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 the original stroke, not something else. So, today begins a new chapter in my life...I will now have to adapt and overcome to a new challenge: the challenge of weakness and "jumpiness". Am I up to the task? You betcha! Right now, I consider anything upright a big success, so a little weakness will not stop me!
It has been nearly 6 years since I have updated this blog; my apologies. For those that had been following for some time, since I last posted: I stepped down as Senior Pastor at New Covenant church in Knoxville, I moved to Ankeny, Iowa, started a new ministry with St. Croix hospice as Chaplain. I was chaplain with St. Croix for about 4 1/2 years, then in 2020 I moved back to Stratford to pastor First Baptist church. It was a big change going from chaplain work back to the pastorate. I must confess, when I first came (back) to Stratford I was ready to pastor again! I love preaching; I love the ministry of being a pastor, and I love interacting with people long-term. (Being a chaplain is great, but you only interact with a family for a week or so, for some a little longer, but there was a constant upheaval of people and it was exhausting at times...) But, one thing that I have noticed since my stroke is that I get my feeling hurt easily. For instance, people leave the church all the tim
Comments
Post a Comment