An interesting development...

I received an interesting phone call yesterday...it was the neurosurgeon at the Iowa City VA hospital, scheduling me for a visit with her. I have been a little worried about the gaping hole in the back of my head from my surgery (ok, it is not really a hole, because it is covered by muscle, skin and hair, but it sure feels like a hole) and I wondered about having a cadaver skull put in place so that I can lead an active life. The neurosurgeon in Iowa City said that, initially, she would recommend against that, but she wants to meet with me in person to explain the reasons for it. I am sure, since I am not a neurosurgeon, that there are plenty of medical reasons for me not to have the surgery, but I am a little leery of being as active as I used to be (running, playing basketball, riding my bike, etc.) with that part of my skull missing. To make a long story short, she fully understands my reasons for wanting the surgery, but her initial reaction is to recommend against it.

This is getting repetitively redundant...

I know that it has been awhile since I last posted...in fact, it was quite awhile before Christmas. Several significant events have transpired since my last post...I celebrated the one year anniversary of the day I was released from the ICU, I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the day I was released from Methodist Medical Center, I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of my release from the VA, and I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of my return to the church; in short (I know, too late), this has been a busy time.

Perhaps most significant has been my MRI in Des Moines. This MRI was done off the VA campus and it was the first MRI conducted by someone other than the VA. When the MRI tech finished the first set of pictures, she came on the intercom and asked how long ago my stroke was. When I answered it was 12 months ago, she just said, "Huh..." and that was all she said. I worried for the next 2 weeks about what that "Huh" meant. On January 22, I had another follow up with my neurologist and she said that probably it was because of what my scans showed...at leas 75% of my cerebellum is either gone, dead or not functioning. In addition, there are 2 relatively large infarctions in my brain stem. In short, the MRI tech probably cannot believe that someone with that scan is walking into the office. What it says to me is that my recovery is truly miraculous...not just that the VA neurologists have never seen a recovery like this, but no one has ever seen a recovery like this. It is very humbling to think that the Lord has seen fit to bestow this recovery on me...He has allowed me to share my experiences with my fellow classmates on Liberty. edu, He has allowed me to share my experiences with my church; He has allowed me to share my experiences with my fellow pastors and their churches.

So, what does this mean for me? I really don't know. I still worry each day that my ability to overcome my situation will come to a screeching halt; that does not seem very likely but it is a constant concern. I would be lying if I said that I did not worry every time I walk on the ice, or get up in the middle of the night. But, for right now, I am simply trusting the Lord to give me the abilities to follow Him every day.

Yesterday was our children's Christmas Program...

Yesterday our church had its children's Christmas program and our family Christmas. It was a great time of celebration and remembering the true reason for the Christmas time. It was a great celebration, but even more meaningful to me was the fact that I could not be there last year because I was in the hospital. In fact, I could not be at my son's band concert. What is amazing is that I sang a song yesterday...pretty good for a person that was not supposed to walk or talk at all.

My new exercises are kicking my butt...

The good news is that the exercises from the Physical Therapist should increase my coordination and improve my strength...the bad news is that they are HARD. I really love the prospect of having little or no side effects from my stroke, but I don't know that I like the prospect of doing these exercises every day. I just have to remind myself that anything worth doing is worth doing right; I also have to remember that exercises that are good for me might be hard in the short term.

I had another follow up with Physical Therapy today

I have been having some problems with weakness in my left leg lately. It bothered me, a little, and I decided to go to the Dr. He gave me a consult to Physical Therapy. They told me a couple things; one I already knew, but feared and the second I anticipated but did not know for sure. The thing I already knew was that the muscles in my legs are strong and fine. There is no deficiency in the strength of my legs. What I feared was that the problem is really a neurological problem, balance issue and not a strength issue. Where this can be a problem is that this "problem" probably will not get better but will, over time, get worse. That was no surprise; what was a surprise was that there are exercises I can do that can "hopefully" teach me to regain balance. In other words, the nerves probably will not get better, I can just relearn how to do certain things. The weakness is not, in truth, weakness; it is a balance issue. So, I have some more exercises to do over time that will hopefully re-teach myself how to do some things. I will keep you posted on how things go.

Okay, it has been awhile since I have posted...

But that is actually a good thing...no posting means that I have had very little, if any side effects from my strokes in the last few months. In fact, in September, my neurologist officially released me and told me that she is genuinely surprised, in fact flabbergasted, at my recovery. It is not just rare for someone to have a complete recovery after a stroke as mine...it does not happen. Having said that, I do have one little problem...I am having some weakness in my left knee. In fact, with my right leg, I can get up and down with little or no problems...with my left knee, I cannot get up after I am on the floor. My neurologist is going to do another scan of my brain to make sure it has not changed any...she doubts it, but it would just set her mind at ease if she did that. Other than my leg bother my a little, I feel GREAT!

I am going to post my personal story...

It has been awhile since I posted...now, that can be interpreted two ways: it can be good because I have been feeling very well, or it can be bad because I feel too bad to post. In this case, it is because I feel really well and do not have much to post. In fact, the neurologist told me that I do not have to do any more follow ups unless I feel bad. Overall, I am doing really well. So, I am going to post a video I made today (today, consequently, is my birthday). I hope you enjoy this post.