AND WE LAUGHED

Just had to let you know that I am almost well.  A couple of shots, a good lecture from my doctor/friend and a couple of days without hacking every second has made for some much better days. You cope better when you feel better.  I feel HOPEFUL.  I am not sure if that comes from just feeling better or that I really see some progress, either way I will take it. All of you have been so faithful to check on me and send encouraging notes… thank you.
Two weeks ago tonight I was probably sitting in the same place I am now, maybe even blogging, having no clue how our  world was going to change the next morning. A lesson learned…never take an ordinary day for granted. Another one…always have a small suitcase packed.
Jack has had a really good week.  I guess part of me does not want to share all the things he has accomplished for fear that the set back “everyone prepares us for” that may happen,will.  I still have not read the books on strokes…probably not going to.  It’s really been a week with ups and no real downs.  The pneumonia is gone, the bleed has remained the same and does not seem to be a concern now.  Jack is now back on aspirin and his heart meds, so that's a real plus. He has worked a minimum of 6 hours a day in the rehab gym and with the speech therapists.  He never had really slurred speech, just a monotone sound and tonight I would say that is 90 % gone.  He has some weakness on his left side, but he can stand and he made 3 circles walking around the gym just holding on to the back of a wheel chair.  He can stand, and tonight he rode down the hall in the wheel chair balancing squirming Grayson on one knee and wild jumping Jack on his other knee.  Not sure I could have done that. He is irritable and frustrated and even ask them to bring a little bike in the room for the weekend, since the therapist are off on the weekends. He was not happy about taking two days off. I ask him if he wanted me to bring some mums and pumpkins and put a wreath on the door and he told me “NO, do not make this room look like I am staying very long.”  The old coach in him has come out…BIG TIME.  He hates the food so Amanda has  made sure he had everything he wanted everyday…Some of the best cooks in town have made their specialties.  He has never eaten so WELL….He is not well, but for being two weeks out from being very close to death, I think he has made great progress.  In previous posts I have told you about Roger, our doctor friend that walked us through this last week in Dallas….He is eccentric (he will laugh at that and any of my friends that know him will be laughing too), he is brilliant, he is a say it like it is type guy, he makes my kids laugh so hard…they love his emails and would be upset if I did not forward everyone of them, he absolutely does not care what others think, and never ever bring up politics unless you really want to know what he thinks. He calls BS just that, even if it comes from a doctor. Someday I will do an entire post on him…he is one of those friends for life…he and I disagree on tons of things…one being Brett Favre and this was not the week for Brett to be in the news. We are the best of friends and can debate any subject for hours. He knows every sports, history, medical statistic that was ever written. I am really no match for him in a debate.  We just agree to disagree on some things.…but never have Jack and I had a more loyal friend.  When you are in the fight you sure want him on your team.
Last night I got my daily email from him, answering my questions (probably ones I have ask him 20 times)! The email was also telling me to just put gas in the car..that me along with Pres Obama (that's not exactly how he refers to him) are probably the only two people that don’t…See he really cuts me little slack….  but I had to laugh at his analogy of Jack’s stroke. If I told you all of the analogies he has shared with me in the last two weeks, you would still be laughing tomorrow. These are his words below…
As for Jack and the stroke, it is what it is. I am sure he will do everything he can to get well, if he can get back 90%, you’ll be lucky, but one way you could look at it is he was always 120% of a normal man so 90% of 120 is 108 so you still come out ahead.
and he is right!!!! as always….
I think Jack is on the mend enough that I can share a few funnies that happened the last 14 days…Our family LAUGHS…mostly at each other.  And sometimes the laughing is all that keeps you from screaming.  A caveat here ( I have no idea if I will feel encouraged tomorrow, but for today I do)
I am trying to think which of these stories I can share on the blog… I will share two tonight…maybe another night I will tell you some funnier ones.
THIS will explain preoccupied to you….on about the third or fourth day, Amanda had gone to the store and got me some chloraseptic, trying to help me get my voice back…Now stand in front of a mirror and pretend you are spraying your hair with hairspray….I am not talking about one spray…the entire motion of spraying it as you get ready to walk out the door…the only problem was it was not hairspray…I sprayed my entire hair with RED chloraseptic.  Did not smell it, did not even realize it until I put the bottle down.  Amanda is still shaking her head. That’s being very preoccupied with many decisions. 
