Here we are, on the road: We’re in Santa Clara, California

5/29/15 Chuck’s report

Where to start? First off, Lorraine is getting better and recovering from her brain aneurysm repair on the 12th of this month. She is back to a much more normal life, no restrictions at this time.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their phone call and emails checking on her and offering their best wishes and prayers. She is almost to the end of this round of major medical issues (we hope and pray) and will be in the recovery and watch mode for the next couple of years. But please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she isn’t finished with everything just yet.

She still is going to the speech therapist twice a week and getting homework on the off days. She is still having some issues but to talk with her it might be tough to notice anything out of the ordinary. But she is showing progress everyday so we are still hoping for much more recovery in the coming months.

Things could have been much worse, of course. She only had some physical issues for a couple of days after her stroke back in March and her vision issues are getting better too. All in all, she is in pretty good shape for having had two significant strokes in the past few years plus all the other medical issues she has overcome in her life. I don’t know many folks who have overcome breast cancer, a liver shutdown, gall bladder removal, thyroid removal, two strokes and two brain aneurysms repaired, all over the past 15 years, like Lorraine has done. Pretty strong lady if you ask me!! And on top of all these issues, she has had to put up and take care of me, maybe the hardest thing she’s had to do.

We made an appointment at the neurology department at Stanford Medical Center for a second opinion but couldn’t get in until after her procedure was done at a different place. We still wanted to see someone there so kept that appointment anyway. We dropped off a copy of all of her records, reports and results for them to review before we got there. Once we got there, the doctor showed up, told us she had reviewed all the records and said she thought we were doing the right thing and getting good care. She knew the doctor doing the procedures and said she heard he was good. She did review Lorraine’s medicine list and changed one prescription. She also had them attach a heart monitor for Lorraine to wear for two weeks just to check it out. Apparently a good portion of strokes are caused by A-Fib and this monitor will show if she is having any issues or not.

They attached the monitor, about the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half, by sandpapering her skin in the area, washing it with alcohol and then attached it using the sticky, band aide type, adhesive bandage. The monitor doesn’t have any exterior wires, everything is self contained. Lorraine really had trouble with it itching over the two weeks, she broke out in a red rash too, very uncomfortable. We removed it yesterday and send it back to the lab and should get the results in a week or so, here’s hoping for good results!

While her visit to Stanford didn’t indicate anything new, it was really nice to confirm the treatment she is getting is the same as they would have done to her. The doctor did say Stanford is conservative about repairing aneurysm but she didn’t have the latest angiogram pictures showing the location and size of the two Lorraine had so couldn’t say whether or not they would have recommended the procedures for Lorraine. But seeing as how Lorraine had already undergone the procedure with little or no problems, she said it was probably a good thing. She also said she would recommend Lorraine continue with the next repair seeing as it had already been prepped. And once both had been repaired, she will not have them rupturing at some later date and causing really bad problems.

Yesterday we saw Lorraine’s surgeon for a follow-up visit after her procedure. He was pleased with her condition and progress, said she was doing really well. He said he has to wait for at least 6 weeks to repair the aneurysm that was prepped, the stent had to be firmly in place so he doesn’t disturb it. That means we will have to be around here for at least two more months or more.

We were hoping to be able to leave for awhile and head up North for July – Sept. but that won’t be happening. There is still a possibility we can get up there for a short visit but it’s still up in the air yet. Lorraine wants to be there for her sister’s 50th anniversary in August if possible but her medical care comes first.

Susy is still having problems with her neck, shoulder, arms and hands. She had another nerve conduction test done to check for problems and will be seeing her surgeon next Monday. Sure hope they can help her as she has some restrictions on what she is able to do sometimes and is in pain often too.

Last weekend Susy’s friend Mike was graduating with a Master’s Degree in Physics from San Jose State. We were invited to the ceremony and to his folk’s place for a gathering later. I think I heard there were over 7,000 grads getting either BA or advanced degrees. We were in the stands close to where the Science department grads were sitting and not too far from the podium where all the dignitaries and speakers were. Too bad I didn’t have any rotten eggs with me as we were close enough that I could have thrown them. Nance Pelosi, California Representative and former Speaker of the House, was the keynote speaker, not one of my favorite politicians for sure. But she only got into politics twice, the rest of the time was mostly about her and her life (boring). But the rest of the day was really nice.

We had a good time at the ceremony and later at his folk’s place. Congrats to Mike and his brother, Mark, who will be graduating with his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in two weeks. That means everyone in the family will have their Master’s, WOW.

We had a BBQ on Sunday and Monday at Susy’s place over the weekend. Of course, there were enough leftovers that we could have fed twice as many folks but we’ve been working on them since.

Katie continues with school for a couple more weeks yet. Her dad is still teaching computers at her school so we don’t pick her up as often. She has completed some big projects this school year and currently has a Pinewood Derby car to get ready for Girl Scouts. She keeps busy but still likes to play with her Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony toys. And she has a couple of U-tube sites she keeps track of daily too. She did have a bad sprain on her foot but is now doing well without the crutches, yea!

It is nice to be here with Susy and Katie although I’m sure they would be just fine with us leaving for awhile to get their lives back to normal. We usually see them everyday after school and work and sometimes that means Katie doesn’t have a lot of time to do her homework but we try to make that a priority for her.

The weather has been nice lately although we do get morning clouds almost everyday. But the clouds lift usually around noon and its been warming up to the low to mid 70s most days. We’ve even had a couple more days of light rain, something this area is really needs. Too bad some of the rain that’s in Texas and Oklahoma couldn’t have fallen in California instead, this draught has lasted way too long.

I’ve sent in another request to the Elks Lodge to see if we can continue to stay here without having to follow the 14 days in – at least three days out- rule. So far they have agreed to let us stay and we really appreciate that. We see one of the specialist next week and will as him if it would be ok for us to leave the area for a week or so just so Lorraine can get away from doctors and therapist for awhile, I think it would do her good. But if not, we’ll just stay here and continue on as we are doing.

Here are a few pictures, we don’t take many except for special occasions which we haven’t had too many of lately.

Susy and Katie on Mother’s day at her house.