Juslight i am enclosing a letter my wife wrote to people for christmas, concerning the strokeHermanson Holiday Herald
In any given year, families go through changes – but 2004 brought drastic changes for Fred and I.
January began normally but ended with an emergency room visit that began a year long journey. On the night of January 31, Fred woke me up at 2 am complaining of the “worst headache he ever had in his life”. One look at him indicated an immediate trip to the hospital. By the time we arrived at Holyoke Medical Center, Fred was paralyzed on the left side. He rapidly worsened and was put on a ventilator. A Ct scan revealed a large bleed in the right side of his brain that required immediate surgery to save his life.
A number of events showed divine providence that spared Fred’s life. The ER doctor had lost his wife to the same condition so he recognized the symptoms immediately. At pre-dawn, a neurosurgeon was available to read the Ct scan and perform the surgery. Until just recently HMC did not have a neurosurgeon on staff. The medical staff performed with the orchestration of a fine symphony. God also provided enormous emotional support by having a dear friend come to the hospital to be with me at 3 AM, and by 5:30 six pastors and their wives were in the ICU waiting room beside me waiting for Fred to come out of surgery. Since I work the 11 to 7 shift in this ICU, my co-workers were a great support for me. I had never been on this side of a hospital bed before….I can never look at family members the same way again.
The surgery stopped the bleed, but Fred was flown to Mass General Hospital that afternoon to be stabilized and to have an angiogram done to define the area in his brain that bled which still needed further surgery to remove. He spent a month at Mass General, 10 days in Neuro-ICU, then in a step-down unit before being transferred to Fairlawn Rehab in Worcester. During Fred’s month in Boston I stayed with my cousin and her family in Newton so I could be with Fred each day. Daily one to three people from home traveled to Boston to be with me, giving me the support and love that I so needed at this time. Friends also took care of my mom’s needs at home since I couldn’t be here.
Fred labored through rehab for 7 weeks, relearning balance, bearing weight on a limb he could no longer feel, and day-to-day functions, even eating and drinking because the left side of his mouth and throat were affected too. On April 13, Fred returned to Mass General to remove the arterial venous malformation from the right side of his brain. Without this surgery there was a 7% chance of another bleed each year. After that surgery, he returned to rehabilitation – this time in Ludlow – for a month, followed by 3 months of out-patient therapy three times a week.
To date, with a full leg brace, Fred can now walk with a quad cane and get up and down stairs using a right sided handrail. He has regained most daily functions but still has limited sensory perception in the left arm and leg, and no motor function in his left arm. The doctors believe, because of his age, he will have a full recovery….but who knows how long that will take.
Aside from the obvious challenges, life goes on. I’ve cut way back on my visiting nurse work but still work 32 hours a week in the ICU (that job carries our insurance). I have expanded my photography business and Fred helps me with editing and CD production.
As we look at the gifts under our Christmas tree this season, we are reminded of greater, less tangible gifts – like life itself. It has been a difficult year but we are thankful. It’s times like these that make you realize what is really important in life.
