One Tough Cookie

Daddy has been working hard at rehab on Mondays and Thursdays and at home the other days of the week with family members. Special thanks to Uncle Gary, Uncle Larry (aka Spook), Aunt Lisa and Chris Ann (family friend) who spend time at the house with daddy so mom can go to work. Each of them put in extra time and work with daddy on his speech and physical therapy. We know it is making a difference and we are SO thankful for each of you!

Daddy is quite steady and self-sufficient using his cane to get around this house. He has a library of words (that may or may not be used at the right time or in the right context) and can be quite chatty at times. His favorites currently are, “I don’t know,” “I don’t care,” and always our favorite “Gah.” I’m pretty sure he also called me a b*tch the other day while I was trying to turn up the tv for him. I laughed at him, he laughed at himself and then we went on watching golf.

Daddy had an echo last week, which was prescribed during his latest stay at Jane Philips hospital in Bartlesville. They saw some slight irregularities in his heart and wanted him to see a cardiologist. We went in to get the results today and found out that in the last 30 days daddy has had multiple injuries to his heart (heart attacks) which leads the cardiologist to believe that there is a significant blockage in his heart. While Dr. T is fairly confident that the stroke didn't bring on the heart attack (or vice versa), the cause could be the same. Daddy will go in for an angiogram on August 6th and we will find out more information. Dr. T feels that waiting a couple weeks will be fine since daddy is showing no symptoms of having chest pains, shortness or breath or blue coloring. Dr. T asked daddy several times if he had experience chest pains or tightness over the last couple of weeks, and daddy gave a confident “no”. Dr. T said there is such a thing as a “silent” attack where the person cannot feel any symptoms. At the end of the day, we know without a doubt, that we have one tough daddy who defies the odds and beats strokes and now heart attacks!

We appreciate continual prayers and are believing boldly for complete healing in daddy’s body. I fully believe God is not done with him on this earth yet!

          #2

Two Month Mark

Today marks two months since Daddy had his stroke. He (along with the rest of the family) have come a long way since then. Here are a few things we've learned along the way:

1. If an ex-pastor, school teacher, and all around socialite has a stroke and is admitted into the hospital, expect a lot (A LOT) of visitors. 
2. If you want to set up a spaghetti buffet in the hallway of the hospital for 10+, good luck. The nurses will shut you down!
3. If you want to get Daddy in the claw foot bathtub, make sure 3+ people are present. One of them being a large male.
4. If a nurse tells your pregnant sister (#1) that she isn't going to let Daddy sit up in a chair, she won't take no for an answer. "If you don't put him in that chair, I will." 
5. DO NOT, under any circumstances leave your phone charger at the hospital. They WILL lose it. (We are 2/2 on this at 2 different hospitals.)
6. If you want to buy your dad a Father's Day TV, be sure to measure their existing cabinet first. And re-measure it after your sister does because she probably got it wrong. (Ahem #2.)
7. Don't change the temperature on the thermostat, even 1 degree, Daddy will notice.
8. When taking apple pie out of the oven, use both hands.

We had our fair share of victories in the last two months and are looking forward to many more successes to come. Daddy is in independent mode these days. He enjoys being able to walk around the house with his cane and doesn't want anyone to "hover" over him. Mom obliges; so far, so good! Daddy is also trying to get back into his old routine. After his therapy sessions yesterday, he directed his brother (who had driven him to therapy) straight to the summer program that grandson 3.1 attends. It's always been Daddy's job to pick him up. 

Daddy attends therapy twice a week at Jane Phillips in Bartlesville. The therapists send him home with homework so he has plenty to do on his days off. Daddy's speech continues to improve. Just last night I got a couple new words out of him. "I'm full" after dinner, and "alright, sleep" once he was ready for bed. Simple phrases mean so much and make communicating and understanding one another so much easier. 

Daddy has a check up echo cardiogram on Wednesday along with an appointment with a dietitian. Of course we are only expecting good results from the echo, and are hoping that Daddy has gained back a few pounds so the dietitian will recommend that his PEG tube be removed, finally!

We encourage phone calls, it's good practice for Daddy and he's more likely to find his words during informal conversation. Mom really likes to put him on the spot. For now, he is usually at home when not at therapy or doctors appointments so feel free to drop by if you're in the neighborhood. He's staying up a little later in the evenings and taking less naps during the day so you're more likely to catch him awake!

On behalf of my mom, sisters and myself, we cannot thank everyone enough for the prayers, support, and hours that people have given these last couple of months. Please keep it up, we are excited to see what improvement the next two months bring!

#3