Reporting Live From Mayo

We made it to the great state of MN and had my initial consultation with Neurology this morning at the lovely hour of 7 am. It took a mere 3 hours to go over everything...then it was off to get some blood drawn of course! We're already feeling great about what will come from this trip. Since they've dealt with cases like mine, they speak with a lot of confidence about the factors causing the kind of stroke I had as well as treatments. They were also very supportive of what they called "the perfect treatment" I received in Peoria.

Here's the basics of what they said.(Keep in mind this is prior to their review tomorrow of my actual films from the CT scans and MRIs from my hospital stay. Then we'll meet with them again Wed. to see where we stand and if they want to run more similar tests.) As far as the bloood thinner and seizure medication being life time treatments...they don't think that's the case at all. A year is more of the timeline they're thinking! Yay! At that point, I'll need to have more testing on all of the blood clotting factors...can't have them while I'm on the meds. Also, epilepsy is not a diagnosis they are convinced of because the type of stroke I had commonly occurs with seizures. Double Yay! They are also very encouraging of my weening off the steroids, which I've already begun...thanks goodness because I'm running out of stretchy pants that are ok to wear in public! In the meantime, considering this is a blood issue, I'll be meeting with a Hemotologist as well.

One other thing I asked about was the extra fatigue I've had in the past week and what to attribute that to. They said it is not related to my blood thickness or change in that level, rather it was probably due to me getting back into the swing of higher level exercise and more regular daily activities (and mom and I getting so much of the house packed up!). Basically they said I need to remember that I'm less than 2 months out of a major head trauma that severely affected my body so I need to remember the word recovery should still be in my vocabulary as frustrating as that might be for me! I'll take that as a compliment!

We'll keep you posted!

This just doesn't do it justice! It's huge!

This is me at the bottom of the Mayo builing above.

Jake has decided a medical career wouldn't be so bad...too bad the employee entrance was an exit only for him!

900+ pages!

Lea Ann here! Look at me...finally posting to the blog all by myself! Typing and everything...although a little slow with the right hand still. I had my re-evaluation for PT and OT this week and my recovery continues to be amazing. I did the same tests I did when I first started and the results were definitely different! For example, in looking at the fine motor skills in my right hand, there is a peg board with 16 small pegs that you pick up and put in the holes then remove one by one. My time was a very frustrating minute and a half and this time it took me a mere 23 seconds!!! For PT one test to judge endurance and recovery time is doing step ups onto a box at a set pace for 3 minutes then check your heart rate after a minute of rest. Initial eval showed my heart rate at 111 beats per minute after the rest and this time it was at 86. So all the tests basically show that my strength, endurance, balance, coordination and so on are progressing at the best rate I could ask for! YAY!

This week I have been fighting some extra fatigue for some reason. My INR (blood thickness) count was low again and continues to frustrate the docs on determining a therapeutic dosage of the blood thinner. I've been told the fatigue could be associated partially with my blood being a little thick, but also with other factors like weening off the steroids, maybe having some kind of bug, an overly worrisome mom and husband...oh, wait I may have made that reason up! :) Anyway, I'll keep you all posted next week during our trip to Mayo. Jake and I head up there Sunday. Hopefully we'll come back with more answers! And the 900+ pages title...that's how long my medical records are from my hospital stay! Had to go pick them up to take with us to Mayo...I skimmed them and hope the docs at Mayo get more out of them then I can! The terminology lost me after "Heuser is a 26 year old female..."

Also, had a couple more interviews for local stories...here are some pics from when they came to the house. It will air on the 19th and we'll link it to the blog.

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)