From Hope to Healing


During Marc's time at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario, following a massive stroke and brain bleed, a friend suggested I start a blog. I'd been making notes each day and updating his progress on Facebook but after some thought, I realized that this could be something that Marc could later read to follow his journey back to health.

I thought it might also serve to help someone else. If it can help even one other person to recognize the signs of a stroke or to help a family member understand what happens during this battle, then it was worth recording.

This is Marc's story. It begins with our hope for his survival and follows his healing journey.

For those of you new to blogs, you can find previous posts in the Blog Archive on the right side of the page. Each post has the date so you can easily follow along day by day. Just click the one you want to read. This story starts on Saturday, December 8, 2012.

(To see the earlier blog posts, click on "2012" in the Blog Archive section and it will open the posts from December)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - Good News, Bad News

It was a good news, bad news day. The good news is that Marc was lifted with a sling and into a wheelchair for the first time. His balance isn't great yet, but will come in time.  We even got to go to the patient lounge down the hall.  

The Occupational Therapist found us there and asked if she could do an assessment while he was sitting up.  This is where the bad news comes in.  The assessment confirmed that Marc has trouble with short term memory.  He also had trouble with the math questions she asked. He thought he did great, but sadly no.  My heart sunk.  Marc is a mortgage agent.

They also figured out that he has "holes" in his vision on the left, which I already suspected. They call it “neglect” and suggested we get him to do as much on the left side as possible to get him scanning for things. They also cautioned that he would need to be reminded to scan his tray during meals or he would only see what is on the right side of the tray and miss half his dinner.

I have to remind myself that we are only just coming up to the two week mark.  His progress so far has been remarkable. I'll keep the faith that this too shall pass in time.

While we were in the lounge sitting by the Christmas tree, I asked Marc if he wanted me to take a picture to show everyone how he is doing.  He loved that idea because he knows how many people are pulling for him. 

He blew a kiss and said, “Thank you to all my fans and thank you for all the prayers and the healing and the financial support.  I love you all!” 




This hairdo is what all the cool stroke patients are wearing these days. 



 This is the incision where they did the surgery.  The bone under this flap of skin has been removed and will be replaced when the swelling completely subsides in about 6 months to a year. 



Seeing Marc sitting in a wheelchair blowing kisses to his supporters really put things in perspective for me today.  I can’t help but think how differently this could have turned out.  He’s come so very far already and I have no doubt he’ll go the distance with this. 

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