StrokeSurvivorBlog

Last week at this time, Steve was recovering from an angioplasty with 5 implanted stents that opened up two blocked arteries. Since then, he’s been feeling much better. All chest pain is gone and he has much more energy. He doesn’t sleep as much as he did before, which was on and off about 18-20 hours a day. His blood pressure is notably lower and within safer levels. It had been running around 165/85, and now it’s around 128/78.

His doctor added Plavix, a blood thinner, as a precaution to keep the bare-metal stents open. He will take this for one month, because he is also taking two other blood thinners. He will have his blood checked at regular intervals and his medication adjusted to make sure his blood stays at the right thickness. Too thin can cause bleeding, and too thick can cause blood clots, so it takes some fine tuning.

So far, we haven’t noticed any side effects with the Plavix, and everything is healing up fine. There’s just a little bruising in the groin area where the coronary catheter was inserted.

Now that Steve is feeling better, I hope he’ll be able to get back on track in his stroke recovery. His ankle is still painful and he wears a Lidocaine pain patch on it 12 hours a day. The pain has been such a hindrance to him in his balance and weight bearing on his leg; and it’s only one of several painful areas he endures. His dislocated left shoulder being one of the other ones. He said what he feels in his body is so hard to explain. It’s like his arm and leg belong to someone else. They’re constantly tingling, but yet without real sensation other than pain. It takes great effort and concentration on his part to move any part of the left side of his body. He’s come a long way, but he has a long way to go, and your prayers for him are deeply appreciated.