Today marks the 2nd anniversary of Beckys 1st Stroke, it was a Wednesday evening, I got the call at work, to meet the 2 sisters at Lakeview Hospital ER. It was the fastest drive from downtown St.Paul to Stillwater. 

admitting her for observation with potential to go home with stroke orders at that time she had really only lost partial movement of her left arm, but she was still able to walk and stand, the next morning the 5th, she was doing good thinking it was just a small manageable stroke with physical therapy from having a stroke to go home on Friday after her session with PT that afternoon.. Then we got THE call that evening to come ASAP to the hospital because there was a change in her condition, Rita and I couldn’t get there fast enough, we got there and went into see her, I turned back around and left the room because that was not Becky, you could see every sign of a stroke, left face droop, limp arm, she was sleeping very hard and she was really not responding, after waiting for a few hours, is when the Doctor came and told us that 1 of the 3 clots started Evolution (bleed) it was the back one and was the largest one. Transferred Friday 6th to Regions and that were the journey began. 

So Beck has a Frontal lobe clot, Parietal lobe clot, posterior lobe clot, this is the one that did the remainder of the stroke, the clots are not just sitting on the outside of the brain they have tunneled towards the middle inside the brain, people with strokes their brain usually re-routes to relearn, hers keeps hitting the road blocks and will not relearn this is why her recovery has been at a plateau for the last year and half, the stroke doctor and Neurologist said the first 6 months are the most important for recovery, with the severity of the stroke. Yes, we would love her to make a full recovery but. The last appointment we were with the stroke doctor. She had said this is your new normal.. with the 3 areas affected she has multi-focal impairments. She has settled at a Assisted Living Facility in Hudson, she is doing the best she can. She has not gotten Covid (thank the lord) she has been pretty healthy. Until mid-July, Blood sugars elevated to 498! So she has another diagnosis of Diabetes with oral medication with watching her diet. 

It has been a up and down emotionally for her because she does miss her independence and there is a sense of frustration with that. She does use Facebook, Rita and I very much appreciate everyone responding to her posts and being positive, she has always been active with a lot of people and groups, it would be nice for in person visits too.. this past August, Pepper Fest weekend, Leigh Halverson one of her former kings of 30+ yrs posted on the kings PPF site for a visit to her, 5 kings came to visit, 3 from her time, and 2 from current. This was awesome!! She was very happy 😃! 

Too bad more couldn’t come. Rita was there to take pictures. 

All in all, everything has maintained her new normal and right now that’s ok! 

She can have visitors. She is usually in bed by 

6:30 pm, but she is usually in her recliner during the day.

Til next time😀😀

Lisa