Two Years Ago

Two years ago, give or take a day or two – I can’t remember, life changed. I couldn’t remember things. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t walk, well much. I couldn’t understand what had happened.

A stroke had happened.

I was supposed to be well again, after my TAVR. A Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement is a pretty straightforward insertion of a replacement for the aortic valve. It is as good as new. You’ll feel like you are 20 years younger. Unless a hole is poked in the side of your heart. Unless they have to chop your sternum in two to get at the heart. Unless a guy has to hold your heart in his hands while whatever they put on it coagulates and plugs the hole up. One very dedicated guy, Dr. Lampros, held my heart in his hands for half an hour while that happened. And you know, after that I was OK. They kept me in bed and I was feeling better. My wife and mom went home feeling good about my future. I was over the hump.

Then a stroke happened.

A stroke takes many forms. I was lucky enough to be in a hospital talking with a nurse. She noted my symptoms. She had me squeeze both hands. She called in people and I was onto a new adventure. Strokes are, in many ways, worse than a heart attack. I was lucky, the nurse noted my stroke and got me into surgery quickly. They found the clot quickly. I was on to recovery. Sorta.

I could not talk. I sorta mumbled. I was incoherent. It was a couple of days later that I got out a sentence. According to my Mom, I said “I would like something to eat please.” It would be another four weeks before I ate something, something liquid. Solid food came later.

I could not write. I filled half a notebook in the four weeks in the hospital. It was kinda scribble. I kept scribbling. I kept trying.

As you can tell, I never gave up. Haven’t given up then. I still try. I don’t have the vocabulary I used to. I pause mid conversation and try to get works out. I have holes in my memory. So a lot of experiences are new adventures. That is kinda fun. As long as I remember that. And I still can’t walk like I used to. I was up to 10 miles at a stretch. I was on the verge of doing a solo half marathon. Then the stroke happened.

So I’m still working on getting better. Last fall I had another adventure. I’ll describe that later. For now, I am working on getting better than I was two years ago.