After the Stroke

After a very long absence from this blog, I am back.  Life has been filled

with ups and downs for me in the past two years.  I had a life threatening

illness, followed by cancer and all of the treatment that arises from that

dreadful disease.  During my cancer, my weight went down to 78 pounds.

People often talk about the difficulty of losing weight, but for those who

become so frightfully thin, the struggle to gain weight lost is very real.

The doctors advised me to eat, eat everything, and so I did.  No one was

concerned about the type of food I was consuming, just that I consume

lots of it.   

In hindsight, I wish I would have more carefully monitored my diet,

but I did not.  In fact, it was unusual for me to eat a diet so rich in

calorie laden, fat filled foods, but alas, I did it.  

Also during the height of my cancer battle, the Covid pandemic hit,

and because my husband was employed in the oil and gas industry,

when the price of oil dropped to $0 per barrel, he was laid off from

his job.  This was very stressful for me.  We were facing an unknown

future on all fronts, so it seemed.  The co-pays for my cancer

infusions were staggering.  My beloved little Yorkie Bentley had died

at age 14.  In my mind, things could not get any worse.  

In typical fashion, I covered up my heartache.  I did my best to be upbeat.

I didn't fully convey the heartache and anger I felt about the cards I

had been dealt.  

On October 5th, just three weeks ago, I learned that there didn't 

appear to be any hope of my husband returning to his former job.

I was devastated.  We had given up everything back in Idaho to

move down to Texas expressly for this job.  Now it was over and

we are stuck in a small city with few good job opportunities.  I was

angry and afraid.  I started to sob.  The kind of heart wrenching 

sobs one gets when it appears that all hope is gone.  I went to 

sit down in a chair in our bedroom.  That's when it hit me, a 

stroke that left me paralyzed on my left side.  I went to the 

emergency room by ambulance.  I was given the clot buster

drug, and then air lifted to Houston for treatment at the University

of Texas Medical Hospital's stroke unit.  I recovered and could 

return home.  I'm on meds and a very heart healthy diet.  I was

one of the lucky ones.  Now I have choices to make.  Where does

life lead me now?  Having faced death twice within two years,

it is a very important decision to make 

Love,

Susan and Oliver