Grandpa Brian!

Jake and I are expecting our first child this Fall! Brian keeps asking, "When are you going to find out what the make and model is?" Meaning is it a boy or a girl. The family is still hanging on strong and are glad we have something positive to think about. Brian is still progress upward, week to week he get so much better. He is able to mow the yards on his John Deere (wearing a hard hat), he also walks about two miles a day. His heart is also healthy, it is back to above normal function, no clogged arteries, no cardiomyopathy and we know now that the seizure caused the heart to stop. We are truly blessed to have him here. He will make an awesome Grandpa and babysitter, I can tell. Grandma Nancy, unfortunately needs a new hip and will be getting surgery this Tuesday, so cross your fingers for her, this will be her third hip replacement.

Still trucking...

So we continue on the journey of healing. Every day is a new day and we continue to grow and at the same time struggle with our new lifestyle. Brian is doing great. He comments on how he really has to concentrate shaving his face, gets really cold outdoors and has trouble remembering things. There is lots of positive things as well, he is able to take all his pills at different times of the day, this is a challenge even for my self and I am a nurse. He is able to BBQ to perfection a top sirloin steak for the family. He is also able to be home alone (mom is back to work), a month ago he would never been able to. I find him a lot calmer and funny. I told mom the movie Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford reminded me of Brian. How he was was somewhat cold and misunderstood and would yell at his kids if they spilled milk at the dinner table to a calm soul who if you spilled milk I will purposefully spill mine so you don't feel bad kind of person. We thank everyone who thought of us during our difficult situation. I realize now working at the St. Joe's in the ER, how lucky we actually are for having Brian with us. People usually don't make it after an hypoxic event like Brian's.

Brian here!

"Hope you are all doing good. I am fine...hah! So far still stuck at home. Still can't drive, that sucks! I surely enjoyed having all of your support out there. Sorry it had to happen at a bad time of the year. I've got plenty of yard work that needs to be done. I have lots of things coming up like painting the upstairs. Thanks again, that's all. I'm tired now. Love ya, see ya later."

PT

Brian scores 100% in PT and they don't feel like he needs much more help. This is frustrating to us because we feel like it's kind of a waste for us to go. He still kind of marches as he walks and has difficulties with corners and depth perception but is so much improved. He is better and better everyday. In a couple months, I totally see him 100% and that is no joke. It is actually insane. He told me all about his day in detail and he sounds better; not as loud and makes sense. He also told me that he plans on paiting the upstairs sometime next week. So in rehab they made him act out painting with a brush. Brian just shook his head and said I have a paint gun? So here we are just doing what they tell us one day at a time. Mom and I plan on making a cook book and paying Brian's medical bills with the procedes. If anyone is willing to donate a recipe feel free. Thanks again visitors and supporters we never would have gotten this far if it weren't for you. Brian also went to Brother Don's for lunch and got to see lots of friends.

Nipples..

Brian is continuing to progress enough to notice that now with his cadillac defibrillator his nipples are lopsided. Mom and him just hang out do breakfast, lunch and dinner together along with iced tea as their drink of choice. Day to day mom gets more relaxed and lets Brian do more for example today he took a shower all by himself, no shower chair, no mom helping him, completely all by himself. Mom said he only dropped the soap once, because she heard it. He also said that he needs to use his left hand to wash his bottom because if he uses his right the soap falls through his fingers (he has a missing a digit for all the people that don't know)! Today he was able to vacuum the living room but first changing the belt and bag on the vacuum, this required a screwdriver from the garage. It's small but it is big to us. Thanks to all the people who made us casseroles and that have visited. Visitors are welcome now that he is doing so well.

HAPPY GUY

Brian went to Dr. Damaron yesterday and he is very surprised that Brian is doing so well. He wants to add another blood pressure med to Brian's list. This puzzles me because his EKG, ECHO and CARDIAC CATH were normal. His blood pressure is running way low like 100/50 since St. Joes. He is still sure that Brian's heart is bad because he drank. Usually with a stroke patient or seizure patient you want to blood pressure a little higher than normal to profuse the brain. Brian's heart stopping and then coming back is a miracle to everyone so maybe it does need to rest. So, I told mom to just do want he says and get a second opinion in the mean time. He goes to Dr. Moore the rehab doctor today and hopefully that goes well. His personality is back to normal and makes jokes all the time. Mom and I just belly laugh at him because he jokes all day. He walks around the house and straightens pictures on the walls, and puts things away. He has to stay busy at all times.

Happy to be home!

Brian is adjusting just fine. He likes sleeping in his own bed and with mom. His brain comes back more and more everyday. He is ambulatory thorughout the house, and walks to the mail box using his walker. He eats three hearty meals a day and keeps mom busy. When I drive in after a long twelve hour shift, I can see them sitting on the love seat together through the sliding class door. I am happy for my mom and Brian, even though we still have a really long way to go. It is a little hard to believe that we got him back. We need to figure out that dang Dilantin, that has been a problem since day one. We his Dilantin gets too high, his gait is wide and he has a very obvious slur to his speech, he also is able to tell us, he feels like his is "high on his dope", and this is what is going on now. It is a tricky thing. He saw Dr. Bright (the neurologist) today and he told Brian he is a miracle and he can't believe he is doing so well. He also went to the grocery store with mom, and pushed the cart. He will have lots of doctor appointments and lots of rehab. I try and keep the blog current, I am so happy that people actually reads it. Thanks so much people, we can thank you enough. Tomorrow, Dr. Damoron (the cardiologist), who will be blown away. He was the one that didn't want to fix Brian's heart because he was sure he would be a vegetable, well he was wrong wasn't he?