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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Pardon the interruption but I have a good excuse!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hello friends and neighbors. I’m sorry to have been away from you for so long. I had a stroke on July 30, and I’m starting to get back into the swing of things.
I had been awake since 10 a.m. that day, checking e-mail, playing computer games. By 1 p.m., there was nothing on TV, and I didn’t feel like eating lunch at Waffle House, so I concluded that it would be a perfect time for a nap.
My bed seemed more comfortable than my couch, so I headed toward the bedroom.
My foot wouldn’t work.
I sprawled on the floor with my left leg making a pretzel shape under me. I tried to right myself, but my leg wouldn’t move. I reached for the sofa and pulled myself upright and, after a couple of unsure steps, made my way into the bedroom.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, but my body didn’t feel right, and it was anything but restful. I opened my eyes, then got up to head for the bathroom, but I collapsed on the floor. Again.
I reached for the dresser, trying in a panic to get to my feet. My arm wasn’t working so well, either. I got to the bathroom, swallowed two aspirin and drank a big glass of water. Something was very wrong.
I made my way outside, across the sidewalk and up the steps to the parking lot. I walked across the pavement, barefoot in the grass, then back down the steps into my condo. My brain was disoriented.
I called my parents, told them that something was very wrong, asked if they could come over. Mom asked if I should just call an ambulance while they met me at a hospital, but there was no way. Aside from the fact that I was too cheap to pay for it, I had no wish to stir up a hullabaloo amidst my neighbors, so I told them to meet me at my home. That was at 1:45 p.m.
My parents were there in 15 minutes. They talked to me, checked to see if my speech was slurred, if I could keep my arms together. They knew better than I did that this was not right. They drove me to the emergency room at Joan Glancy Hospital. I got in the car and then into the emergency room, and those are the last normal steps I have taken since.
I was in the hospital and in-patient rehabilitation for five weeks. My left arm and leg weren’t working. My speech and cognitive processes were a little injured, but I fared much better than I could have.
Joan Glancy has been great with me. From the nurses to the therapists who worked with me while I was in the hospital, to the therapists who continue to work with me as I recuperate, to the doctors and administrators who helped fix me up and who help me continue to get better — I owe you all the greatest of thanks.
I go to outpatient rehabilitation twice a week to continue recuperation. I have picked up a new brace to improve my walking with a cane.
Three months ago I was confined to a wheelchair, but my physical therapists helped me work hard to walk. Three months ago my arm was limp, and I couldn’t even dress myself, but my occupational therapists helped me work diligently to get my life back and to soon return to work. I am now using a device that will help my arm and hand get stronger.
Today, I can talk well, but I have to slow down a little to make sure I don’t miss anything. And I can write, because my speech therapists helped me work hard to grasp my communication skills and work with what I have. And, I am writing to you again in the AJC.
Strokes are the third leading cause of death, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, at 150,147 last year. It turns out that I have Type 2 diabetes. Twenty million Americans have diabetes, but 6.7 million don’t know it. I was one who didn’t know.
My parents have been nothing but wonderful, my company has been working with me to get healed and come back to the office. And I get by with a little help from my friends.
All in all, I’d say that I’m pretty damn lucky.
Note: I’ll be back every other week, until I get used to life again. And just when you thought were rid of me….
To see photos of Bill before and after his stroke, please see below:
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