Well, it’s been a ride since last time I was able to write a blog! We did enjoy spending time with my family on Easter weekend and then the girls and I were blessed to spend the following week in Wilmington with our family there. Scott arrived just in time for the Montgomery Gentry concert on Friday, the 9th and we got to spend the rest of the weekend hanging out looking at azaleas, watching the parade, and enjoying some much-needed family time. We all drove back to Fayetteville on Sunday afternoon and prepared to resume our “normal” lives….WRONG!!! By Monday night, that plan was rapidly falling apart as my dad had called and indicated that he was experiencing some serious health issues and planned to see his family physician early Tuesday morning, and would I come up and be with him? Of course, I would! So I loaded the van that night and we planned for me to arrive in Virginia at his work before lunch on Tuesday and we would tackle the health problems from there. By Tuesday morning at 6:45 though, there was a message on my phone from him. He had acute paralysis in his left arm and hand, and a coworker had come over to his house and convinced him to call 911 instead of waiting to be seen by his primary care physician. Dad was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where it was determined that he’d had a stroke. We arrived right at lunch time and found him settled into his new “home away from home” in the Neuro Intermediate Care Unit. The Dr.s ran a battery of tests and the results were that he’d actually suffered multiple strokes over a period of at least a month, and that he had severe blockages in both carotid arteries. After this news came in, I called in the big guns and consulted with my “little sister” who is a nurse in the Neuro Critical Care Unit at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. She gave me a huge list of questions to ask, things to watch out for, and possible treatments. We had a consultation with a neurologist, a family care specialist, and a vascular surgeon. The course of treatment that Dad opted for was to wait approximately 2 weeks from the onset of symptoms and then have a carotid endarterectomy on his left side, which was only 70% blocked. Apparently, there’s nothing that can be done for the right carotid, which is 100% blocked – the elevated risk of further stroking during surgery prevents physicians from attempting to clear an artery that’s completely occluded. After we had these consultations, my little brother decided to fly in from California (and thank God too, I needed him at this point!). He arrived on Friday night around midnight and brought his youngest daughter, Olivia, with him. Dad was discharged on Saturday morning and we were to watch him for any further symptoms and help him get to and from his therapy, since he wasn’t supposed to drive. His surgery was scheduled for the 27th, so we got to spend about a week between the discharge and the surgery together. (I did drive the girls home on the 22nd for Katelyn’s kindergarten orientation and we returned to Virginia on the 24th.) We made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare on the morning of the surgery, and everything went very well! Dad was in the O.R. for less than 2 hours, and then was put in the recovery area for about an hour, and then was transferred to the Neuro Intensive Care Unit for an overnight stay. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Justin and I spent that night around a bonfire catching up and renewing our bond (and eating s’mores and drinking some beer, of course…). That was probably my favorite night of the whole time he was here! I miss him so much when he’s in California and it totally caught me off guard when he said “I’m coming home,” so I relished every single second that he got to be here. He said he’s not coming back to the East coast before he deploys, so my only hope to see him again is to get more internet marketing work and buy a ticket to fly out to California before October!!! (And I’m not counting on that, so I made sure to appreciate the time I got!) Getting back to my storyline though, Dad was discharged on Wednesday morning and I went back to Fayetteville with my girls on Thursday afternoon. We spent Thursday night at home and then on Friday, we drove to Southport, where we joined Scott’s mom at her Relay for Life. On Saturday morning, we hit the beach and by Saturday night, we were back in Fayetteville. Sunday meant more road time, though, as we were set to have dinner and spend the night at my mom’s house with Justin and Olivia. We had a great time there and ended up staying Monday night as well. We came back to Dad’s house on Tuesday and Justin and Olivia boarded their plane back to California at 5:30 on Wednesday morning. I plan to return home on Friday, and may spend some time there next week getting caught up on errands and housework. This whole month has been an absolute whirlwind with so many emotions and so much road time and so little sleep, but I am glad to know that my family can pull together in times of crisis and that everything should be ok from here on with my Dad. He’ll always have an elevated risk of stroke since he’s already had several, but with the lifestyle changes he’s made (quit smoking and drinking, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, exercise more, healthy eating choices), he’s increased his odds of healthy living. I am so thankful that he has no debilitating effects of his strokes and that his occupational therapy seems to be helping a lot with his minor motor skills in his left hand. He should be back to normal in a few months! And I, will NEVER be back to normal I fear…
All my love,
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