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

SAYING HI!

I'M GETTING BETTER, BUT IT IS A SLOW PROCESS!

WHEN ONE HAS A STROKE, THE CELLS OF THE BRAIN DIE, IN THAT AREA WHERE THE CLOT IS....................AND SO, THE BRAIN IS ABLE TO REGENERATE ITSELF, IN OTHER AREAS OF THE BRAIN..................../AND SO, IT IS LIKE LEARNING EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN.................REMEMBERING THINGS..............LEARNING TO SPEAK AGAIN................IT TAKES EFFORT......

YOU MAY SAY, IT IS VERY TIRING.............EXHAUSTING.  THE STROKE PATIENT SLEEPS ALOT, TO REGENERATE THE BRAIN..............LIFE MOVES SLOWLY, NOW FOR ME.....  I HAVE TO RE-PROCESS MYSELF/

TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY.  WE WENT OUT TO THE STORE.  I GOT A HAIRCUTE AND MANICURE..........

JIMMY BROUGHT ME A BEAUTIFUL BRIDAL BARBIE DOLL, WITH A GLISTENING GOWN

MY SISTER, WHO SPENDS 3 MONTHS IN ARUBA EVERY YEAR, SENT ME A VASE OF LOVELY FLOWERS!

JIMMY SHOWERED ME WITH MANY BOUQUETS OF FLOWERS!

GOTTA GO NOW!

..........FRAN

i'm home!

WELL I'M HOME!

GETTING ADJUSTED...............JIMMY IS THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!..

TAKING IT SLOWLY..........

RIGHT NOW, I AM ONLY ABLE TO DO A LIMITED AMOUNT OF THINGS..............IT TAKES ME TIME..BUT KNOW I'LL GET BETTER, WITH  EACH PASSING DAY......

THE  STOKE WAS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF MY BRAIN, WHICH AFFECTED MY SPEECH AND LIMITED CONGENTIVE ABILITY..,.............I HAD LIMITED BALANCE OF MY LEGS.....OFF BALNCE............MUSCLES OF THE FACE AND MOUTH WERE DROOPING.................

CT OF THE BRAIN SHOWED I HAD PAST STOKES...........5 STOKES............PROBABLY WHEN  JIMMY WAS IN ;PRISON, DUE TI THE STRESS.................AND THIS WAS A LARGER STOKE, THIS TIME...............

IT IS A SCARY THING.................

AND NOW I'M ON MY ROAD TO RECOVERY!

THINGS ARE FALLING INTO PLACE............

NOW EXCUSE ME..............JIMMY IS CALLING ME TO BED!..................GOTTA GO!

........................................FRAN

Fran is Home.

Thank You LORD................

Thank you all our friends for your prayers.

She is just home, with 5 day a week(X 2 times a day),  home therapy, plus 12 Prescription. She is happy, sleepinn with dog and cats wrapped around her.

She will make a entry later today, it is all she has been talking about.

LOVE you all          Jimmy

 

A new Update

OK, my friends, Fran is working on her recovery. Our insurance company just approved her stay until February 6, it can be extended if need be. I hope to God not, I want her home. The dog and cats are depressed,  I can not sleep without her.

Her recovery has its' up and downs, that all I can say. I will try to write a longer detail entry in the next few days. I owe a lot of you telephone calls, there is no excuse, it is I just do not have it in me.

God Bless               Jimmy

Update 1/28/2007

Hey Everybody,

Fran was moved today, across the street to the rehab center. I do not know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Over Doctor told us, to expect to be there 2 to 4 weeks.

The first day was very hard on her, they run you through the mill when you get in.

The truth is gang, it feels like a half way house to me. Tomorrow Monday I HAVE to go back to the job, I pray to God she will be OK while I am gone.

Love all of you..................thank you

Jimmy

Fran Update

Hello all of Fran's friends,

It is now Thursday morning, Fran is stable. Her speech is slurred, sometimes her words are understandable and her sentences are coherent, but if she is tired there no difference then <SPAN class=spell id=sp-1 title="No Suggestions" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; BACKGROUND-POSITION: left bottom; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://sdk.webmail.aol.com/sdk/20051001/images/bg_spellingErr.gif); PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px; CURSOR: pointer; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 2px; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x; BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow" _backupTitle="null"> she first had the stroke. The left side of he face has a slide droop. Her legs are weak. BUT thank you God, she is otherwise well.

The Neurologist told us today, he first concern is for this NEVER to happen again to her, then he will work on the return of her speech.

Fran and I thank all of you for your well wishes and your prayers.

MandyMeMe, thank you so much for the beautiful flowers, you made both of us cry , for we felt your love. And, no neither of our families moved as fast as you or did as much. Thank you again.

I got home a few hours ago, I around  am going back around  6 am, I will bring my lap top with me, hopefully I will be able to get Fran to dictate a entry to me for all of YOU.

God Bless All of you, and we will never forget any of you.

JIMMY