Tag: strokes

My Caregiving Journey #It’s Six-Sentence Story Thursday Link-Up

In January of 2006, three months after we were married, my late husband Bill suffered the first of two strokes that paralyzed his left side. After several months in a nursing home, therapists determined that he’d reached a plateau and there was nothing more they could do for him. I found a house that could be modified for a wheelchair, and, after the necessary renovations were completed, I brought Bill home in September of 2006. He started outpatient therapy at another facility, and we hoped he would eventually get back on his feet, but in January of 2007, he suffered a second stroke, not as severe. After a couple more months of inpatient rehabilitation, he came home and returned to the outpatient facility. One day in August, when he said the therapists had given up on him and he would never walk again, I resolved to take care of him for the rest of our lives, and what a journey that was!

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Thanks to Girlie on the Edge’s six-sentence story prompt for this week, which inspired the above. To learn how you can participate, click here. You can read more about my caregiving journey in My Ideal Partner, which, along with The Red Dress, is available for free this week from Smashwords. See below for details.

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I’m pleased to announce that from now until March 13^th, The Red Dress and My Ideal Partner are available from Smashwords for free as part of Read an eBook Month. You can click here to download these books.

New! The Red Dress

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Hemorrhage #Poetry #Tuesday Tidbit

Barely coherent, drenched in sweat, he lay on the floor. “What happened?” I asked. His response was unintelligible.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” he told the paramedics. “but if my wife wants me to go, I guess I will.”

“The stroke was caused by bleeding on the right side of his brain,” said the doctor. “He may need surgery.”

“In this case, surgery won’t help,” another doctor told us. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“He’s not strong enough to participate in our rehabilitation program,” said the social worker. “He’ll have to go to a nursing home.”

“I don’t know how much you’ll recover or how long it will take,” a third doctor said. “Continue the therapy, and watch your blood pressure.”

“We’ll work on strengthening your legs and try to get you up and moving,” the therapist promised him.

“They’ve given up on me. I don’t think I’ll ever walk again.”

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The above was recently published in The Writer’s Grapevine, a publication produced by TELL-IT-TO-THE-WORLD Marketing, containing prose, poetry, and advertisements. To subscribe, send a blank email to: writersgv+subscribe@groups.io This poem also appears in my collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. You can click the Play button below to hear me read it.

New! The Red Dress

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A Writer’s Destiny #Essay, #Writing

In January of 2005, I received a letter that changed my life. Being visually impaired, I was in a long-distance relationship with a totally blind man I’d met two years earlier through Newsreel, an audio magazine where blind and visually impaired people can share ideas, music, recipes, and other material. Bill lived in Fowler, Colorado. I lived in Sheridan, Wyoming, where I still am today. We were drawn to each other because I worked as a registered music therapist in a nursing home and his mother lived in one. We met face to face twice when my father and I detoured to Fowler on our way to New Mexico to visit relatives. I thought Bill just wanted to be friends.

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You can read the full article here. Thanks to Ernest Dempsey for publishing this on his blog, Recovering the Self.

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New! The Red Dress

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What Did You Do New Year’s Eve #Wednesday Words, #Excerpt

Two months after Bill and I were married in 2005, we decided to toast the new year with French silk pie from Schwan. At a little before midnight, he served us each a slice of this chocolaty, rich dessert. Then, when he tried to put the pie back in the refrigerator, the dish slipped out of his hand, and the pie ended up on our carpeted kitchen floor. Needless to say, when 2006 arrived, we were cleaning bits of chocolate off the rug. We then ate our slices, laughed, and wished each other a happy New Year, unaware of what the new year would bring.

I don’t know why I didn’t include this in My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds. But the following excerpt explains how Bill and I celebrated our first Christmas and New Year’s after his first debilitating stroke, when he could no longer slice a French silk pie.

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Christmas was a relatively simple affair compared to Thanksgiving. My uncle and aunt offered to come over on Christmas Day and bring chili. We had no out−of−town relatives visiting, just me, Bill, Dad, Grandma, and my uncle and aunt. It was a nice, quiet holiday. Bill and I rang in the New Year by watching Casablanca.

The past few months were tough at times, but we finally settled into a routine, and I could do most tasks associated with Bill’s care without thinking or worrying too much about them. Bill had recently started outpatient physical and occupational therapy, and I hoped he would develop the strength to do more on his own. However, as we snuggled together in bed after the movie, little did we know what lay ahead.

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New! The Red Dress

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