It's a banner year
June/24, 2008 10:38 AM
If you're looking for a family with some unusual health challenges this year, we're your poster children. Let's take a look:
1. Ami broke her ankle.
2. Cookie (our first dog of 2008) got distemper and died.
3. Anna broke her right arm.
4. Ami had a (minor) stroke on Friday.
O.K., sorry for burying the lead. Ami having a stroke last week should probably be the first on the list.
But the good news is, she's almost completely recovered.
Anyway, here's the story: About midday Friday, she noticed some muscle weakness and numbness in her hand and foot on her left side. That sounds unusual enough, but she's a regular migraine headache sufferer, so she wasn't initially alarmed. She was at work, though, so they also discovered that her blood pressure was pretty high. Eventually, she found her way to an emergency room, and after two CT scans and an MRI, it was determined that she had, in fact, had a small stroke.
The next 36 hours are a bit of a haze. Anna's sixth birthday party finally happened on Saturday. Ami was moved to ICU and underwent a variety of tests. We saw her for a short visit Saturday evening. Then, Sunday, she was told she could come home, so she did. By now, she'd finally had a little sleep and something to eat, so was feeling a lot better. So good, in fact, that about 90 minutes after getting home, she went to a PTA meeting.
She continues to have some difficulty using her left hand (which she writes with), and tires a little more quickly than usual. But otherwise, she's doing great. We feel like we've dodged a bullet, though the doctors are still trying to determine what gun fired it.
At any rate, the most amazing part of all this has been the kindness of our neighbors, friends, coworkers, and family. People have been calling, e-mailing, and stopping by virtually nonstop to offer help. I couldn't have gotten through Anna's party without the family help, and our neighbors have been helping with the kids and are bringing dinners this week to help lighten the load a bit. It's not really necessary, but it's much appreciated because it's one less thing for us to worry about.
So where are we now? It's hard to say. Ami will be going to therapy to try to help her strengthen her left hand and regain the lost function. She also is having minor outpatient surgery on Friday that we hope will help prevent another incident. And we'll continue to work with the doctors to try and figure out just what's happened.
Thanks to all.
1. Ami broke her ankle.
2. Cookie (our first dog of 2008) got distemper and died.
3. Anna broke her right arm.
4. Ami had a (minor) stroke on Friday.
O.K., sorry for burying the lead. Ami having a stroke last week should probably be the first on the list.
But the good news is, she's almost completely recovered.
Anyway, here's the story: About midday Friday, she noticed some muscle weakness and numbness in her hand and foot on her left side. That sounds unusual enough, but she's a regular migraine headache sufferer, so she wasn't initially alarmed. She was at work, though, so they also discovered that her blood pressure was pretty high. Eventually, she found her way to an emergency room, and after two CT scans and an MRI, it was determined that she had, in fact, had a small stroke.
The next 36 hours are a bit of a haze. Anna's sixth birthday party finally happened on Saturday. Ami was moved to ICU and underwent a variety of tests. We saw her for a short visit Saturday evening. Then, Sunday, she was told she could come home, so she did. By now, she'd finally had a little sleep and something to eat, so was feeling a lot better. So good, in fact, that about 90 minutes after getting home, she went to a PTA meeting.
She continues to have some difficulty using her left hand (which she writes with), and tires a little more quickly than usual. But otherwise, she's doing great. We feel like we've dodged a bullet, though the doctors are still trying to determine what gun fired it.
At any rate, the most amazing part of all this has been the kindness of our neighbors, friends, coworkers, and family. People have been calling, e-mailing, and stopping by virtually nonstop to offer help. I couldn't have gotten through Anna's party without the family help, and our neighbors have been helping with the kids and are bringing dinners this week to help lighten the load a bit. It's not really necessary, but it's much appreciated because it's one less thing for us to worry about.
So where are we now? It's hard to say. Ami will be going to therapy to try to help her strengthen her left hand and regain the lost function. She also is having minor outpatient surgery on Friday that we hope will help prevent another incident. And we'll continue to work with the doctors to try and figure out just what's happened.
Thanks to all.
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