A walking miracle

July 30, 2023 started out what I thought was a normal day. First thing in the morning I took Behr out for his 1st pottie. I then proceeded to take my shower and get dressed. Normally I make my coffee, then turn computer on & get the screen I want to start with. However that morning, I sat down at the computer 1st and the screens wouldn't come up like I thought I was trying to do, so I got frustrated, turned the computer off & told myself I would deal with that later. I looked at the time and it was only 9 a.m. I had to wait a while for the dew to dry in order to start picking blueberries. So I decided to call Lisa, my daughter, who lives in Angola, Indiana, because we check in with each other every day.

Lisa answered "Hi Mom, how are you doing?" I thought I was answering her, but the words weren't coming out, like they should. Lisa said "Mom, are you ok?" Again, I'm trying to answer her, but the words were all mumble jumble. She told me to hang up, that she was calling the ambulance. Before I could tell her No, she hung up on me, so I said to myself, I guess the ambulance is coming. I really didn't know why. So - silly me went to the bathroom & plugged my curling iron in. I have a colic on the crown of my head, so figured I'd put 2 curls in to calm it down, as it was sticking straight up. I wanted to be presentable to the ambulance people.

Woops - I barely plugged the curling iron in and there was a guy & a gal standing at my bathroom door. So - I walked over and unplugged my curling iron, as I knew something was up. They tried to talk to me, but my words just wouldn't cooperate. So - next thing I know is they got me out to the ambulance as fast as they could and away we went down M43 headed East. I knew I was in serious trouble then, as they peeled out of my drive squealing the tires and started whizzing down the highway. The gal sat across from me keeping constant watch. I know she was giving me something, as I saw a couple of open foil packs laying on the bench beside her. I looked out the back window of the ambulance and saw several cars pulled off the roadway. It was then that I knew the ambulance was speeding, with lights a flashing and the siren blowing. At that point I figured I was in serious trouble, but knew nothing of what was in store for me.

By the time we reached the West Main intersection, I felt the ambulance swerve here and there, which meant they had a red light and was maneuvering thru the traffic. It was no time and we arrived at Bronson Methodist Hospital in downtown Kalamazoo. I'm sure the ambulance driver radioed ahead, as the doors opened immediately and I know I counted at least 6 people lined up on the sides of the cot with their hands on the rails waiting for them to load me up. The next thing I remember is they were running with me down the hallway.

I don't remember what happened next, but I hear they took a quick brain scan and found a blood clot laying on the right side of my brain. I was wheeled into what was probably some type of operating room. I looked over at a guy sitting at a computer and I know they do some operations by computer. A couple of attendants ripped my clothes off as fast as they could and were prepping me for something else to take place. I was numb down below, but awake. After a few minutes, I don't really know how long, I heard a guy say "I'm done." I turned my head towards him and just started talking normal, carrying on a conversation with this guy, which I found out was the surgeon, Dr. Liu.

The attendants wheeled me up to ICU and apologized that they had to put me in a bed there, as all the other beds were full. Well, Geeze... that didn't matter to me. I was alive and talking.

The doctor said I had an ischemic stroke and said my family was in the waiting room and would I like to see them... Well, of course, so they said two at a time. My daughter had called 911 from her home in Angola, told them her Mom was having a stroke and could they patch her thru to VBC. It worked and Sheas Ambulance answered & were at my home within 5 minutes. She & Tommie then tried to reach as many family members as they could, just saying "Mom had a stroke, and she's downtown Kalamazoo".

My grandson, Billy & his wife, only live 10 minutes from the hospital, but as they headed out M43, they saw an ambulance coming, so turned around and followed it to the hospital. My son, Butch, lives in Albion, He jumped in his big Silverado pkup and said he was speeding down 1-94 going 90-100 MPH, with his flashers going and I think his horn a blowing. He lives probably about an hour from the hospital and he said he made it in 32 minutes. Lisa, Tommie & my other grandson, Joe, got to the hospital from Angola as fast as they could.

They had no idea of what to expect, so when Billy & his wife, Lisa Renae, came into the room, I smiled at them and said "Hi Sweeties, how are you doing?" You should have seen the big grin on their faces. They visited for a few minutes, then the next two people came in. Then the last three came in. They were all so very happy that I was talking. It was a miracle. My daughter had recognized I was having a stroke, as my step-Mom had a stroke many years ago, but in her case, she ended up paralyzed and could never again get the words out right and carry on a conversation.

