Balance and blood clots

Today's main focus in therapy was Dad's balance. In his hurry to complete tasks, he tends to lose his center and often tips one way or the other. Luckily, someone is always by his side but we are very aware this will not always be the case. They are doing many exercises with him including making him walk sideways on a board while stepping over cones. Dad exclaimed many times throughout the routine 'I couldn't do this before the stroke!' It was clear once he got started though that it was beneficial to him. He struggled a lot with standing upright but improved each time they made him do it. Dad got a little frustrated after that and said he didn't want the therapists to tell the doctors that he wasn't doing a good job. His therapist assured him repeatedly that the routines are getting much harder for a reason and that if they continued to do the things that he is already good at he would plateau and stop making progress. That seems to appease him for a little while at least.

They came to scan his blood clots again today and found that they are largely the same. He has developed some new clotting in his right leg but the clots are aging and becoming more adhered to the vessel wall. This greatly decreases the chance of them dislodging and becoming a life threatening situation. We are grateful for this and hope that his body will start to degrade them over time. If not, we will deal with those as needed.

The double vision continues to be of great concern for Dad and he is convinced his balance would be greatly improved if he could see ( which I'm sure is true ). The doctors made him an appointment with a neuroopthomolgist to assess what can be done about the problem and to give us a better idea of the prognosis for his long term eye sight.

Dad is doing so amazing. Of course we are dealing with some discouraging deficits, but we are so aware of the many different ways this could have ended and we know there is much healing to be had in time. Dad and I discussed the last month at length today and I think he is just starting to understanding the grave nature of his brain bleed. He is so grateful to be alive and is so determined to return to his normal function. He is very aware of this blog and the support we have received through it. We have read some comments together and he is so appreciative of the support that has been shown not only to him but to his family. Thank you, genuinely. Our family will be forever grateful to everyone who has prayed, fasted, called, texted, sent treats or even positive thoughts our way. It has made a world of difference.