BS: Before Stroke ~ ASS: After Stupid Stroke

 This Post will be in sequence from before Hospitalization and After and refer to BS and ASS referring to Before Stroke and After Stupid Stroke.  *LOL*  Written The Day Before Hospitalization:  I'm still Blogging becoz I still CAN so far and it's Calming to me to know I can still put Sentences together and Mentally be coherent for now!  *Whew and LOL*   I'm currently waiting on my Doc's Office to give me follow-up instructions on what to do if I've had a Mini Stroke... or Bell's Palsy... or whatever the fuck they never bothered to even have me get to see a Doctor at the ER for last Night in all the Hours I spent there in Crisis!!!  I don't know what else to do... I dunno, has it already morphed into a Soylent Green Moment with the American Medical System... or The Purge... even before they install RFK, Jr. to make it even worse?!

I have no Idea if I even have Brain Cells Dying as we speak?   So, if the Post gets as Weird to Read as I currently Feel, with impaired Vision in One Eye, my Headache feeling like it could explode my Head like a Melon and affecting both sides now, and numbness on my Right Side, well, could be some Dead Brain Cells causing it?!   *LOL*   I can't help it, Gallow's Humor sustains this Family and we find Humor in the most unlikely shit imaginable, especially when Reality seems so damned Surreal you couldn't make this shit up!!!   Dying has never bothered or scared me, but, just being so fucked up I can't Care for myself or my Loved Ones isn't an Option I want to contemplate, Okay?  We aren't among the Elite so it would just mean being totally fucked.

But, Christmas is in just a few Days now and I refuse to fuck that up forever for my Loved Ones by dropping Dead suddenly right AT Christmastime!    I petitioned The Lord some time ago to allow me the privilege of Dying in my Sleep, and so last Night I was totally ready if that happened tho' as my Fate, since, the whole ER Fiasco wasn't the least bit Helpful.   But, I did Wake Up, feeling much the same as I had before I went to Sleep.   I even drove Princess T to Work with instructions that if I told her to take the Wheel, and learn to Drive on The Fly, that would just have to happen.  There's really nobody else on the Road as early as she has to go to Work on their Holiday Early Schedule, so, it's pretty deserted and half a City Block away.

She's Calm about almost any Medical Crisis since her Grandpa has had them nonstop her entire Life and we've always had to Deal with it ourselves.  The Medical Community gave up on him after his Catastrophic Accident, but we didn't.  So that Kid would Dream Up ways to Rehabilitate her Grandpa and keep him among the Living.  He now Jokes that this Family would never LET him Die.  *Bwahahaha*  And so now we Move to The Hospitalization and After Hospitalization part of the Post.  My Doc told me to go immediately to a better Hospital she referred me to, which is right by our Antique Mall, so still pretty close to Home.  The Daughter came with me and tho' they were slammed busy for a Friday too, with numerous Life Flights coming in back to back, they took my Stroke Symptoms Seriously at Abrazo Hospital, unlike Banner Hospital.

It took 'til almost Midnight to get me a Bed coz they were full, but, they were giving me Treatment before I got a Room and running Tests and such, had several Docs from Neurology and Cardiology Assigned to me.  Everyone was wonderful there and I felt I was getting Quality Care.  They Admitted me and determined, Yes, I'd had a Stroke, on the back Left Quadrant of my Brain.  It could have been Life Threatening and so they were appalled at how the other Hospital had neglected me and not taken it seriously, it could have cost me my Life.  As I waited for a Room I was in a Hallway where I couldn't believe how many shackled Patients were there from DOC {Dept. Of Corrections} and there were more huge Security Guards, Police, and DOC Personnel there than Hospital Staff!!!

Made me think all the Hard Cases were perhaps feigning Medical Emergencies to get a Christmas in the Hospital, I dunno?  *LOL*  Anyway, I got a Private Room in the Stroke Section of the Hospital which was filled up coz Stroke Alerts kept coming in all the time with ETA's and apparently you had to wait for another Stroke Patient to be discharged or Die to secure a Bed!   Lotsa folks Stroking Out at the Holidays I guess, so, I wasn't feeling like The Lone Ranger.  *LOL*   My Physical Therapists and Doctors were amazed at how quickly my Brain seemed to be compensating for the damage caused by the Stroke.   I joked that I've never had a Normal Brain anyway, so, it probably won't behave like most Brains they treat?  *Bwahahaha*  They thought that was hilarious, but I was Serious, the ADHD and Bipolar Brain is Hard Wired differently anyway.   *Smiles and Winks*

