DOCTOR'S UPDATE

THIS PREVIOUS MONDAY I SAW MY NEUROLOGIST SO HERE IS THE UPDATE.

1. I'M ABLE TO LIFT UP TO 30 POUNDS NOW.

2. PT WILL NOW FOCUS ON BUILDING UP STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE. WHILE STILL CHECKING MY BALANCE.

3. SWALLOWING THERAPY WILL CONTINUE.

4. MEMORY AND COGNITIVE THERAPY WILL ALSO CONTINUE. I'M GETTING BETTER WITH DEDUCTIVE REASONING AND NOW WE ARE WORKING ON THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. IT WAS INTERESTING LAST NIGHT I ATTENDED MY FIRST SCHOOL FUNCTION WITH ZACHARY AND A PARENT, WHO I KNOW, CAME UP TO ME AND ASKED ME WHERE I HAVE BEEN/ I TOLD HER I WAS RECOVERING FROM A BRAIN BLEED. SHE'S A SPEECH THERAPIST AND SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE WONDERED BECAUSE MY SPEECH RATE WAS SLOWER AND IT SEEMED TO TAKE ME A BIT LONGER TO PROCESS INFORMATION. KIRK THOUGHT THAT THIS INFORMATION MIGHT UPSET me BUT IT DID NOT. I WAS THANKFUL THAT SOMEONE WAS HONEST WITH ME AND AT THE SAME TIME I WAS ABLE TO SAY THAT IT WILL EVENTUALLY IMPROVE.

5. IN MARCH THE OT AND PT WILL WORK WITH ME ON DRIVING AND I HOPE TO BE DRIVING ALONE BY THE SUMMER. I'M TRYING TO BE REALISTIC, BUT IT IS HARD.

6. I'LL HAVE AN EKG DONE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BETA BLOCKERS ARE WORKING WELL.

7. MY FOCUS AND VISION ARE NOW RECOVERED, WHICH FEELS GREAT.

8. STILL CANNOT GO TO THE GYM BY MYSELF. HOWEVER, I CAN BIKE AND WALK AS LONG AS SOMEONE IS WITH ME. I CANNOT WAIT TO HAVE MY ALONE TIME AGAIN.

The bleed has really changed my life for both the good and the bad. I no longer take my life for grant it. I know I say that a lot but when you go through a life and death experience you really feel this. On the flip side, it sucks to go through a long recovery process and life is different for me right now and I think life will be different for me moving foreward. I now know that I will need to make accomdations for myself, such as writing almost everything down, and I'm becoming quite the skilled note taker. It also takes me longer to process conversations and reply back to the speaker, but this I can live with.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF THE SUPPORT, WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT, PRAYERS, AND LOVE.

WILL UPDATE AGAIN IN ANOTHER MONTH.