This Old Man Had a [Stroke] - a possible series
The very first post I ever wrote about my dad was in November of 2011 and titled, My Daddy (a possible series). Writing the post came from him asking, “Why don’t you ever right about me?”
I woke up this morning, picked up my phone and saw a blurb in my email that said, May is Stroke Awareness Month. I’d just said to my mom yesterday. I think I’m ready to start writing about this. Finding out that it was Stroke Awareness Month, was just the sign that I needed. My daddy has been quite the star of the show in my blog over the years. I hardly know where to start with this story. I want to write about a funny thing that happened but I feel like I need to start from the beginning, share a timeline and the full circle moment-ness of it all.
Daddy taking his fan picture at UNC at which point, no decision had been made but he decided that was Christopher’s school.
April 3, 2023
Daddy drove me and Christopher to a college tour in Charlotte, North Carolina. Daddy did the driving because I’m not a fan of 3+ highway lanes and on top of that, it was early with commuter traffic and Christopher didn’t have that kind of driving experience yet (for my nerves).
Fast Forward
November 17, 2023
72 years old, speed walking, and going so fast the pictures are blurry! When I tell you I was OUT OF BREATH keeping up, and my calves were burning! Wooooooo!
Enter 2024
The Mild Stroke
January 9th from 5:30 pm to 7:54 pm - Code Red Calls about severe weather in my area - East North Carolina
January 9th at 9:15 pm - Mom calling from the ER to say they were eating dinner when daddy dropped his spoon. In trying to pick it up he dropped it again and said, “I have the dropsies.” Then he said he felt funny. Mom asked him if she needed to call EMS and he said yes. Mom, “They’re going to keep him tonight to see what’s going on.”
January 9th at 10:27 pm - Mom calling again to tell me not to worry, get some sleep. She puts daddy on the phone so I can hear his voice and he sounds like daddy.
I laid in the bed trying to think my way home before falling asleep. When I woke up the next morning I decided I would leave the next day. I worried about the roads in flood zones on the way out of town and wanted to be safe, take my time to pack and wrap up some things at work.
January 10th at 5:10 pm - Gruff daddy, “You don’t need to travel all the way here. I’m FINE.” I said, “See you tomorrow.” He said, “Your mother said you were going to say that.” I said, “Ok and?” He said, “I don’t want you to see my hand.” I said, “Well, put it behind your back. See you tomorrow.” He growled and we hung up.
January 10th at 5:13 pm - Daddy calling again and me ignoring the call.
January 11th at 7:52pm
About to check out of ICU
While I was driving, mom had sent a group text that they were releasing daddy today. I was so excited that I started preparing my speech for if I got pulled over for speeding. Mom said she was going to wait for me to get there and we could go to the hospital together. Daddy wanted us to pick up something for the nurses he had on the day and night shift. The timing was perfect, that I got to meet them both and get their picture with daddy. Daddy looking totally like himself.
What I remember:
He couldn’t put his shirt and shoes on by himself. When we got in the car, I had already started driving before I realized he was still trying to get his seatbelt on. I pulled over ready to help but he wanted to do it and we waited until he could.
January 13th - the BIG stroke…. and 5 days later
Daddy had the big stroke 4 days after the mini. In hindsight, he was more cognizant the night he checked out of ICU, than he was before the big stroke which happened within the next 48 hours. We just thought he was tired because after a nap he would seem normal again. He speech was fine but he had trouble thinking about what he wanted to say and sometimes he used the wrong word. After the big stroke he seemed to get much worse and it was a long time before we saw improvement. Now I know the true meaning of “stable” when they say that in a hospital. I took a picture of the piece of paper where daddy tried to write down what he wanted to say because he could no longer talk. This was when he still had a little use of his right hand and he thought he could write. Within a few days he completely lost use of his right side (arm & leg).
Fast Forward to the Full Circle Moment-ness of it All
May 4th, 2024
Christopher did choose UNC-Charlotte, which his Granddaddy had hoped for. Last weekend I was a BIG GIRL. I drove to Charlotte from Jacksonville, NC in bad weather, moved Christopher out of his dorm, and drove in the 3+ lanes on I-77 to Columbia for these two to see each other.
We always pray in a circle before departing from one another and daddy wanted to stand up.
When I tell you that my daddy has made leaps and bounds in improvement over these last four months - woooooooooooooooooooooo!
Currently - Mother’s Day
I can’t begin to say how grateful I am for my mom. She has been daddy’s primary caregiver. With his strength and determination, her prayers and loving care, as well as those of others, here he is today to say…..
