No cardiac rehab for now...the pain that Dave has had in his calf for almost a month turned out to be a blood clot. Fortunately, it was caught before he started working out, although he had a stress test done the morning before the blood clot was confirmed....it was actually Dave's physical therapist - Andy - who caught it and said that something wasn't right with this pain not clearing up. Sure enough, there it was in ultrasound...thank God again for no disasters while having the stress test.
Dave has been a little downhearted since then. He really wanted to crank things up and start getting his heartrate up, but not for now. I honestly don't know how long they will want him to wait. In the meantime, he is frustrated by spasms that he has in his "sleepy" leg at night. They pop up about every 2-3 minutes, like clockwork, and his leg zaps. AFter several sleepless nights, he is taking an anti'seizure drug and that seems to do the trick.
We got a call back today with the results of Dave's echocardiogam which was done in conjunction with the stress test. It appears that Dave's ejection fraction has not improved as of yet.
It is nice that we have this week off from therapy every day. We are looking forward to Brian arriving tonite from MN , and Sarah driving in from Chicago tomorrow. They are both excited about seeing Jessie! Who could resist her!!
We had hoped to drive out to Grand Haven this weekend and say hello to all of our "second family" nurses, doctors and friends. It looks like due to the bloodclot we will delay this a bit. CAn't wait to see everyone!!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Pet therapy!!
After a busy week of physical therapy, Dave and I stopped at the humane society on the way home and fell in love with a stray , three month old chesapeake bay retriever/labrador retriever mix. We didn't plan on it, but we had hoped to eventually find a replacement for Mickey, our beloved terrier mix who was also a humane society adoptee. Mickey passed away this past spring.
So, we were able to adopt "Jessie" our sweet baby...and she is absolutely wonderful. The plan is that Jessie will be Dave's dog. For now, I am the person responsible for most potty training, etc., but she has been very cooperative and is getting the idea fast. She doesn't mind her crate but isn't anxious to walk into it without a push...she was neutered by the vet at the humane society and got her shots, so she is off to a good start...its hard to believe that anyone could let this gorgeous loving animal out of their sight long enough to lose her.
Dave was lying on the couch tonite after I took Jessie for a walk. When I let her in the house, she found him and jumped up on his chest an laid down for a snuggle. She is big on snuggling.
Next week, wow, I guess thats tomorrow!, Dave will be getting started with cardiac therapy, working out on equipment while being monitored as to his heart status. This makes me feel safe about his exercizing.
We will also be having an updated with the other therapists as to any limitations Dave might currently have and how we may approach repairing any damage.
All we know is that we are happy with the progress that Dave has made so far. We will just pray that he can continue to improve...it would be wonderful if he could get the full use of his right hand and right foot so that he could walk more easily, although he does okay without feeling everything fully.
Hope that you all are well , love, Dave, Melody, and Jessie!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Look how far we've come!
The first two photos were taken before Dave's stroke, while he was in intensive care. The memories of those a few days afterwards when he was moved out of ICU. The last two photos are the week before he left the hospital in Muskegon for rehabilitation in Chelsea, MI. I will try to take some updated photos soon.
Love, Melody
Friday, November 2, 2007
It's a Beautiful Day
It's Friday and for once this week, Dave and I have a morning off from having to be somewhere for a Dr's appt or physical therapy. It's a nice break, in fact we are laying around in our jammies, watching Ellen on TV...laughter therapy is the best!! Thank God for people who make us laugh!
Dave is really doing so well. The brain is a miraculous thing...how it can find new pathways to accomplish things that damaged areas can no longer do. For those of you who don't know, Dave also had a stroke several weeks into his hospitalization for the heart attack. Somehow, a small piece must have broken off of the clot that had formed in Dave's heart, and travelled to his brain. I noticed a change in DAve's vision and notified the DRs who did a CAT scan and found the stroke damage in his brain.
Please don't feel upset if this is the first that you have heard this news...DAve is doing great! As Sarah says, the stroke must have activated her Dad's "happy brain" and he is very upbeat and even his humour has improved...his joke telling ability is better too!!
Sure, there are times when he is tired and frustrated...it is very frustrating for him to have me chastise him for going down the stairs to the basement and doing things that he shouldn't take the risk of doing. It is important that DAve not have any falls or serious bumps due to all of the blood thinners he is on, so I have to "reign him in" occasionally from doing something that he thinks he can do, but perhaps shouldn't risk.
Last night, when giving him a hug, I felt a big lump on his side that hadn't been there before. on removing his shirt, I found a egg size lump with a bruise color on top - a hematoma I guess - I called the Dr., he said not to worry as long as it didn't enlarge, and we seem okay this am, but this is the sort of thing we have to be on top of. Also, for those of you who have never had a loved one on blood thinners, he has to have his blood drawn twice weekly to check his "INR" levels to make sure they are in an acceptable range - with this monitoring, he is told how to adjust his cumidin levels daily. I admit that the drugs and dosages can be confusing and wonder how the elderly or alone do this without help or a clear mind...I have already had to double and triple check the weekly pill holder to see if I had done it right. He takes 10 pills each am, and several at night...thank goodness for his iron stomach...I get sick to my stomach with one vitamin!!
When we go to the physical therapy clinic in Ann ARbor, it is a daily reminder of how fortunate we are and how much others less fortunate are dealing with. Physical therapists are able to improve the lives of many people, and I wish that I had chosen an education that had given me the skills...perhaps I will still choose to do something such as this before I am too old to help. Maybe part of God's plan is to remind me of my desire to help others and to help me find out how I can best do that. There are so many people who need our encoragement...Dave is fortunate in that he has family and friends who love him...what about all of those people who aren't so blessed?
