Category: Seattle

While I was in bed contemplating life and everything I had to relearn, it was overwhelming. There was so much I had to change, including my marriage. I wasn’t sure that my wife at the time would come to see me or not. Before the stroke we weren’t in a good place. Over the years… Continue reading Seattle Part 6

Mom brought my guitar to the hospital. I had played for about 16 years it was like second nature. I was excited. I started to play but right away it was off. I couldn’t feel the fingers on my right side and I dropped the picks often. I have to practice, and do OT. I… Continue reading Seattle Part 5

The stroke was complicated so it wasn’t going to be simple to get home. The doctors wanted to see that I could travel home before I was released. There were three main things they were watching for: my physical ability, my competence in completing normal everyday tasks and lastly trying to communicate. Everyone is different,… Continue reading Seattle Part 4

I looked in the mirror. My head was dented in on the left side. They shaved only the stitches, and the right side was fine. Why didn’t they shave the whole head? I looked like a freak. My brother was here at the hospital. I was desperate to shave my hair off, and was trying… Continue reading Seattle Part 3

After I was allowed to eat, they explained that my brain was swelling. The doctor placed me in a medically induced to allow me to begin healing. They had to crack my skull on the left side and remove part of it. My skull was literally missing. I had no recollection of those 4 days… Continue reading Seattle Part 2

When I regained consciousness it was night in a large open hospital room propped up on the bed so I could see out the window. I was wearing a white gown, and there were tubes coming out of my arms. A nurse walked in and asked if I wanted to eat something, I was famished.… Continue reading Seattle (Harborview Medical Center) Part 1