On the day we were discharged, we had spent a couple of days deciding whether we would bring Jack home by ambulance or  in our vehicle.  The doctor along with Roger thought there was no reason we could not move him, as he had no IV’s, we would never be more than 10 min from a hospital all the way home and most of all, if we moved him, he would not think he was as sick..That was really our main reason…he wanted to go with us, so Micah and Greg were going to drive to the edge of Dallas and meet us and Amanda and I would switch places and they would drive him to the rehab in Shreveport  in case he needed to change positions, etc…they were stronger…At this point he had much less strength and Amanda and I could not move him…We got my SUV all fixed with pillows…pulled the front seat back so he  could grab hold of it with his right hand to steady himself…the hospital employees loaded him into the car.  Amanda and I had never been so glad to see a hospital in the rear view mirror. I have this WAY TOO FANCY navigation system…You need a 4 year degree in navigation systems to use it…It is really useless to me. I know Dallas well, but not the particular area we were in and we made a wrong turn, finally got on the right interstate and someone cut us off.  Amanda had to throw on the brakes and you guessed it, it threw Jack in the floor, as in wedged him in on his left side which at that time he could really not move without help (now he can lift that arm over his head over and over) and I am talking wedged in tight…This is the only time all week I saw Amanda just totally lose it.. She thought she had hurt him badly and all the time he was telling her he was fine…We debated calling 911, we were certainly rethinking the decision to move him ourselves..and we were both in a panic.  Jack was not…He knew we needed to get him up but no panic at all…Amanda pulled off at the first exit and we both jumped out and tried to lift him…could not budge him..so I ran in the convenience store and ask if anyone could help us..that we might need 911 but maybe not..All this time Greg and Micah are coming to us..Two really nice men immediately ran to the car and helped us and we sat him up and put the seat belt around him and he was fine…and kept assuring Amanda  that she had done the only thing she could do, hit the brakes…and stop crying…he was fine.  Then we see that Amanda had thrown her purse on the floorboard of the back seat and all that time he had been laying on her purse probably getting the buckle right in his side, probably close to where he had this horrible incision from a botched central line.  The most painful thing he has had the entire time.  Now that all is OK, Greg has given Amanda a really hard time about throwing Dad in the floor.  And we have all laughed.  It was far from funny when it happened…
I will be back in a few days…Have I got everything worked out for the next few months? NO  Do I know what six months from now will be? Absolutely not…I am hoping for Disney! Do I think we will have more hard days? Yes   Do I think we will come out of this stronger, sweating the small stuff less, and having more compassion for others? Without a DOUBT!

LIFE CAN CHANGE IN A MOMENT

Sorry I have been absent for a day, almost two.  I actually feel bad about it, so many of you have been praying.  I am going to get you up to speed with as few words as I can. (that’s probably not possible)  The main reason I have not posted is that I am sick as a dog….probably the first cold I have had in 3 or 4 years and it has traveled…but losing my voice has just worn me out.  Then last night I started running fever…I slept 13 hours straight today. I would probably be well had I not been under a tad bit of stress and had very little sleep…But don’t worry about me…I am going to get a B12 shot and maybe a little celestone tomorrow and I feel sure I will be fine by the first of the week. If I’m not then YOU NEED TO WORRY!
Exactly a week ago I was sitting on the couch, still in my pajamas, ready to clean house and then take my girls to Canton the next day.  At 10:30 AM the phone rang and Jack’s cell phone number came up on our TV (I love caller ID on the TV)!  I answered like I have a thousand other times when he is on the road.  I did not even say hello, just picked up the phone and said “what’s going on?”  LIFE CHANGED IN THAT SECOND.
Instead of Jack, it was a member of the Life Flight crew about to load him in the helicopter and they were calling to tell me he had been found in his hotel room, they felt like he had a stroke, he was alive and they were taking him to Dallas to one of two hospitals.  I am too tired tonight but one day I will tell you the entire story and the GOD stops that happened within the first few hours.  I know much more about it now than I did a week ago as Jack remembers every detail of what happened, plus I have been able to talk at length with the hotel staff.  That is another story.
I was thinking about a post earlier and I realized that I had 100 posts from this last week.  It is a week I never want to repeat but a week I witnessed miracle after miracle.  I saw a strength in my kids that I had no idea they had, and if I ever doubted we were a village, I know now that together we can do this.  It has been a week that everyone  of us has had to step way out of our comfort zones.  We have learned that laughter even in the storm, will get you through the next few hours.  I learned that Amanda is stronger than I ever dreamed and her glass is always half full, even with tears running down her face.  I learned that Greg and I are even more alike than I thought.. I learned that Dana and Micah are team players and will do whatever needs to be done and that Pop is loved by them as much as his own kids.  I learned that Amanda and I could live with far less clothes than we thought..(as in we had very few with us)!  Thank you Target for being close by…and to all those that were in Target the night we were, thanks for not stopping us as we walked around the store crying.  It just happened to hit us as we walked through the door.  I learned that Doctors that have taken Bed Side Manners 101 make life a lot easier when you have a major problem and are away from home.  I learned that some people that went into nursing should have pursued another career, maybe one where you did not have to deal with the public.  On the other hand I learned that a great nurse MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.  We had both.  I relearned something that I had learned when my parents were sick.  EVERY PATIENT NEEDS AN ADVOCATE.  PERIOD. I learned that if you have a friend that is a doctor (and I know that is not the case for everyone) and he is at your side…you get a different level of respect.  (Roger I owe you big time.  The fact that you were in town was a miracle in itself)
I  learned that Jack touched the lives of more football players in  his 30 plus years of coaching than I ever dreamed.  They appeared at the hospital door from near by and some that had to drive hours after someone called them or they read it on FB…and that's a post I cannot go near right now for fear of bawling my eyes out which is not the best medicine for a cold.  So today, 7 days later, I am smarter than I was this time last Saturday. I am humbled, I am grateful, I  am amazed at the goodness of people, nice still exists.  I know far more how to help others in a similar situation in the future.  I know what makes a difference and what gives hope.  I know what it means for someone to say, “let me know if there is anything I can do” and someone that says, “Tell me what you need done that will make a difference”!  I learned that as HARD AS IT IS for me to accept help, I am going to have to. 
