Off and Running...

This week, Lea Ann and Jake celebrated their 6 month wedding anniversary. They dug into the top layer of their wedding cake and it tasted suprisingly good! They also attended a black tie event for Bradley University's Campaign Kick Off...those bridesmaid's dresses from their weding came in pretty handy for Lea Ann! She even tried her luck in heels for the first time!

Over the weekend, Kem came up to visit. We all headed up to the tennis courts where Lea Ann continued to work on her game. She even took a ten minute jog around the courts to work on building endurance. She continues to fight fatigue after a day of activities but keeps busy throughout the day focusing on using her right hand in daily tasks.

Another local TV station is planning a story on her stroke and recovery and will interview her both at her house and in therapy next week. The local paper is interviewing her tomorrow for an article as well. We'll make sure to post both stories when they're available!

Progress

Since Lea Ann's life revolves around PT and OT, thought we'd share some pics of her in action. She's focusing on strengthening her quads, core, and just building her endurance. As you can see she's doing alot of work with resistances bands, balance, and actually jumping! The pics don't do her justice. She's so close to dunking again, it's not funny! She finally started OT this week, focusing on building shoulder strength and working her fingers individually. Coordination and strength in her right hand will be the last things to regain full function. Although she continues to do as many of her daily tasks as possible with her right hand, the fingers still work in unison and have some curl to them. Her therapy has moved to an actual gym for curcuit training and she is continually encouraged to be active as much as possible without overtiring herself. She has some added inspiration this week, as Nikki and Jack are in town for a visit. They all are soaking up the beautiful Peoria weather and have even made it to the tennis courts to hit some balls around. Enjoy the pics!

1 Month Anniversary

Yes, it's already been a month! Lea Ann is headed to the Mayo-Clinic in Rochester, MN May12, hoping to determine if any other factors caused her stroke besides the genetic mutation of the factor V,to see if the coumadin will be a lifetime treatment, and what their take is on the epilepsy issue--does she have it or are they convinced the seizures were truly just induced by the stroke. She's been trying to get back to normal life-- walking Jake to work, grocery shopping, paying bills, and some other light domestic duties.
Lea Ann says, "I do have to give Mom mad props for keeping my house clean and fresh socks to put on every morning... She's a God send. Jake is getting back into the swing of thing at work and learning some minimal kitchen skills from the both of us. By the time Mom goes home, Jake is gonna be well trained. Jake and I even had a date night and attented our first Peoria Chiefs minor league baseball game. They lost, but we didn't take it personally. I think the 'person' most happy to see me home is Macey (the cat). Physical Therapy is proving to be an extreme challenge, although a welcome one. Working on strengthing my core, ankle, and hips, as well as continually working on balance. As far as my right hand... it's coming along slowly, but surely. The grip is good but the coordination is lacking. Translation: I write like a second grader. I start Occupational Therapy Friday to focus on that."
Please keep posting your comments on the blog for Lea Ann. She appreciates it so much.

Her Story on Channel 25 News

Here is the link to the story and video clip that Channel 25 did on Lea Ann today. They decided not to wait for Stroke Awareness in May and did a human interest/health awareness story right away.
http://www.week.com/news/health/17550014.html

Talked with Debbie last night. Sounds like Lea Ann's getting back in the swing of normal life! She had to make a grilled cheese sandwich as part of her occupational therapy yesterday. Can you believe that Jake wouldn't even eat it? He has to be getting tired of cheeseburgers by now, surely! Lea goes in for her first TV interview today (Friday). Sounds like there may be more than one local channel interested in her story! She'll start outpatient physical therapy today as well and then Debbie says next week they'll start their "routine" with PT, OT, and Lea's home exercises. She said they have to make themselves get into a routine in order to avoid being lazy. So, Lea Ann, watch out! :O)

The Dream Team is Going Home!

Lea Ann has been cleared to go home even earlier than anticipated. Her therapist have run out of drills for her. She is checking out tomorrow morning, Thursday, Arpil 10th. Here are some pics of Lea, Jake, and Debbie--The Dream Team! Lea Ann has been progressing so well, she will be getting some more company in the coming weeks--in-laws, siblings, and all 3 of her Friga nephews. You know she is getting along pretty well if she can handle Bryce, Ryan, and The Jack Attack, all at once! Thank You, Jake and Mom, for taking such good care of her through this ordeal. Such trying times can be as difficult on the family as on the patient. Congratulations Lea--you are truly an inspiration to us all. WE LOVE YOU!

From the weekend...

