A Stroke of Luck: Tuesday, December 25, 2012

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)

Friday, December 28, 2012

Tuesday, December 25, 2012 - Christmas Day

Christmas turned out to be very special this year, after all.

I called Marc’s floor in the morning and the nurse said he’d slept well. Despite visiting hours being from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., we could come in earlier since it was Christmas. I let everyone know and then headed to RVH.

Marc was so happy to see us today. Ashley and Robbie ordered him a television and Robbie spent ages teaching him how to use it. Ashley’s friends Taunya and Chris came by for a while, as well. Taunya is a hairdresser and told Marc that she will come in soon and fix his hairdo.

Marc’s parents joined us later on and we all spent a nice day talking about how far Marc has come. They hadn’t seen him in a few days so I’m sure they noticed quite a change. He showed off his arm and leg movement for them and told them he was getting better.

Marc is giving a thumbs up for his new room. Note that he is using his left hand!

The bench seat for all his visitors.

After everyone left, I helped him with his dinner. We were surprised to see a really nice plate of turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing and peas and carrots. He made me try a piece of turkey and it was delicious. I felt like we were sharing a Christmas dinner after all.

He was ready for sleep after that feast so we spent a few minutes practicing his television buttons. Once he felt confident that he could turn it on and off by himself, I kissed him goodnight and headed for home.

Our family had decided early on that we were going to postpone our Christmas this year until Marc is out of the hospital. We will make it an extra special celebration once he is home and ready for some fun.

We did get together for dinner, however. The big turkey dinner will wait, but for tonight Robbie and Ashley made a really nice dinner and brought it to our house. I picked up my brother, Marv, and along with my mom, we sat down to eat.

After dinner Chris and Taunya came by the house and we ended up playing a game of Apples to Apples. I realized part way through the game that I really needed some fun at this point. It had been so long. I was grateful for the company.

It wasn’t the same without Marc, but I have no doubt that he’ll be home before we know it and will be playing our favourite board games once again.