a stroke survivor story

Well, they are adjusting my BP medicine again. I appreciate the fact they want to minimize how many I take, but it is a little irritating to have a normal BP (130/80 is  normal), and now I have BP readings that are all over the board. In the morning it is normal, and then it ranges from normal, to really high (165/105) at night. I have another appointment on Friday to follow up with the Dr. to try to give me a more normal BP. For the time, I am only on 20 mg of Lisinopril. I used to be on 20 mg of Lisinopril and 5 mg of Amlodipine. Since they took away the Amlodipine, my BP has been crazy. I don't know if the BP is normal while I adjust to the medications, or if I need to be on Amlodipine. The problem is that I want to self-medicate and just take the Amlodipine. The problem is that it may not be the best for me. I guess that I will have to wait until Friday to find out what I will be taking. I know, patience, patience, patience!

Monday was a great day. I went golfing, worked in the garden a little, went to a ball game, went to a concert; and oh, by, the way, i did some work, too. I know I am not back to normal, but it felt like a normal day. I know that this will be a short post, but, it was a great day.

This morning was the first time I have spoken publicly about my stroke. I was asked to speak at the morning Kiwanis club meeting. It was a great time (I don't know if anyone else had a good time, but I did). It felt good to talk publicly about my stroke. The responses are amazing as I tell everyone about my stroke and what the Drs. said about it. I think the most alarming part was when it really sunk into them that every Dr. said that I CANNOT do what I AM doing. Now, I don't want to minimize things, but people generally say, "Well, probably the Dr. said that you SHOULD not be able to do what you are doing. You know, like a 1 in a million chance." Well, I know that that is still miraculous. But, that is not what they said. They have said that I no longer have what it takes to ride a bike, drive, write, type, etc. In other words, medically speaking, I CANNOT do what I am doing. It was really great.  After that, I was able to lead a man to a saving knowledge of Jesus Ch...

I just got back a couple of hours ago from my girls' (8 and 11) dance recital. Most of the times, dads do not enjoy going to the recitals, but this was a great night. The girls are both in the same dance routines: baton and tumbling. They did great. What I was most proud of is that I remember last year seeing the baton girls (my girls did not do baton last year) drop the batons multiple times. I don't know for sure, but I think it was 3 or 4 times each.  This year, neither one of the girls dropped their batons regularly (I think one girl dropped it one time, and that was it). Both girls did great on their tumbling. I wanted to stay for the entire recital, but I could only stay for the girls.  Tomorrow, I get to share my story with 200 or so community leaders at a community prayer breakfast, then I have a VA appointment at 10:00, the girls have another recital at 1:00 and then I have a meeting at 4:00. It will be a busy day, but I am looking forward to it.  Sunday is church memb...

I had to go the VA yesterday to have an MRI to make sure there were no more changes since my stroke. What has happened is that I have had weakness in my left arm and "jumpiness" in my eyes. My neurologist had me do another MRI to make sure there were no other changes, but it is just a reaction in my body to stress and to tiredness since my stroke. My neurologist called me yesterday and told me that there have been no changes in my MRI. Now, that is good, because obviously there are no more changes in my brain. That is also good because it shows definitively that I have nothing impending to worry about, i.e. having another stroke. The bad thing is that the weakness in my left arm, and "jumpiness" in my eyes are permanent. I pray they go away over time, but I cannot count on that. It means that I will have to manage with the weakness for the rest of my life. Whenenver I have a little more stress or a busier schedule, the MRI shows that the weakness is a response to th...

It has been a relatively long time since my last post. I have not been event-less, just busy and that led to me absence from my blog. I do get to speak this Saturday at a community prayer meeting and I will share my story with hundreds of community leaders/entrepreneurs about the power of prayer. My ulitmate goal is to show that sometimes it is not enough to pray one time for someone. It might be, but dedication is important. I am pryaing that everything goes well and I have a great time. I will be busy this week: tomorrow, May 13, I have another MRI at the Des Moines VA to rule out new problems in my brain. I have had weakness that I cannot remember having from the beginning. What they are trying to determine is if the weakness is a new phenomenon or if it is just my body's reaction to stress. On Wednesday night, my girls have a dance recital practice, then on Thursday I have a softball game to go to. On Friday is the first night of the actual dance recital. Saturday is the prayer...

It does not seem possible, but today marks 4 months since my last day in the hospital. It has been a strange road, but it has been good. There have been ups and downs (which you have probably gleaned by now), but mostly ups. I did have a good day yesterday. I was tired, but it was good. I walked for awhile at the VA (I think it is the first time I have walked it WITHOUT a nurse). I spent a little more than 30 minutes there. Then, I went fishing at Marion County Park. i caught a great big stringer of.....NOTHING. Talk about 1:30 you will never get back. Not even a nibble...UGHH. Then I went up to church long enough to figure out that I was tired, but I did get a passage to preach this Sunday. Speaking of this Sunday, I finished preaching at my normal time, and as I was prahing to close the service, I wondered why the pianist was not playing...they always pray during my last prayer as I do an invitation. Then I realized...today is communion! We were in church until 12:05 because I  forgo...