I am so ever thankful not only for my Lisa taking control of herself and calling 911, but that the ambulance people did their job, the surgeon and entire medical staff at Bronson Methodist worked diligently as a team to save my life from death, or becoming paralyzed and not able to talk. I guess there is a 6 hour window from the time an ischemic stroke starts that you have to catch it in time before any brain damage. They did their jobs...

The rest of Sunday was constant RNs and PAs monitoring me constantly with talking, doing exercises with holding my arms out straight and legs out straight to be sure neither were dropping. I had a blood pressure cuff on my arm with constant readings and I heard them once say 200. Someone worked fast to get that down. I was hooked up to various IVs, constant blood readings, and at one point 2 PAs came in & the right side of my tummie was swollen. The one PA said she had to push on my stomach real hard to try to get the swelling down. WOW! She got up on her haunches and pushed down with both hands really hard. That hurt and she did it 3 times. Then she took her fingers on both hands and pushed around the area as some of the swelling went down. The next thing was what they call a sandblock arrived, which was a big block they sat across my whole stomach area and left it there for a while. This was kind of scary, as they had to work fast to get the swelling down. They didn't have time to explain what they were doing, they just did their job fast, doing what was necessary.

After several hours, a tray arrived with a nice casserole of hot mac and cheese, a cup of coffee, a roll and some raspberry sherbet. I found out my grandson, Billy, ordered that before they left. I took my time eating that, and realized I had not had a thing to eat since the night before.

Later that day a physical therapist and occupational therapist came in together and went thru their routine. Afterward, they said "Well, I guess you don't need us." I said "Nope - don't think I do." Later that day a speech therapist came and went thru her routine. After carrying on a conversation and writing my name and a sentence legibly, she said "Well, guess you don't need me." I said "Nope - don't think I do"...As the day/night continued, all of a sudden my blood pressure read 60/45. WOW - I could tell, they had to do something real fast, because at the time, I was on my way out. Finally they got it back up to normal and it stayed there.

Needless to say - being monitored all day and now into the evening, I never even thought of sleep and at 3 a.m., they came in and said they were taking me downstairs for a brain scan. I thought Whee - here I go for a ride again.

As the nurses all take 12-hour shifts, I had a change 1st thing Monday morning. They were all RNs or higher, so I asked the young guy Monday if he was an RN and he answered "yes." Then I asked if he knew what the result was of the 3 a.m. brain scan. He went to check and came back saying it was all clear. He told me then that I may get to go home later on.

A gal had come in earlier with a computer saying she was going to do an Echo Gram. Lisa was there too, so we watched it on the computer screen. She kept remarking that it was looking really good. They had to wait for the doc to look at that before they could give me a time slot for going home.

Lisa had come back to the hospital about noon, Butch went in to work at 4:30 - worked 4 hours, then cleaned up and returned to the hospital. Grandson, Billy, came back as soon as he got out of work from Stryker. Shortly after that the nurse came in and told me I could get cleaned up and get dressed and wait for the final discharge papers to arrive. It was 5:30 P.M. by the time they wheeled me down to the parking lot. We all gave our hugs & I was to stay with someone for about 5 days, so Lisa took me home with her.

They had picked up my little Behr and took him to her home the day I arrived in the hospital, so he was waiting for me when we arrived at her home. What a treat that was. Lisa works night shift at FedEx, and took a couple of nights off to be sure I was going to be ok.

While Lisa slept during the day, I was able to get on my computer that she had brought to me, take my Behr out for his potties, do some light house work and by the 3rd day I managed to walk around the whole block around their home. Slowly I was attempting to build some strength back before returning to my home, which I would then be by myself.

Several friends checked up on me by phone/text each day and one lady delivered a beautiful bouquet of flowers after I had returned home. Upon returning home Saturday afternoon, I found Butch and Tommie had arrived at my home earlier in the day getting my whole yard mowed, weed eating done and the watering system picked up and stored from my blueberry patch. What a caring, loving family and friends I have. 

As I had messaged Joan ahead of time of what happened to me, she said I was a Walking Miracle. I thought that was a perfect title to this story. The outcome could have been much worse. LIFE IS GOOD!! AND GOD IS GOOD!!!