Now for the update after all those words!  We are back in Shreveport.  We were able to move Jack to an acute rehab center here in OUR TOWN, last night.  Dr. Elizabeth Rice-De,(she wants to read the blog to keep up with Jack)  your picture  should be next to the word doctor in the dictionary.    I almost called you Elizabeth as Amanda and I felt like you were a lifelong friend when we left yesterday.  Your sweet smile, your care and compassion  sets you apart and makes Baylor hospital look good.  I am going to make sure they know it…and I will help you plan a Disney trip anytime.  And one day Jack is going to walk back in the hospital or we are going to meet you for dinner for you to see how hard he has worked.  I know the decision you made yesterday was probably not what everyone would have done, but I also know that you trusted us and actually listened to us.  When you said we were the most pro-active family you had ever seen, I had to laugh.  That was the highest compliment you could have paid us.   And when you looked at me and said you thought he would totally recover, you gave me hope.  When you looked like you were about to cry every time Amanda and I did, I knew how much you cared.  I really believe that God chose you for us.  And then to get  beautiful too, was just an extra…
Back to Jack.  He is settled in the rehab center.  The doctors we had chosen were waiting on  us when we arrived.  He does have pneumonia, which we knew when we left Dallas, but feel like its a result of aspirating some fluid when he was  on the floor for  four hours after the stroke.  So that is our biggest prayer request now that the next few chest X-rays will show that it is responding to the meds.  The other cause of worry would be that there will be no heart issues while  he has to be off two heart medications for 10 days because of the bleed from the stroke.  He has movement everywhere.  His left hand was the last to come back and he is lifting it up and down over and over…His speech improves everyday…It has not been slurred, it just sounds monotone and like he is hoarse.  He has not lost any memory…he can remember things I can’t, and its only been a week.  He has cracked some jokes everyday, but I am not going to paint a picture that everything is fine.  I want the man that left on a trip on Thursday back and am going to do everything in my power to make sure he gets the best rehab.  If he recovers 90%, I will be thankful, but my goal is for him to be totally well.  I think he will walk in the next few weeks, maybe sooner…He is just weak and the best part is he wants to start rehab NOW.  He said if they wanted him to do three hours a day, he was going to do six.  That’s the old coach in him.
He had breakfast with all four little's this morning.  He has called me several times to find out how I was feeling (same personality, still taking care of me)…I am not going to take a chance on giving him a cold so until I am better I am going to stay home. 
I have no idea what the next few months hold…we have been told that sadness and tears will come when we least expect them, that there will be days we see no progress, days he is depressed and days we are..so as much as I would like to pencil it all in on my calendar, STROKE does not pencil in.  As I walked up our sidewalk last night alone last night, I don’t have to tell you what was going through my mind…would we ever walk in together from a movie or a dinner, would he ever pick up the kids from school or leave to run errands.  Would I ever be able to call him from a house and tell him we were having light problems and could he come help and how in the world would I get the Christmas lights up that he is so particular about because he knows how happy it makes me, how would  I ever open our storage because the lock only works for him, would I ever see him sitting in the recliner reading a book while I blogged, or would he ever drop me off at the door at Target and tell me to call him when I was ready.  Would he ever run to Circle K and get ice cream late at night just because I was hungry for some and on and on.  I am just going to admit it…I have not put gas in my car or washed it in years….I rarely go to the grocery store…He likes to and I don’t.  I have not picked up a prescription or been to the Post Office in a LONG TIME.  The dog minds him, she NEVER minds me.  You get the picture. 
That was a lot of words…Sara, I am going to write you, but I want you to know that your message to me last night was the sweetest words I have heard.  I had no idea that I had ever made your day, but you sure made mine better last night.  I just happen to read it right after I had all the feelings I just wrote about. 
Back to some Theraflu and sleep.  To everyone of you that has written, eventually I will get to personally thank you.  For the next few weeks I have to be in tree mode…BIG TIME.  My holiday blog will have a new look in a day or two and Terri is going to help me keep it up…If any of you can tell me how to transfer a video from my iphone to my blog in very simple steps I would love it…I think I have taken so much medicine that simple things have become complicated.  Thanks for walking along on this journey with me.  Life can change in a moment.