Journal entry by Christine Conner —
Hello dear friends. I have several exciting updates to share with you!
Last Sunday I was bored at home and wanted to go do something with Tom. We couldn't think of much to do so I suggested we go to the cabin for the afternoon. It was a really nice day so we decided to go up. It was wonderful to be up there again but I was a little nervous about it. It was pretty surreal for me to be up there and to know that I was totally unaware of anything that happened to me since I called for Tom that my head was killing me and I wanted him to call 911. That's the last thing I remember until the last week in rehab at Lincoln Center. Very strange feeling! I loved the patio extension that Tom has been working on at the cabin for the past several weeks. He is finally done with it and it looks so nice. We had been thinking it would be done in the spring and we'd have all summer to enjoy it! But that didn't happen!!We didn't spend the night and came home around 3:00. We're hoping to go back up within the next couple weeks and spend a night or two.
As most of you know by now, I had my 3rd angiogram a week ago today. They didn't find anything so they don't know where the bleed was. The Dr. said that often they heal themselves (to which Tom & I mumbled "it didn't heal itself, God healed it"!! He said I have a zero chance of it happening again! When I questioned him about that, he said "OK, a .000000000001% chance"!
My PEG Tube was finally removed yesterday! YYIIPPEE!! I now Tom is as excited about that as I am because everyday for the past month he has changed the bandage, cleaned around it and did whatever he could to make me more comfortable with it!! That's not to say that I am not over the moon about it being removed too. It hurt so much of the time and interfered with sleep and rest. I'm praying the healing of the wound will be complete and quick!!
My last great report for the week is that my Speech Therapist released me Wednesday from anymore therapy. She said I'm doing incredibly well and don't need her anymore. That means that my short term memory should be at least as good as before the stroke but it doesn't mean that I have recovered memories from the stroke. Such as being in the hospital and seeing/interacting with people who came to see me or even knowing that people were there. She said that may or may not come back. So all I can say is "thank you all my dear friends" for visiting me, taking care of my precious husband, helping out however you could. We so appreciate you all and feel SO very blessed to have you each as our God-given friends and family!
So tons of positive things have happened lately. The only negative is that my blood pressure has been going up and down. So right now they have taken me off of the Metoprolol (for stroke prevention) for 2 weeks at which time I have to go to Kaiser to have my BP taken and then they will decide what to do.
Sunday we are going to a 60th anniversary party for some very dear friends of ours. They have asked us to give a short talk to the group of attendees regarding how God saved my life and what we have been through!! So thankful that we'll get to share our trust in our mighty God! From the time I was first cognizant of the stroke, I have thought that God allowed this to happen so that He would get the glory and that people would come to know Him better and rely on Him. This gives us an opportunity to share the good news!!
We love you all and are eternally grateful for your love & support during this unexpected journey! We couldn't have gone through this without you!!
Chris & Tom
Last Sunday I was bored at home and wanted to go do something with Tom. We couldn't think of much to do so I suggested we go to the cabin for the afternoon. It was a really nice day so we decided to go up. It was wonderful to be up there again but I was a little nervous about it. It was pretty surreal for me to be up there and to know that I was totally unaware of anything that happened to me since I called for Tom that my head was killing me and I wanted him to call 911. That's the last thing I remember until the last week in rehab at Lincoln Center. Very strange feeling! I loved the patio extension that Tom has been working on at the cabin for the past several weeks. He is finally done with it and it looks so nice. We had been thinking it would be done in the spring and we'd have all summer to enjoy it! But that didn't happen!!We didn't spend the night and came home around 3:00. We're hoping to go back up within the next couple weeks and spend a night or two.
As most of you know by now, I had my 3rd angiogram a week ago today. They didn't find anything so they don't know where the bleed was. The Dr. said that often they heal themselves (to which Tom & I mumbled "it didn't heal itself, God healed it"!! He said I have a zero chance of it happening again! When I questioned him about that, he said "OK, a .000000000001% chance"!
My PEG Tube was finally removed yesterday! YYIIPPEE!! I now Tom is as excited about that as I am because everyday for the past month he has changed the bandage, cleaned around it and did whatever he could to make me more comfortable with it!! That's not to say that I am not over the moon about it being removed too. It hurt so much of the time and interfered with sleep and rest. I'm praying the healing of the wound will be complete and quick!!
My last great report for the week is that my Speech Therapist released me Wednesday from anymore therapy. She said I'm doing incredibly well and don't need her anymore. That means that my short term memory should be at least as good as before the stroke but it doesn't mean that I have recovered memories from the stroke. Such as being in the hospital and seeing/interacting with people who came to see me or even knowing that people were there. She said that may or may not come back. So all I can say is "thank you all my dear friends" for visiting me, taking care of my precious husband, helping out however you could. We so appreciate you all and feel SO very blessed to have you each as our God-given friends and family!
So tons of positive things have happened lately. The only negative is that my blood pressure has been going up and down. So right now they have taken me off of the Metoprolol (for stroke prevention) for 2 weeks at which time I have to go to Kaiser to have my BP taken and then they will decide what to do.
Sunday we are going to a 60th anniversary party for some very dear friends of ours. They have asked us to give a short talk to the group of attendees regarding how God saved my life and what we have been through!! So thankful that we'll get to share our trust in our mighty God! From the time I was first cognizant of the stroke, I have thought that God allowed this to happen so that He would get the glory and that people would come to know Him better and rely on Him. This gives us an opportunity to share the good news!!
We love you all and are eternally grateful for your love & support during this unexpected journey! We couldn't have gone through this without you!!
Chris & Tom
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