Life After Stroke

Stroke

Many changes

Quickly  -  Unannounced -  Devastating

More changes

STROKE

Everything comes to a screeching halt when a stroke hits your family.  It happens suddenly and in only a moment  your life takes a different road - a road no one wants to travel. Stroke is the third largest cause of death with heart attacks first and cancer second.

All diseases as well as accidents create victims of change as it did for me when my husband Jack had a stroke.  I learned to cope, to go on, and I learned more than I ever wanted to learn about strokes, nursing homes and living alone.

It was a balmy July morning when Jack came into the kitchen and said:  “I can’t move my right arm.”

Off we went to the emergency room 11 miles away.  He was transferred to Sun City to have a CAT scan, MRI, and other tests.  Results were good and in three days he was transferred to rehab where he did well.  Two more days and he was able to walk up and down the steps in the hospital. He was released but continued to receive physical therapy treatments.  Life was back to normal, we thought.

We attended Kiwanis Club meetings, ice cream socials, and got through the hot summer. Jack continued to receive therapy and we got through Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then came January.

Jack had another stroke!

I hadn’t seen it coming as things were going along so well, but that morning he had trouble talking and I rushed him back to ER.  This stroke was worse than the first.

He was transferred via helicopter to Barrows Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.  As the helicopter flew away, I sent a prayer with Jack and hoped that he could realize where he was and enjoy the view of Phoenix from the air.  He probably didn’t.

The next day my good neighbors drove me to Phoenix.  It was a big hospital and I learned that Barrows is one of the best in the country for treating stroke victims.

Jack was hooked up to a dozen machines that went “beep, beep, beep.”

There was one nurse in the room for two patients.  I felt he was getting good care.

He didn’t talk but nodded his head to answer our questions.  He knew who we were.

I asked questions and learned there are two kinds of stroke.  One is caused by a runaway blood clot that goes where it is not supposed to go.  It blocks the flow of blood to the brain.  The other kind is known as a “bleeder”.  It is caused when a blood vessel bursts and lets blood go where it’s not supposed to go.

After a week at Barrows, Jack was transferred back to the Wickenburg hospital and it was easier for me to visit him every day.  I soon learned more about extended care units and nursing homes.

The first thing I learned was that the patients are  called residents.  Then I learned the importance of keeping a sense of humor and talking to the residents.

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