Good Saturday to you from the Upper Midwest which really shows off it's beauty this time of year. Just plenty of sunshine, breezes, and colors to enjoy, whether you are on a lake or sitting on your front porch. It's all good here in our corner of the world.
Speaking of all good, it has been quite a week. It has been quite a month actually. Looking back we made three trips to Minnesota in around a month, going to a funeral, 2 graduation parties, and a baby shower. In between we had Covid, and then a few weeks later we were exposed to it again. Then this past Tuesday Joel experienced what doctor's are calling a TIA, which is a mini stroke where a small clot goes through the brain but does not cause any lasting damage. He is home and right back to normal, but it still seems surreal to write this. My Joel. The Energizer Bunny. The guy that does not need any medications. The guy that runs up and down stairs in our home daily. The guy who rides 10 miles at a time, eats mostly healthy, has no other health issues.
He was at the store talking on the phone to one of our daughters when he suddenly could not get the words in his brain to come out of his mouth....just garbled sounds. It passed after a few minutes so of course he finished shopping and drove home with groceries! He told me I would need to keep an eye on him but he had other symptoms coming up so I said, we need to call the doctor. They sent us to ER. We spent 7 hrs in ER with a stroke nurse, regular nurse, ER doctor, Internal Medicine Dr. and Neurologist who stopped by. He saw physical therapists and an OP too. Plus a social worker and a spiritual care "advisor". He passed every test with flying colors and the CT and MRI of brain was all normal and good. His EKG and Echocardiogram were good too. He spent the night in the hospital finally getting a room around 7pm....and some food! Our oldest son drove 2 hrs up and spent 2 nights here.. The other kids were keeping in contact.
We have talked about how efficient all the staff was in ER. We have pondered the fact that Joel had NO risk factors they could find for this to happen except for having had COVID. And that can put you at higher risk. It is great he has no health issues! Cholesterol is 108! But he still could have had a piece of placque break off, too..... He is super active. No meds. It also means there is nothing he can do to prevent it from happening again, except for taking baby aspirin. AND praying.
Life can spin on a dime can't it. Everything is going great and then it isn't. But nothing surprises God. Nothing. And we are more than grateful that God was with Joel. Joel skipped out of that hospital on Wed. afternoon, and I mean he literally skipped off the floor while the nurses laughed. They told him he was the healthiest patient up there!
Speaking of healthy, Joel has been my "super-human" for so long..........Always good reports. Just had a clean bill of health 2 weeks ago! He has been the one sitting on a chair watching me in a hospital bed. And this time the roles were reversed........and I did not like it. Not one bit. I will say, with his permission of course, that he is not always the most patient patient. When he had not eaten all day under orders, he kept persisting until finally at 6 he got a sandwich. And Wednesday when we waited several hours for test results and the doctor's okay to go home? Yeah.........Out of the blue he said to Matt and I. "I am NOT staying here another night. I DON"T need to be here. IF they want more tests, I'll come back tomorrow! I am going home!" Okay then. Hmmmm We may have other kids in the family that lean this way too! Ha.. My thought was, Matt is seeing the future with dad as an "old guy"......Joel later called it being independent. I told him I am thinking more like..........stubborn. He did kept his sense of humor throughout, and since the symptoms resolved so quickly there was peace most of the time. We knew people were praying. We knew he was getting good care. I do feel for people who don't depend on God or are on their own with no loved ones that give their support, love and prayers.
On this note, I am closing my Saturday Scribbles with all I am grateful for. The list could go on forever regarding Joel. So so so grateful it was only a TIA. So grateful for the great care he got at our local hospital. So grateful Kay and Danny gave us a ride to the ER. So grateful his levels of health and activity helped resolve this quickly ( we were told so several times). So grateful for Matt coming up to be here. So grateful for the love and support of our kids and in-loves. So grateful for extended family and their love and prayers. Yes, grateful. So very very grateful that I am able to hold Joel's hand, watch him laugh at a funny show, or at his own silly jokes. So very grateful we woke up to another day when so many did not. Thankful for prayers, texts, phone calls, and more................
This has given us pause.........as it should.
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