak almost normally - although I could never read a book out loud. I can sustain a conversation, although the voice gets very tired after a couple of hours if it's intense. For some strange reason (the neurologists scratch their heads) I cannot swim and cannot run. I think it has to do with the actual timing of my gait on the right side - fractions of a second slower than the left. I also seem to have this uncontrollable urge to breathe when my head is under water!
Overall, my deficiencies are minor compared to the other stroke survivors I've come to know. The fact I can walk, drive, talk, and ride a bike are things most of them envy.
The Future
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| I celebrated my two year stroke anniversary on Bora-Bora |
I never went back to work - there's no way I could do the job I used to, and certainly don't really want a full time job that ties us down anyway. I've been fortunate enough to have another friend (Dave) who's given me some part-time, home-based work to do.
Laura went back to school in 2010 to become a Early Childhood Educator, and has been working part time over the last three years. She loves it, and is very good at it. Likely what she should have been doing all along.
After stints in Turkey and Australia, Kathryn is back in Vancouver and teaching at a private High School in Richmond.
David has worked for a couple of years in South Korea, and is now getting ready for another adventure in China - teaching Adult Business English this time.
Everything and everyone turned out OK.