Another gift that has come out of the ordeal of the last two months is that Dave has learned that he really is loved for who he is...I don't think that he realised it before. The emails, phone calls, cards and prayers have done so much for him and for me, not in the least has been the visible fact that they have shown Dave that he is loved by the people he has daily contact with. I think that he thought he was invisible in many ways or that he hadn't made many friends...it is obvious that he was wrong and that good, kind, genuine people like DAve are noticed...that is reassuring to all of us , especially when we start to believe that life doesn't reward good people...it does, just not perhaps in the ways that we expect.
I like to get up in the early morning , turn on the gas fireplace, get a cup of coffee while Dave sleeps, and watch the daylight come. We live in downtown Northville and at that time of Day it is still quiet. Before long, the sun starts to come up and all of the birds start to chatter...we are next to a wall of ivy vines that cover the building next to us, and it is often full of birds in the morning and early evening. They are like an alarm clock going off! There are two huge old maple trees behind our house and they litterally light up when the early sun hits their leaves which are bright yellow fall colors - they still haven't fallen to the ground. I hope that they can hold on a bit longer before the dull days of late November come.
We are looking forward to a visit from Sarah this weekend. She is driving up from Chicago and taking a long weekend to be with us. I think that the weather is supposed to be nice and maybe we will hit the cider mill here in downtown Northville.
Dave and I hope that you are having a wonderful autumn and that every day brings you joy.Feel free to call us anytime - 248-505-7277, or to visit. He is definitely up to it, and we often go out for lunch or dinner if I'm tired of cooking. I have never been particularly good at being home full time, so I have been dragging Dave around on errands etc, and he has been very good about putting up with it. I think that he gets tired of being housebound too.
Love to all,
Melody and Dave
Dave is really doing so well. The brain is a miraculous thing...how it can find new pathways to accomplish things that damaged areas can no longer do. For those of you who don't know, Dave also had a stroke several weeks into his hospitalization for the heart attack. Somehow, a small piece must have broken off of the clot that had formed in Dave's heart, and travelled to his brain. I noticed a change in DAve's vision and notified the DRs who did a CAT scan and found the stroke damage in his brain.
Please don't feel upset if this is the first that you have heard this news...DAve is doing great! As Sarah says, the stroke must have activated her Dad's "happy brain" and he is very upbeat and even his humour has improved...his joke telling ability is better too!!
Sure, there are times when he is tired and frustrated...it is very frustrating for him to have me chastise him for going down the stairs to the basement and doing things that he shouldn't take the risk of doing. It is important that DAve not have any falls or serious bumps due to all of the blood thinners he is on, so I have to "reign him in" occasionally from doing something that he thinks he can do, but perhaps shouldn't risk.
Last night, when giving him a hug, I felt a big lump on his side that hadn't been there before. on removing his shirt, I found a egg size lump with a bruise color on top - a hematoma I guess - I called the Dr., he said not to worry as long as it didn't enlarge, and we seem okay this am, but this is the sort of thing we have to be on top of. Also, for those of you who have never had a loved one on blood thinners, he has to have his blood drawn twice weekly to check his "INR" levels to make sure they are in an acceptable range - with this monitoring, he is told how to adjust his cumidin levels daily. I admit that the drugs and dosages can be confusing and wonder how the elderly or alone do this without help or a clear mind...I have already had to double and triple check the weekly pill holder to see if I had done it right. He takes 10 pills each am, and several at night...thank goodness for his iron stomach...I get sick to my stomach with one vitamin!!
When we go to the physical therapy clinic in Ann ARbor, it is a daily reminder of how fortunate we are and how much others less fortunate are dealing with. Physical therapists are able to improve the lives of many people, and I wish that I had chosen an education that had given me the skills...perhaps I will still choose to do something such as this before I am too old to help. Maybe part of God's plan is to remind me of my desire to help others and to help me find out how I can best do that. There are so many people who need our encoragement...Dave is fortunate in that he has family and friends who love him...what about all of those people who aren't so blessed?
Another gift that has come out of the ordeal of the last two months is that Dave has learned that he really is loved for who he is...I don't think that he realised it before. The emails, phone calls, cards and prayers have done so much for him and for me, not in the least has been the visible fact that they have shown Dave that he is loved by the people he has daily contact with. I think that he thought he was invisible in many ways or that he hadn't made many friends...it is obvious that he was wrong and that good, kind, genuine people like DAve are noticed...that is reassuring to all of us , especially when we start to believe that life doesn't reward good people...it does, just not perhaps in the ways that we expect.
I like to get up in the early morning , turn on the gas fireplace, get a cup of coffee while Dave sleeps, and watch the daylight come. We live in downtown Northville and at that time of Day it is still quiet. Before long, the sun starts to come up and all of the birds start to chatter...we are next to a wall of ivy vines that cover the building next to us, and it is often full of birds in the morning and early evening. They are like an alarm clock going off! There are two huge old maple trees behind our house and they litterally light up when the early sun hits their leaves which are bright yellow fall colors - they still haven't fallen to the ground. I hope that they can hold on a bit longer before the dull days of late November come.
We are looking forward to a visit from Sarah this weekend. She is driving up from Chicago and taking a long weekend to be with us. I think that the weather is supposed to be nice and maybe we will hit the cider mill here in downtown Northville.
Dave and I hope that you are having a wonderful autumn and that every day brings you joy.Feel free to call us anytime - 248-505-7277, or to visit. He is definitely up to it, and we often go out for lunch or dinner if I'm tired of cooking. I have never been particularly good at being home full time, so I have been dragging Dave around on errands etc, and he has been very good about putting up with it. I think that he gets tired of being housebound too.
Love to all,
Melody and Dave
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