Thursday, June 16, 2011

Life is peaks and valleys. This my friends? Is a valley...

Life is crazy right now. My father-in-law Dave had LVAD surgery last Friday and there were some complications. It turns out he had a stroke either during surgery or shortly thereafter. He needed this surgery to assist his heart because of congestive heart failure but we didn't know what it was going to cost him. We knew that there were risks (specifically of stroke) but were really hoping he would be one of the lucky ones. Technically he is...he's still with us and I'm so grateful but also heartbroken for him and for my mother-in-law.

If you have experience with left temporal lobe strokes then please contact me at minnesotajoy at gmail dot com. We are looking for ways to help Dave. His main issue seems to be retrieving names of people and things and feeling like the word is on the tip of his tongue. My heart is breaking for him when I see him struggle trying to talk and being so frustrated doing something that came so easily for him before this started.

He cannot remember his wife's name. Think about that for a minute, then tell me how not to cry every time I think about that.

Please keep him in your prayers and/or send healing thoughts his way.

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2 comments:

Jen - LifeWithLevi said...

Praying hard for you and your family.

Sandy said...

Dear Jo

We are huge fans of Minnesota Joy over at Glam Media! We’re one of the top 10 online media companies in the US and would love for you to help pilot our new Family Blogging Community, slated to launch in the coming months.

If you’re interested in making valuable connections with Moms like you, please contact me about joining this community we’re building.

Cheers,

Sandy Hayashi
Community Partners Editor
Glam Media
sandyh@glam.com