Stroke Survivor Blog

We think we narrowed down the dizziness to a combination of drugs that just aren’t working for Steve. He was on a Nitro-Patch since the beginning of his hospitalization, and last week the neurologist added Plavix which is a type of super aspirin. At times he felt slight dizziness  before starting the Plavix, but soon after he started it, the dizziness became so severe that it was incapacitating him. So on Saturday on a hunch, he refused to take the Nitro-patch. The dizziness subsided somewhat but didn’t go away completely, so on Monday he refused the Plavix, and that did the trick.

But as a result of not taking the Nitro-Patch, his blood pressure has gone up. This afternoon it spiked to 180/126. It was at one of those times when he felt his heart racing. It was checked again an hour later and it came down to 152/86. The doctor was called and Steve will be seeing him tomorrow (Thursday) to get this all regulated. High blood pressure puts him at a greater risk for another stroke so it’s crucial that it gets under control.

He was feeling down and defeated over the weekend, because it took 4 days for his legs to feel strong enough to walk again after tackling those steps last Friday. There were 21 steps and he went down the stairs and up again without resting in between. So the 42 steps altogether was too many at one time. That’s like doing 42 sit-ups when the most you did before was only 8. You’d be aching for a few days after that too. On Friday he’ll try the stairs again with a rest in between, so we’ll see how he does.

The speech therapist is helping him regain the strength in his voice and also working with him on problem-solving techniques. He’s really struggling in this area and he’s grieving the loss of this cognitive ability, because problem-solving was one of his greatest strengths before. He said he feels like he’s so stupid now.

Even though there were those lows, Steve has made some great strides in his stroke recovery this week. His leg is getting very strong and he can almost lift it up completely by the knee. Now, when lying on the mat, he can swing his leg in and out. Last week he could only swing it in. As he lays on his back with the knees bent up, he can control that left knee to keep it from falling sideways. He couldn’t do that last week.

And his arm….when it’s lying across his chest, he can move it down toward his side using the arm muscles instead of the torso. That he just learned to do last night!! He wants to prove the neurologist wrong when she said he’d probably never have a functioning arm again.

During the night he works hard on moving his leg, arm and fingers as much as he can. This is such a good exercise because many stroke victims tend to ignore the affected side of their body as if its not a part of them.

Another very huge step toward his independence was today when he successfully used the bathroom without any assistance for the first time since the stroke…getting out of the wheelchair, taking care of business, and then getting back into the chair all by himself. This is really a big accomplishment and a boost for his self-esteem to do this very basic thing without aid.

These may sound like such little things to you, but these are great victories and vital to his complete stroke recovery, so we are celebrating each one of these successes.

Please join me in giving thanks to God for giving Steve the victory in these areas. And please pray for the following:

1. That the medication situation will be worked out properly with no more side effects

2. That his blood pressure will be brought within a safe and healthy range

3. That God will give him a sound mind so that he will recover his problem-solving ability

4. That his voice will be strengthened to return to normal again

5. For discouragement to leave him and for encouragement to fill his heart and mind

6. That he will not focus on what’s been lost, but will rejoice over the gains he’s made

7. That we will see God’s greater purpose in all of this

Thank you again for all your prayers and encouragement. You are such a blessing to us, and your support is giving us strength to go through this trial triumphantly.

Love, Kathy