This is a day that comes and goes in most lives, but for me, it is a big event. Today is my 20th Anniversary from High School picnic. Most of these people I have not seen in 20+ years. I have seen a few of them over the years, but it will be a good time. It is a good event in that I almost did not make it to the reunion. I am going to talk to one of my classmates today because he has his own production company, and discovery health will not talk to individuals, only production companies. My story, according to every Doctor I have seen, is very unusual. Every Dr. I have been to has said that by the time the pressure in you brain builds to the point that you have ONE stroke in you brain stem, you do not recover. I had at least TWO strokes in my brain stem, maybe three. It will be a good time; I hope to reconnect with old friends.
On December 8, 2008, my life changed forever. I had a double sided cerebellar stroke with 2 brain stem compressions. It was not until December 10, 40 hours after my stroke, that surgery was finally done to relieve the pressure. Dr. Piper, the neuro-surgeon from Iowa Methodist hospital in Des Moines, told my wife that surgery was nothing more than an attempt to save my life, but that it would not erase the deficiencies as a result of the stroke. Although she admits that she did not really understand what Dr. Piper had just said, my wife, Laura, agreed to the surgery and the care team performed a decrompessive craniotomy, to hopefully relieve the pressure and allow my brain to function somewhat normally. For those who have followed my blog for the last 14+ years, the surgery was successful, I returned to the church and I now live a relatively normal life, although I do have some pretty severe, though not always visible, defieciencies. I really thought that life could not get any worse th
May I assume that you are on some high potassium, vitamin E, etc. diet? I will assume that God has spared your life. My husband just had brainstem strokes back to back-- one that prompted me to take him to the hospital and another while he was waiting in ER. He is still in ICU but their prognosis is that he'll always be fully paralyzed and at best have occasional "locked-in" ability to respond through his eye(s).
ReplyDeleteWas this your prognosis? He is also a pastor and while many people are praying for a miracle many are advising me to honor his spoken desire way before any of this happened- which was if he couldn't do anything on his own- he was not living, and would rather go to be with the Lord... I am torn, and the hospital is pressing for a quick decision...
Hopefully you can give some spiritual support although your recovery was quick on this side of life. Thank you kindly.
The initial prognosis was not good. I was given a 50/50 chance of surviving the surgery, and 30/70 chance of waking up after surgery, and a 0% chance of being "normal" afterward. In my case, the neurologists all are amazed that I can do anything. I should, by all medical accounts, be like your husband: totally paralyzed and only able to communicate on a base level. I will pray diligently for your husband, and I will pray that God give you wisdom to accept the Lord's will. Let me know what happens.
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