Hi everyone, 

I know it's been a while since my last update.  Gary did end up coming home on Friday, September 1st.
That same day, his brother Chris & his girlfriend Lisa and Gary's niece Isabelle & nephew Andrew flew in from the East Coast. It's been years since Gary and Chris have seen each other in person, so it was really nice to visit with all of them for a few days. 

Since he was released, Gary has had a slew of outpatient therapy and doctor's visits including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy (which is mostly focusing on his short term memory since his speech is pretty good), stroke doctor at the rehab hospital, neuro opthamologist, and primary care physician. 

Strokes are hard because every patient's experience is different and everyone's recovery is different.  As time has gone on, we've learned more about Gary's stroke(s) and subsequently what to expect moving forward.  

Gary was most looking forward to the appointment with the neuro opthamologist since his vision is bothering him the most.  We found out that his stroke affected multiple areas of his brain, but as far as his vision goes, he is presenting with a left homonymous hemianopia & diplopia (left visual field deficits & double vision) and partial left third nerve palsy.  The field deficits may never resolve, but the nerve palsy in his left eye is likely to improve over time.  Because of his vision deficits, he can't drive, although if his vision improves in the future, driving may be an option.  He also may be a candidate in the future for prism glasses and/or strabismus surgery (an eye muscle surgery so his eyes can work together).  We will see the neuro opthamologist again in December for a follow up visit.

We were able to see Gary's CT scans when we were at the neuro opthamologist and it was very informative.  He had multiple strokes in multiple areas of his brain: the right PCA territory (right sided stroke leading to the left sided vision issues), left thalamus (memory), posterior limb of the internal capsule (affecting movement & coordination), bilateral hippocampi (memory), midbrain (brainstem area - vision), pons (also part of the brainstem area), and b/l cerebellum (balance).

Gary has been working on occupational therapy at home by putting together an adult lego set that Teresa got us to help with his fine motor skills, handwriting exercises, and memory exercises by playing a card game that was suggested by the therapists.  We are fortunate to have a 'gym' set up in the basement, so Gary has been working out on the rowing machine while I walk on the treadmill.

This has all been quite overwhelming for Gary (as I'm sure you can imagine) and he isn't in the head space yet to speak to everyone, but please know that he is aware that all of you are invested in his recovery and care about us.  Thank you all so so much for everything you've done for us, we really do appreciate it!

I'll try to keep updating everyone, but know that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and and it will take months, if not years, for his recovery journey.

~Liz