In 2018, one minute I was sitting on my make-up chair in the bathroom, and the next minute my head was falling over and bending at a strange angle. I lost consciousness for a few seconds and then heard Joe come in. I was grabbing the edge of the bathroom counter so as not to fall over. He left me hanging there and ran to call 911 along with Mike and Mary Pat.
At the hospital, the stroke team ran the tests to confirm what they’d suspected: I’d had a stroke. Fortunately for me, everything happened quickly enough for me to get the necessary drugs and surgery right away. They took immediate action to get rid of the clots in my brain. Every day, I bless the all the people who were involved in my care.
When I came to consciousness in the ICU, I felt a shift in my demeanor from patient to fighter. The first thing I asked Ella, who happened to be in the room at that time was how I was being fed. I was on a ventilator and couldn’t talk but through hand motions and a little pad of paper that Ella had, I communicated my question. I needed nourishment to fight this, and I wanted to make darn sure I was getting it.
After several days in the ICU at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank (during which my stupendous family were taking turns staying with me, so I was never alone), I was transferred to a regular medical unit at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Panorama City. This was a good thing as I was progressing nicely. From Kaiser, I transitioned to a rehab (assisted living) facility. I made no secret of the fact that I didn’t like the rehab facility and I couldn’t wait to get back to the comfort of my own home.
Meanwhile my family got the house ready and hired a home help crew to aid with the things it would have been difficult for my family to help me with. I had some challenges ahead to get my mobility and speech back.
Once home, the race was on to get myself back to up to snuff. Mary Pat did a great job of keeping all the meds organized and scheduled. She communicated with the home health aides regularly to make sure my physical needs were being looked after properly.
On the day we were able to let the home help aides go, Ella might have seen Joe and I high fiving each other and exclaiming, “Back to normal!”.
I’m relieved to say that I succeeded in my endeavors and am mobile today. I feel so fortunate to be able to be living a useful life as I reach one hundred! And I know I couldn’t have done it without the support of my wonderful family.