Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of David's cardiac arrest while bicycling in Brea.  It's been a real roller coaster ride for both of us.

In early September David completed 36 sessions of cardiac rehab with flying colors.  The staff call it "graduation", so they played Pomp And Circumstance from a phone and presented him with a certificate!  To maintain the physical fitness regimen, David joined the gym where I take group exercise classes.  In addition to working out on gym equipment, he joins my classes which emphasize balance and coordination, range of motion, resistance training, etc.  His weight is holding in the 140 lb. range, down 40+ pounds from his ER admission weight a year ago.

This coming Saturday David will be at Cal State Long Beach at the 2018 Black & Gold Alumni Track Meet.  Last year's event was a week after the accident, and three of his teammates wore red Super Dave capes in his honor as they ran the Alumni Mile Challenge.  That event has been re-named the Miller Mile Challenge, and David will be the honorary starter for the race.  A photo of the cape that teammate Pat Green presented to David during a visit is in the photo gallery.  The cape now hangs on his bedroom door and will be back in Long Beach on Saturday!

The shoulder pain David had for awhile has resolved.  After a cortisone shot at the orthopedic doctor in September, there are no more issues and we canceled this month's follow-up appointment.

We've had a good run of concerts and programs, but that has slowed for the holiday season.  He has several high school alumni holiday events this month, plus some holiday house parties we are looking forward to. 

We still go to a local park several times a week where we pick up carelessly discarded fishing line, remove trash from the lake as we walk around it, and visit with our favorite ducks and other birds.  

In September David had MRA and MRI imagings of the brain as ordered by the neurologist.  We had a follow-up appointment last month and learned that the brain vessels are normal, but there is scarring around the basal ganglia from anoxic encephalopathy.  The neuro PA explained that, as with stroke patients, the first year's recovery is crucial.  After that time, problems can become permanent with less chance of further improvement.

The vocal chords, voice projection and speech clarity remain huge problems.  David has had three different sessions of speech therapy since release from skilled nursing on February 1, in addition to the therapy while an in-patient.  Besides not being suitably audible, the vocal chords issue also causes him to cough and/or choke easily.  The most recent speech therapist says there is no benefit to further therapy ... David simply has to DO the vocal exercises.  He has many, many pages of examples and knows what he needs to do.  

At this one-year point, I am frankly beyond frustrated about his voice.  Bluntly, he spends way too much time ... an excessive amount of time ... texting and chatting and emailing instead of having actual live conversations.  When a social event looms where he'll want to talk with others, he spends a day or two working on his voice.  The rest of the time, no.  He has been reminded by multiple medical professionals of that old saying, "use it or lose it".  IMHO, the best thing that his friends can do for him going forward, is to STOP with the on-line conversations.  Instead, PHONE HIM.  MAKE HIM TALK.  And if you can't hear him clearly or loud enough, MAKE HIM REPEAT HIMSELF until you can.  He CAN do it when he tries hard enough ... but it's that effort that is lacking each and every time.  This is how his many supportive friends can actually help him with further recovery.

On Sunday David posted on Facebook about the daily struggles with his voice, balance, speech and cognitive thoughts.  These are his challenges, but he has also set goals for 2019 of getting back to work, getting his own place, better voice control, better balance and coordination, good health numbers, and the ability to drive again.  His goals are my goals, too.  We have lots of things to work on next year. 

Thank you to all our friends who have been so supportive during this first year of recovery.