So, they were surprised I was able to compensate for the Vision Loss quickly and regain some of it back, Walk again without Assistance, the slight drooping of my Mouth self-corrected within 48 Hours to where it's barely noticeable now.  My Face no longer feels like the Right Side of it is sliding off and the Headaches began subsiding dramatically too.  The Pain in my Head when the Stroke hit was massive and couldn't be relieved for about 30 Hours or so.   I won't take strong Pain Meds and insisted on only Tylenol, I can Power thru Pain, but don't want to mess with any Opiods.   So, I kept thinking upon what my Dad always Taught me that Pain is merely a figment of your Imagination and you can Override it Naturally, which I did, and eventually it just quit hurting.  I have a LOT to Live for and Family N Friends kept me Reminded of that Fact... so, nobody was ready for me to Cross Over just yet.  *LOL*  Images of Great-Grandbabies with Granddaughter Mamas poured in to my Feed.

I did Post on Comments here and on my Book Of Faces Page while Hospitalized since the outpouring of concern and well wishes was so Touching.   I Thank everyone for the positive vibe, Prayers and concerns.  I had the Kiddos take some Hospital Selfies so you could see I was still among the Living and we still were activating our Gallow's Humor.  *Winks*   The Docs and Nurses said they Loved me coz I kept them all Laughing and was Cheerful in spite of having had a Stroke.  Well, it wouldn't be Helpful to be Sour or Salty, so, I chose to be Cheerful, why not?  Laughter is like a good Medicine, my Scripture tells me so.   My one Cardiologist is Dr. McDreamy Drop Dead Handsome... and, mebbe it's my Age, but why do all the Docs now look so Young and Doogie Howserish to me?  *LOL*

Note to Incoming Administration:  Damned near all the Best Doctors, Nurses and Physical Therapists in America are now Immigrants, so I do Hope they don't plan to deport them all too?   Seriously, damned near all my Wonderful Nurses and Doctors were from India, Poland, Africa, the Philippines, and other Eastern European Countries, very few were Home Grown Americans.   Just sayin', that when you bash our Immigrant Populations you probably have no idea how much they contribute to our Society as a Collective in important ways that would create such a vacuum and void should they not be here.   I was released by late Sunday Afternoon, but what I didn't know was that Medicare Advantage had called my Home and told my Family that since it was my Brain damaged, they could keep me longer if the Family felt they couldn't be ready to receive me yet?!   *Bwahahahha*

Well, The Family thought that was hilarious and told Medicare, well, SHE is The Caregiver here, so... *LMAOROTF*   Anyway, I was more than ready to come Home for Christmas.  As wonderful as my Caregivers at the Hospital all were, their Beds there were trashing my Back after Day No. Two!!!   I don't think I could have tolerated a 3rd Day in that Bed, my Back was hurting as much as my Head.  *LOL*    The Kiddos had brought me some Contraband of DQ since I was craving a Java Chip Blizzard, The Son was too nervous to bring it up without approval, so, they told him it would be okay.  They did have me on a pretty strict Diet coz Post Stroke my A1C had gone up to 8, it had been at 7 or lower for some time now so that sucks.  Now I'll have to work on that again.  I'm on 3 more new Medications ASS... so I feel like the Gramma on the Comedy Movie "Gramma's Boy" {2006}... where the Gramma's Meal was a Plate full of her prescribed Pills made into a Happy Face on her Plate!   *LOL*  {See Above}

Even Lifelong Friends of my Adult Kiddos who call me Mom were telling their Employers they might need to leave Work coz I might take a bad turn.  Most people don't know they're not ALL my Kids, so... *bwahaha*  It kept my Spirits up to know everyone was well wishing me a speedy Recovery.   So many Post-Stroke Patients were NOT doing well, so I seemed to be the only Success Story, and it did make me feel exceedingly Grateful since the Brain Scans had not been so good and they also feel I do have a Heart Anomaly, that I might have always had and just didn't know it.  So, I will be under the Care of Cardiologists and Neurologists for After Care.   Tho' the Physical Therapy Team felt I didn't need them, I was progressing so well on my own.  I have had lots of Practice with Self-Rehabilitating The Man after his Traumatic Brain Injury, which had a far grimmer prognosis, so, I Got This.

And I'm glad that my Cognitive Function is pretty good so I can still Blog and shit.  *Winks*  That would have been terrible.  *Bwahahahha*   Anyway, I'll end this ASS Post with a Trio of Pixs from the Trio of Granddaughters in Mexico...

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Up by Faith and knowing it will Hold my Friends... Merry Christmas from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian