A Stroke of Luck: Saturday, February 2, 2013

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)

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Saturday, February 2, 2013 - Home Pass

I picked Marc up at 11:30 this morning after showing a house. Despite his concerns about me getting the wheelchair into the car trunk, I managed just fine. It would take more than a little wheelchair wrangling to slow me down.

Arriving at home was pretty emotional for him. He missed it so much. It’s exactly two months today since he had his stroke. What a fitting anniversary, to be able to enjoy some of the comforts of home, even if it is only on a day pass.

The first thing Marc wanted to do was cuddle Ceilidh. The feeling was mutual, judging by the amount of dog hair covering him at the end of the day.

Home & doggy cuddles

The next thing Marc wanted to do was sit at the table, read the sports section of the paper and have a cup of coffee.

Coffee...and more doggy cuddles

We didn’t have any trouble at all today. I think it’s because my mom has a walker so it is just second nature for us. He even made a sandwich on his own and just had me carry it over to the table. At dinner he helped prepare some of the food while sitting at the table.

Robbie came over and they played three games of chess.

Chess

Marc did really well. He won the second game.

It was wonderful seeing Marc smiling all day. I’ve never seen anyone appreciate being home quite like he did today.

Evening came far too soon. We are really looking forward to tomorrow and spending a full day together again. At least we know that we are in the home stretch. Before we know it, Marc will be home for good and I won’t have to bring him back.