DAY 158: AUGUST 2, 2013.\u00a0 My personal Independence Day.<\/p>\n
STATUS CHECK: I had a wheel chair but I used a walker to get around. All the paraphenalia from my stroke (traech, feeding tube, pic line) was gone.\u00a0 I was on a blood thinner and a statin.\u00a0 I was weakened with poor balance but I was independent. Hallelujah.<\/p>\n
I was going home. I couldn’t wait. I was so excited.\u00a0 Paperwork, good byes, and waiting.\u00a0 Finally the hospital released me and I was free.\u00a0 My best friend Mike drove me home. It felt surreal as I entered the blistering Texas heat and got into Mike’s truck; not in a wheel chair, but sitting in the car seat. I was ready to start the next chapter in my life. When I got home, it felt surreal, but familiar and comforting.<\/p>\n
I was living alone for the first time in five months, which presented new challenges.\u00a0 I had to be responsible for taking care of myself. If I fell, I had to get back up on my own. I had to make my own meals, shop for groceries, feed myself, arrange transportation, etc…With independence came work and responsibility.<\/p>\n
I got around the house using my walker.\u00a0 I zip-tied a chair to the side of my bed, to give me something to hold onto when I pulled myself upright in bed.\u00a0 Then I would stand upright and get my walker.\u00a0 And of to the bathroom, I went. I had ordered an elevated toilet sheet, since getting out of a low toilet seat was problematic.\u00a0 I then brushed my teeth and washed up.\u00a0 Then I would make a phone call to my parents at 7:30, a ritual i continue to this day.\u00a0 Originally this was a means to signal to my parents that I was okay.\u00a0 That I hadn’t fallen and injured myself.\u00a0 So the phone call was a signal that all was well.\u00a0 For breakfast, I would have something simple like yogurt and applesauce. Then I would feed the local tribe of feral cats.\u00a0 That was the start to my day.<\/p>\n
The next order of business was to tackle my medical bills.\u00a0 Thankfully my insurance company was great, but I still had to deal with a lot of bills. This involved lots of phone calls. My voice was weak and a little garbled, so talking over the phone required extra effort and patience.\u00a0 It was generally frustrating and thank God I could refer them to my insurance company if there were any disagreements. I would only do two calls a day because they were usually an emotional and physical drain.<\/p>\n
I had my first fall at home.\u00a0 I was opening the door and it was stuck.\u00a0 I gave it a tug and I lost my balance.\u00a0 Down I went.\u00a0 Fortunately, it was onto some empty cardboard boxes which softened my fall.\u00a0 I was alone and as I laid there, I thought “This is the test. Can I get back up?”\u00a0 After much effort, I was able to roll myself over onto my stomach and maneuver myself back up onto my feet.\u00a0 Well that was a close call, but I survived without injury.<\/p>\n
I began my outpatient rehabilitation at Hospital C.\u00a0 I did it three days a week.\u00a0 I would take a cab.\u00a0 I would have one hour each of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. My therapists continued to be great. I was truly blessed.\u00a0 My occupational therapist was Nancy.\u00a0 Her focus was to work on my right shoulder and get it limber again.\u00a0 My physical therapist was Michael.\u00a0 He focused on general strengthening, stamina and balance.\u00a0 John was my speech therapist, where the focus was getting my voice stronger and clearer.\u00a0 As time went on, I continued to get stronger and more flexible with more stamina and better balance.<\/p>\n
I went for daily walks with my walker.\u00a0 I purchased a new type of walker.\u00a0 It had four wheels and a seat to sit on when I got tired.\u00a0 It was more manueverable and using it felt more like walking.\u00a0 I would try to go for a half hour walk every morning.\u00a0 A couple times a week, I would go for a hour long walk to increase my stamina.<\/p>\n
The one thing about my house that concerned me was that there was no handrail on the front porch.\u00a0 I was afraid I would lose my balance coming down the steps and injure myself from the fall.\u00a0 My friends, Eric, Mike and John installed one for me.<\/p>\n
I won my Rotiserrie Baseball league.\u00a0 Sweet!\u00a0 The Spencer Park Howlers are champs.\u00a0 It went down to the last day, but the Howlers won by a nose.<\/p>\n
Originally I was taking a cab to therapy, but I was able to get into a handicapped transportation service provided by the city of Austin.\u00a0 it was a Godsend.\u00a0 Originally I went in a wheelchair on the bus, But I evolved into using my walker to get to van. I would use the service to go to therapy 3 times a week, get groceries, do laundry, doctor appointments, etc. It saved me so much money over cabs.\u00a0 Thank you Austin.<\/p>\n
