Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Tuesday!  I promised you the story.

            Around 6:00 pm on July 16, 2013 Bruce was working at a client’s home. She heard a noise and went outside to investigate. She found Bruce on his hands and knees searching for something and he looked up at her and said, “I don’t think I can do this.” Bruce sat down. She got him some water and he took a few sips. After asking him several times if he was okay, her daughter came out and told her mom to call 911. But this time Bruce is not speaking in understandable language. The ambulance got there in five minutes. The ambulance took Bruce to MCA Hospital in Arlington, Texas. MCA  is the certified stroke center in the North Texas area. They ran a CT scan to check for blood and found none. Next they ran an angio-CT scan where they injected Bruce with dye and the blood clot was discovered. Bruce was in the helicopter within 10 minutes and was being flown to Plaza Medical Center where they performed emergency brain surgery to extract the large blood clot located in Bruce’s brain stem. They were unable to extract the entire clot so there is some residual still in his brain. The good news is that it is that the remainder of the clot should not be of great danger to Bruce. 

Bruce has made a remarkable recovery. His physical condition is really great. He has experienced some diminished capacity on his right side and the clot was located on the left side of the brain. The primary deficit he is experiencing is in speech and language. He has some natural language and responses, but a great deal of speech difficulty. His diagnosis is called expressive aphasia. Bruce comprehends most of what is said to him, but is not able to respond appropriately. He tries and works very hard, but gets frustrated when the words don’t come out the way he knows they are supposed to. He is in Kindred Rehab hospital behind the Arlington Villa in Arlington. Today he did all kinds of evaluations. His team will meet tomorrow and begin setting goals for discharge planning. I do not know when he will be home. I miss him so much even though he is just down the road. I can’t call him on the phone because his language will not allow him to respond in an understandable way. The kids and I are preparing for his return home. We have slept on a waterbed for about 30 years. The bed was drained today and some furniture was moved out of our room to make room for the new bed and to create more space to accommodate safety issues. I worked until 10 pm tonight and stopped due to fatigue. I will continue tomorrow. This is a huge job!  Please pray for me as I continue the task tomorrow. And please continue to pray for Bruce’s for healing and recovery.

“The LORD gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40: 29-31

God is so good. Tonight I have been given the word that both Bruce and I need to hear. I am weary. This was not the adventure I had planned on. And once again I am in uncharted waters. As Bruce has recently said several times, “this is weird.”

Tonight my devotional reading reminds me that when I become emotional and just a bit frightened about the future to take time to be with God and “bask” in the Light of His Love. I need this Word and Presence for strength emotionally, spiritually and physically. I need to receive abundant joy, peace and unfailing love. My faith is strong, but my heart is in pieces. Help me friends to take on this adventure with gladness. We have received the richest of blessings in Bruce surviving this stroke. Please pray for him to recover.

Take joy in the journey remembering that hope does not disappoint. Wear comfortable shoes, pray with a heart filled with gratitude, let us cast our cares upon the Lord and get some sleep. God is up all night anyway so there is no reason for all of us to be up. Thank you all and love you lots, Bruce and Gaylene