CHRISMAS AT KINTOCK..2006...REASN FOR MY STROKE

IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG UPHILL BATTLE FOR ME.  SO NOW, I WILL TRY TO FILL YOU IN ON THINGS.

AND FOR ALL OF MY FELLOW PRISON WIVES, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES.....................PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT TAKE IT ALL TO HEART , AS I HAVE.  FOR ME, I TOOK  IT VERY MUCH TO HEART, TO HAVE A HUSBAND IN PRISON.  AND IF YOU REMEMBER, HE WAS SENT BACK , UNNECESSARILY CHRISTMAS 2005................AT THAT TIME,  BECAUSE OF THE SHOCK, I STAYED HOME ALONE, AND I KNOW I HAD A STROKE................ONE OF THE 5 OR 6 STROKES THAT WERE FOUND IN MY BRAIN CAT SCAN.

SO, PLEASE DON'T DO IT TO YOURSELF............PRISON WIVES, DO NOT MAKE YOURSELF  SICK, AS I HAVE.  AND NOW, IT IS A LONG UPHILL BATTLE..........................SOMEDAYS ARE GOOD..SOME ARE  BAD.

IN THE BEGINING OF JIMMY COMING HOME, I TRIED TO SHOW YOU ALL HOW  HAPPY AND UPBEAT I WAS...............AND SOME OF YOU CRITICIZED ME FOR IT.

SO NOW LIFE IS VERY HARD FOR ME, HEALTHWISE.

LET ME BACKTRACK...........AFTER THE STROKE IN JANUARY, I DEVELOPED ACUTE BRONCHITIS..........A WEEK LATER I WAS BACK IN THE HOSPITAL..........I WAS WHEEZING, SHORT OF BREATH, AND UNABLE TO WALK MORE THAN 5 STEPS DUE TO THE SOB...............I WAS HAVING BROCHSPASMS............I JUST COULD NOT BREATH...................AND SO, I WAS GIVEN NEBULIZER TREATMENTS, AND GIVEN IV, AND THEN PO STEROIDS..........COUGH SYRUP, ONCE AGAIN ANTIBIOTICS..............THE WHEEZING LASTED A FEW WEEKS.

MY PULMONARY DOCTOR DID A PUMONARY FUNCTION TEST AND SAID MY LUNGS WERE WORKING  50 PER CENT, AND MY PULSE OX, WHILE RESTING WAS 94 PER CENT.

THEN, AFTER THAT , I DEVELOPED LARYNGITIS.   SO FOR THE PAST 13 DAYS OR SO, I WAS UNABLE TO SPEAK.......................I'V BEEN IN AND OUT OF DOCTOR'S OFFICES ALL THE TIME..............EVERYBODY IS FOLLOWING ME............THE MEDICAL DOCTOR, THE ENDOCRINOLOGIST, THE CARDIOLOGIST, THE NEUROLOGIST,THE PULMONARY DOCTOR..............AND YES, I AM NOT ASHAMED TO SAY, I HAVE A PSYCHOLOGIST, AND PSYCHIATIST, WHOM I SEE................THEY REALIZD I WAS UNDER A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF STRESS HAVING A HUSBAND IN PRISON..................THEY HAVE ME UNDER LOW DOSES  OF MEDICATION, WHICH KEEPS ME CALM MOST OF THE TIME...............

THEY REALIZED I WAS A  YOUNG WOMAN TO HAVE A STROKE.............I AM 53.  IT USUALLY HITS  PEOPLE MUCH OLDER.......

HOWEVER, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT MY LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVEL CAME DOWN THIS WEEK TO 80...THE GOOD CHOLESTEROL............IT  THE GOOD CHOLESTEROL.   I AM TAKING 4 STATIN DRUGS FOR THE CHOLESTEROL..................MY BLOOD PRESSURE IS NORMAL................MY HUSBAND WAS TOLD THAT IF I HAVE ANITHER STROKE, IT WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ONE.................

BUT, HOWEVER, I STILL AM SO IN LOVE WITH MY HUSBAND, THAT I WANT TO BE AROUND FOR A LONG, LONG TIME............AND SO JIMMY ALSO SAYS "YOUR MIND CONTROLS THINGS"....................THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS............

THE LITERATURE ABOUT STROKES, SAYS THAT IT IS COMMON TO BE DEPRESSED AFTER A STROKE..........

I TRY TO REMAIN CALM, BECAUSE IF I GET TOO EXCITED, IT IS NOT GOOD.

I STILL HAVE MY SPEECH THERAPISTS, AND PT THERAPISTS...............MY COGNITVE ABILITY IS ALMOST BACK TO NORMAL.

FOR ME, IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO TALK AND PRONONCE THE WORDS..............MY THERAPIST SAYS I STILL SLURR THE WORDS IF I'M NOT CAREFUL............................LIKE DICK CLARK.

ON TOP OF IT ALL, MY VOICE IS VERY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND DUE TO THE LARYNGITIS.......

YESTERDAY, SUNDAY, I TOOK AN OVER THE COUNTER DECONGESTANT...........I WAS ALLERGIC TO IT........IT BLOCKED MY AIRWAYS.............I COULD NOT BREATH......MY AIRWAYS SWELLED..........ONCE AGAIN I WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL......................I WAS IN "ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK"....................IT WAS ONCE AGAIN A BIG EMERGENCY.............I WAS GIVEN IV STEROIDS..............BREATHING TREATMENTS........

TODAY, I FEEL PRETTY GOOD!.............BREATHING IS NORMAL...............VOICE IS RETURNING..........

SO, ALL MY PRISON WIVES..............WHAT MORE CAN I SAY TO YOU?........................SOME LOVE THEIR MAN, AND STAY BY THEM................SOME WOMEN HATE THEIR MAN, AND LEAVE THEM...........

FOR ME, I LOVE MY MAN, AND STAY BY HIM.

AND THROUGH ALL THIS SICKNESS, JIMMY IS TOTALLY DEDICATED AND DEVOTED TO ME.................HE COOKS, HE CLEANS......HE SHOPS...............HE TAKES ME HERE AND THERE..........HE INSISTS THAT I GET BETTER...............HE WILL NOT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY................

HE HUGS ME..............HE KISSES ME...............WE SLEEP EVERY NIGHT IN THE SPOON POSITION...........IN THE HOSPITAL. HE WASHED ME AND BATHED ME...................AND NOW HE WHEELS  ME A ROUND, EVERYWHERE IN A WHEELCHAIR................

THIS MAN SAYS HE WILL BE MY HUSBAND FOREVER.......ETERNITY...................HE SAYS HE WILL TAKE CARE OF ME FOREVER..............

AND HOWEVER DIFFICULT IT IS, I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUE GETTING BETTER EVERYDAY

BYE FOR NOW!..............LET ME GO CLIMB IN BED WITH JIMMY!

                                          FRANJIMMY