Ray Mitchell Ray's Recovery

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

As most of you know, dad, had a stroke on 5/15.  He was taken by ambulance to Piedmont Henry and transferred later that day to Piedmont Atlanta. Henry is not equipped to handle stroke victims and  treat higher level trauma strokes.  After the first couple of days, the doctors started talking about his rehab recovery and wanted us to come up with 3 places we would like for him to go.  Of course Karen , my sisters & I, and the rest of our family wanted Shepherd Center but its super hard to get in there.  My dad's niece Sherri was able to make a call  to a friend who made a couple of calls and within a 2 days we had a bed at Shepherd.  Praise sweet Jesus!  They moved him on  5/22.  Unfortunately with COVID-19, no one can be with him.  That has  been the hardest thing for all of us I think.  Karen was able to spend the first day with him  and then again on Monday, 5/25.  He was in very good spirits and excited to get to work. They had golf golf clubs and fishing poles for him to use for part of his PT when he is able.  He loved that!  He said the facility and staff were very nice, not so hospitaly (?), and the food was much better.  He had is first PT session on 5/23 and he worked for several hours, it kicked his bootie.  But, that's what we want and what he needs! 

Fast forward to 5/26,  he had a slight set back.  After several tests, the doctors discovered he had a UTI and an infection is his blood.  This week has been tough.   He has been running a fever, throwing up, and out of it since Tuesday.  The doctors told Karen it would take a few days for the antibiotic to kick in because the infection was into the bloodstream.  The doctor said tonight he was a little more alert and he was able to talk on the phone for a few minutes.  However, they also discovered that he has some thickening in his esophagus lining.  They will be doing a scope on Monday to be sure nothing else is going on.  He does have acid reflux, so hopefully it's due to that.

The stroke affected the right side of his body. We know he has a long road ahead of him.  He will be at Shepherd at least 6 more weeks and will probably have out patient PT or at-home PT when he is released.  Karen will go back closer to time for him to leave to learn about his at-home care.  We do have a ton of resources available to us to learn about brain injuries, care, counseling, etc.  It has been overwhelming to say the least.  We know this is in God's hands and we have faith in Him even in uncertainty.   We are so thankful for all of the thoughts and prayers and family and friends that have reached out to us.  Please keep those prayers and good thoughts coming.  


We love you all, 


Karen, Kim, Michelle, and Tracy