My second fall was more serious.\u00a0 I was was getting ready to go to bed and I kicked off my sweat pants while standing and lost my balance. Down I tumbled with a thud.\u00a0 Nothing broke my fall this time.\u00a0 I struggled to regain my footing and eventually tumbled into bed, exhausted.\u00a0 This resulted in bruises that looked like angry thunderstorms on my butt and side.<\/p>\n
I graduated from speech therapy first.\u00a0 It was decided that I had progressed to the point that I could continue my therapy on my own.\u00a0 Another milestone.\u00a0 My voice was still weak and I had trouble enuciateing some words, but I could be heard and understood\u00a0 from 20 feet in a somewhat crowded room.<\/p>\n
I continued on with my physical and occupational therapy.\u00a0 After therapy, I would be exhausted.\u00a0 One of the goals of a therapist is to push you to your limits.\u00a0 So by the end of the day, I would drag myself to my ride.\u00a0 All this physical exertion would make me very tired and sleepy.\u00a0 When I got home, I would take a nap. It was being an infant, requiring lots of naps.<\/p>\n
One of the things I did at therapy was biofeedback. Bob was the therapist.\u00a0 He hooked me up with electrodes.\u00a0 Then I would do simple exercises and the electrical activity in my arms or legs were measured.\u00a0 The strength of the signal increased slowly but surely over time.<\/p>\n
As time went on, I would walk without a walker.\u00a0 A belt was attached around my torso by the therapist to help the therapist support me in case I lost my balance.\u00a0 I walked straight legged and a little wobbley, but I walked.\u00a0 Eventually I went outside to walk on uneven ground.<\/p>\n
One of the lingering problems has been ’empathetic’ crying.\u00a0 I used to lean toward stoicism, but now I had lost a lot of control of my emotions.\u00a0 Even romantic comedies or songs could reduce me to tears. I could also get very agitated in conflicts.\u00a0 My voice would rise to a peculiar pitch. But conflicts were rare, except when I dealt with bill collectors.<\/p>\n
My third fall was my worst.\u00a0 I was using my four wheeled walker\u00a0 for my morning walk.\u00a0 My front wheels hit a crack in the road, which caused them to pivot and stop abruptly.\u00a0 My momentum carried me\u00a0 over the handlebars onto the street.\u00a0 I scrambled up to my feet as fast as I could and got off the road. I thought I had broken my wrist, but it was just sprained.\u00a0 I was more careful after that.<\/p>\n
Therapy carried on with the difficulty of the routines ramping up.\u00a0 By the end of the session I was exhausted. Physical Therapy focused on walking, balance, stamina and strength.\u00a0 Occupational Therapy worked on the dexterity of fingers and hands and flexibility.\u00a0 I was also getting driving instructions from Bob.\u00a0 It felt weird to drive again, especially in Austin’s hectic and stressful traffic.<\/p>\n
One of the adjustments to my new life was the change of my social life.\u00a0 I was not married and my family lived in Wisconsin.\u00a0 Ninety per cent of my socializing was in the workplace.\u00a0 Therapy had replaced my workplace. And now that I was back home, I spent a lot of time alone.\u00a0 Loneliness is a common problem with stroke victims.<\/p>\n
As days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, my out-patient days drew to a close.\u00a0 I was given tests to verify my progress and good-byes and well wishes were exchanged.\u00a0 My thanks to Michael, Nancy, Ronnie, Casey, John, Bob and Bob.\u00a0 It takes a village and they were my village.\u00a0 I felt like I was 60% recovered, which was fantastic. It is hard to put a percentage on recovery because there are so many components.<\/p>\n
I would do therapy on my own (cardio and stretching everyday and engage in conversation as often as possible).\u00a0 I am independent, happy and free. And grateful. I left out-patient on January 17, 2014.\u00a0 My doctors tell me I am a miracle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAY 158: AUGUST 2, 2013.\u00a0 My personal Independence Day. STATUS CHECK: I had a wheel chair but I used a walker to get around. All the paraphenalia from my stroke (traech, feeding tube, pic line) was gone.\u00a0 I was on a blood thinner and a statin.\u00a0 I was weakened with poor balance but I was … Continue reading Going Home: August 2, 2013<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/strokepilgrim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}