Lea Ann had some visitors this weekend...Trish, Caitlin, Dawn and Macey...Brian and Amy Carroll (Jake's friend and his wife) came up too. We have found out that Lea is also being diagnosed with epilepsy. They can't be certain she actually has it, it is more likely she had seizures induced by the stroke. However, the only way to be certain is to take her off the seizure medicine and wait and see if she has another seizure (which she could actually have epilepsy and not have another seizure for several years). This means that along with the blood thinner Cumodin, she will be on the seizure medicine Keppra for the rest of her life (they believe). We are being told that we should seek a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic, however, because Lea Ann is such a rare case. As her doctor said, "when you hear hooves stomping outside you should believe it is horses not zebras." In Lea Ann's case though he said she is a zebra. Therefore we will be working on taking her to the Mayo Clinic to decide if she should be on the blood thinner or not.

PT -Lea Ann did defensive slides (aka the duck walk), learned how to jump again on one or two feet, did wall squats and finally pulled her therapist around using resistance bands. Today was a WORKOUT!!! She actually had to stop a little early because she got a little light headed.

Though Lea Ann will be going home on Friday (Woo-Hoo!), we will not be posting her home address/phone number to the blog, for safety reasons. Since this is an open blog and anyone can view it, we thought it best to keep that information off the website--gotta watch out for the weirdos out there! If you really want to send her something after Friday, contact a family member for the address and that person can make a judgement call. And of course, you can continue to keep in contact with her via the blog though, since we will be updating it until she is fully recovered.

Trisha, Lea Ann, Dawn, and Caitlin (Macey on the pillow)

She's Gonna Be Famous Too!

Lea was asked if she would appear on a TV special for Stroke Awareness Month (May) to talk about her experience--how she was perfectly healthy and was even embarrassed to go to the hospital the night of her stroke and seizures, but because of early detection and her healthy lifestyle, she is making an amazing recovery.

More pics from Jake!

I'm a personal fan of the "ol' lady with the cane" look! Jake said she played kickball this weekend, walked ON HER OWN, and wiggled her toes! Thought we'd share more pictures of her "remarkable" progress!



Lea Ann and Liz
Casey, the therapist, with Lea Ann

Lea Ann dribbling in therapy. She better hope Coach Jackson doesn't see her looking down at the ball! Eyes up, girl!

She's Goin' Home!

They are releasing her next Friday, April 11th! That means our Over-Achiever will only have been in the hospital 22 days! Must be a record! She graduated to an "ol' lady cane" she said, and only has to use it for stability when she gets fatigued. They have taken her on some outings and to her house to help her ease back into her world and point out potential problems. They have also reduced her seizure and headache meds. She's in good spirits and anxious to go home. She's so thankful for everyone's prayers and encouraging words and hopes to thank everyone in person soon.

This weekend through this morning...

Debbie called for a quick update Monday evening. Lea Ann took 55 STEPS with her hemi-walker this day, which is a BIG accomplishment! She continues with the headaches, so they started her on a steroid every 6 hours to try to get the inflammation down a bit to help ease her pain. Headaches have kinda been interfering with her PT since she can't give 100% when she's hurting. She's taking a pain pill every morning now just to avoid the headaches so she can concentrate more. Her mom says she's tired, but working really hard. They've been weaning her off her seizure meds and today was the final day. The best thing I heard was that Lea Ann has been throwing her right arm above her head today. She was doing it while I was talking with Debbie on the phone...trying to show off, I think! :o) Tony and Kem went to visit Lea Ann this weekend and had a great time. Lea Ann even sat down for a game of Sequence with them. But one game was enough for her. As she mentioned, her attention span isn't up to par just yet. I can only imagine how drained she is after a full day of her routine too. Tony was truly amazed at how far she's come since we seen her in ICU. He said she doesn't remember much in the beginning. She doesn't remember being in ICU. She remembers coming to the hospital and remembers why she came in and she recalls tensing up before her first big seizure- and the rest was a blur. But they had her on medications and she was pretty well asleep most of the in-between time, so it's no surprise. He said this weekend she was able to finally move herself into her bed from the wheelchair with no assistance and was even able to lift her right leg into the bed! She normally had to slide her left foot under her right leg to help lift it into bed, but she moved it all by itself this time. He said she struggled the first time, but by the time she did it again, she had less difficulty. The third time was like second nature. It really helps the family to be able to see her progress first hand. Talked with Debbie today, Wednesday April 2nd and Lea Ann was up waiting for the next round of therapy. Said she took 85 steps Tuesday and they have now officially graduated her to a cane walker. What strides! Debbie said their goal today is to teach Lea Ann how to get up if she ever happens to fall. So, of course, the ol' "I've fallen and can't get up" quote came up in the conversation... Debbie said Lea Ann had a really good day yesterday and is "up, rarin' to go" this morning. Jake sent some pictures to show everyone her accomplishments so far. Lea Ann continues to check her blog, so keep the comments rolling!