Hi all! I have the BEST excuse for not writing ever. I had a stroke! Honest to god, yer pal RANTWICK had a scary incident involving a brain hemorrhage in his cerebellum. Your cerebellum is at the bottom, right behind the brain stem, which in my case was in danger from the bleed; I was super lucky to live through it. I am even luckier that a full recovery is likely, although it may take some time.
One reason things look good is that I'm 46 years old, which is young for a Strokie Joe. Strokie Joe is my new nickname around the house. My balance and motor skills with my arms have been affected such that cycling as a rehab goal may be possible by late summer. We shall see. At first my speech was halting and slurred, but it is almost back to normal now, so who knows, maybe it'll be sooner.
I had my stroke on March 29 under the best of circumstances. My wife and I were together at home and an ambulance took me to the best hospital in the COUNTRY for strokes, University Hospital at Western University in London Ontario. The level of competent care and compassion I got there still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I was there for 9 days. There was no findable cause for any of this. Scary, right?
I wasn't kidding with the title of this post. I wanted my online friends to know what happened, but I don't want this blog to be about this stuff at all. There are plenty of good online sources of online information and discussion about brain and rehab stuff. If you want to engage on those topics I recommend you try those. If, on the other hand, you have an appetite for the random ravings of an affable bike freak, I'm still yer man. My faculties, while still "special" as ever, have not been affected.
You can expect the next post to be a return to form. It may be about wheels or video or headsets, but definitely not heads. Well, I guess it could be about heads; I never really know. But not my head. Nuh-uh.
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K 
14 comments:
I'll honor your "not speak of this again" request...after saying this. I am very glad to hear that such a traumatic event went as well as it did, bummed that you have to deal with this at all, and pray you'll have quick and complete recovery. Blessings to you and your family!
Thanks man, that's really nice.
Check out your genetic history. I have no other classic signs for stroke. Dr Spence tracked down the zebra of my having the Prothrombin mutation. If you have any European ancestors AT ALL your chances are twice the normal population of having a genetic proclivity to stroke inducing blood mutations.
RANTWICK, so glad you made it through this. It's tough, but good to know what happened to you. Scary, certainly. Stay strong, we're thinking of you, and also praying for a complete recovery.
Ah, that would explain things, some of our usual crossing times and places during commute had been quiet lately. I'll look for you out on your OTB that you'll have time to complete.
Hey, Sorry to hear about the near death thing, will do my best to honor the gag rule. No guarantees though. I guess every bike commute deserves a Kudo after hearing this. Not just the hearty foul weather ones. Looking forward to the future randomness that was. Maybe a spring flower contest in the same vein as the foliage contest. =)
Thinking of you Mr. R. Happy that you're on the road to recovery. You truly had the wind at your back.
Hoy crap, dude! Stay well. We are all grateful that you live in a country where the first concern about health care is transporting yourself to the provider, not how badly it is going to bugger your finances for the rest of your life. Now you can focus on recovery.
Patrick - Deb and I couldn't believe it when we first heard. I am glad you posted tis - I have been checking a few times for activity. Have been respecting your wishes for time and distance but really want to see you when you are ready. You know the many different ways of getting hold of me so when you are ready, please let us know. Obviously anything we can do, we will. Rides, taxes, whatever - we are there.
love, Chris and Deb
Cafiend - Thanks! I was deeply aware of how lucky we are here in Canada. 9 days in hospital, 4 of those in an acute care ward with constant monitoring, 3 CT scans, 1 Angiosomething + follow-up by a neurologist and rehab at a great facility. I hate to imagine what the total cost is. My cost: $45.00 for the ambulance ride.
I enjoy watching how things are done in a civilized country.
I presume things continue to improve?
Indeed they do Steve! Improvements are happening every day. They are small and incremental so I don't necessarily pickup on them. People I only see every couple of weeks or so tell me each time that I am markedly improved each time. Many things that were slow and difficult have become fast and only slightly annoying. Rapid head turns make me dizzy still and are the main impediment to riding.
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