Catching Up

It's a cold morning here in South Carolina. We aren't accustomed to this kind of cold weather around here! It snowed on Saturday, which made many people very happy since we rarely see snow here.  This morning, I'm watching the snow out the window as I drink another cup of coffee and think about things.

I would love to be sitting with each of you, sharing coffee and having a chat. But since that isn't possible, I will use my keyboard to catch you up on what's been going on in my world.

In many ways it's hard to believe that almost eight weeks have passed since I had my stroke. In other ways, it seems like this has been part of my life for a very long time! Over these last few weeks, I have been learning a lot about strokes. The type of stroke I had is a "bleed", and my right side was affected. I spend a lot of my time these days at Doctor's offices and at therapy! In between, I'm either napping or working on my "homework" assigned by my therapists.

Last week was a milestone in my progress. For starters, I no longer require a cane or a crutch. But the even bigger deal is that am no longer wearing a patch on my eye! Since I was at rehab I have worn an eye patch, switching it from one eye to the other ever two hours. I was told this would eventually eliminate my double vision, something that had been a problem ever since the stroke. I didn't really believe it would help, but the doctor said it would, so I did what I was told. Well, he was right and I was wrong! I no longer have double vision! I still can't see well, but I will be seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist soon to deal with all of that. (And, by the way, getting that word written correctly was quite a challenge!).

Speech and memory are the areas where I continue to have the most difficulty. I have made great improvements in speech, and can carry on short conversations with no real problems. When I am tired, or when conversations are long, I still struggle. Reading and writing remain the biggest challenge. Writing is improving slowly. And strangely enough, writing on the computer works better than using pen or paper or phone. Reading is the most challenging, which causes me great frustration since reading is one of my greatest pleasures.

Things that used to be so simple are now very challenging. Every day I am grateful for all God has brought me through, but I confess that these challenges often bring me great frustration. It has become my daily prayer that God will help me to grateful. That I will focus my attention on the I can do and that I will not stress over what I can't.

Maybe you could pray with me!