Resuming the Blog

---

We arrived in Quartzsite, AZ on November 1, planning to attend a rally that began on the 16th. It was quite nice to get there when we did because the weather had just begun to turn cold – it froze in Flagstaff and became unseasonably cold in Phoenix almost as soon as we arrived in Quartzsite.

However, our plans were not to be, because Natalie woke up on the 14th with her right arm feeling numb and she could barely speak, but she did tell me to call 911, I wasn’t even sure there was a 911 in Quartzsite, but they arrived very soon after my call, decided it was probably a stroke, and took her by ambulance to the nearest hospital at Parker, AZ, a 35-minute drive north. Before the ambulance drove away with Natalie, the EMT told me the hospital would examine her and, if she was having a stroke, they would medivac her to Las Vegas, Phoenix, or even Los Angeles, depending where there was an available stroke center bed.

The hospital in Parker determined it was a stroke, administered the clot busting medication and arranged to helicopter her to Las Vegas, where the hospital had a stroke center and an available bed. It was 3:00 PM before I found out where she was, too late to drive the 200 miles to Vegas. The morning of the 15th, I drove up there, naively thinking I’d be able to bring her back home within three days. I was able to get a room in a motel across the street from the hospital, and spent the time keeping her company, even though she spent two days with a tube down her throat and only subconsciously aware of my presence if at all. Nevertheless, I was there and able to learn about her status from the doctors and nurses in the ICU where they were tending to her.

Finally, I decided it made sense to move our RV up to Las Vegas and was fortunate to find a nice RV park which blocked a couple months for us, but didn’t require full payment up front for the space rental.

Well, she spent 7 days in the hospital before they released her and she was able to come home. That proved to be a huge move for her because she would finally be able to sleep the night through – meaning no nurse visits to poke and prod her every hour. Of course, one prescription required a wakeup at 3:00, and another at 6:00, so it wasn’t completely free of interrupts.

We did find a doctor to visit after leaving the hospital, and he deleted the 3:00 AM prescription, but gave us particularly good service. He recommended a good physical therapist who proved to be really good, kind, and patient. The Physical Therapist recommended an excellent speech therapist, who helped us begin Natalie’s speech recovery.

However, we have no acquaintances or interest in the Las Vegas area at all. Two of Natalie’s good friends from Lynnwood were able to stop in to visit us in Las Vegas, and it’s amazing how much an encouraging word from a trusted friend can be. But we had a reservation at the park in Yuma, where we have a very large number of good and faithful friends. So we decided to go to Yuma as soon as we could get clearance from the doctor.

After almost a month in Las Vegas, we did get permission from the doctor and drove down to Yuma on December 15. And what a joy it was to get here. One friend who had come to Yuma a few weeks earlier even came to the gate and met us as we checked in and were taken to our site. And we plan to stay here until April 15, when the weather will start to warm up to beyond uncomfortable.

One friend was talking with her acquaintances at the park before we arrived here, and mentioned that we would be looking for a physical therapist to help Natalie restore her right hand as much as possible, and one lady who is a retired physical therapist, said we should talk to her. We did, her name is Clyde, and now we are in the pool under Clyde’s instruction twice a week, then we try to repeat the exercises other days. (Until this year, and before meeting Clyde, it was like pulling teeth to get me into the pool – I’d rather read a book.) Now, I have to get in to help Natalie with some of the exercises.

The work has truly helped. We started with Clyde on December 27, meeting every Monday and Wednesday. Then we worked a bit on our own a couple other days every week. And now, Natalie has started writing with her right hand and she’s started crocheting as well. Both need improvement, but Natalie is not giving up; instead, she keeps working to get better.

Given that her stroke was 12 weeks ago, and she has recovered as much as she has, her recovery is quite remarkable. The help we’ve received from Clyde, as well as the encouragement from all her friends and new acquaintances at this park is a huge factor. She likes to tell the story about her arrival in Las Vegas. At that point, she hadn’t been able to move her right arm. When the nurses asked her where she was planning to go, she used her left hand to draw a map in the air of Arizona, then lifted her right arm to point to Yuma in the Southwest corner. The nurses were surprised when she used her right arm, and so was Natalie. Now, she can use her right hand and arm. We’ve even played a little miniature golf, using both arms and hands. When we checked her out of the hospital, she could talk, but the diction left a whole lot to be desired. Now, her only problem is talking too fast, which leads to a few quality problems, but she speaks well, though she sometimes needs a reminder to slow down so the diction can be better.

Our diet right after leaving the hospital included a bunch of mashed potatoes, soup and other soft, easily chewable foods. Now, she eats just about anything she’s in the mood to eat. I need to cut up some of it, like steaks and big pieces of meat or chicken, but she can eat it now without chewing up her cheeks or lips.

Right after her stroke, we informed all our family and friends in the Lynnwood area and several other places across the USA, as well as our new friends from Quartzsite and Yuma, and the short note on this blog. Everybody we knew, and everybody they told, who was able to pray did so, and we had an almost overwhelming show of support for Natalie’s recovery. It is just not possible to satisfactorily express our gratitude for all the support we received. The encouragement Natalie has had from the very beginning is what enables her to keep on working to regain all her abilities she can. Her own stubbornly persistent strength and commitment is important, but the support she’s received continues to be absolutely indispensable, and we could not be more grateful.

I, of course, look forward to the day Natalie starts doing the cooking, as well as the dishes and other stuff. But we are doing exceedingly well. We are busy most days doing something with friends, if only to meet at the park’s café, which is surprisingly good this year. But we’ve been able to do some fun things ourselves. We even went to see the movie “Boys in the Boat” one day.

The only problem, if we have to find one, is we’ve not really had time to play tourist very much. Of course, we did get to do a bit of that last year, and will hopefully get to write about some of that in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, we are well settled in for the winter. A few interesting storms have rolled through here recently, but we’ve stayed warm and dry and comfortable. But most days are nice, and the weather is warming up. Our pleasure to be here among good friends, as well Natalie’s continuing recovery, are growing every day.

We haven’t decided what we want to do when our winter in Yuma is over, except to escape the heat here. We want do want to go through Tucson, to visit the Davis Monthan Air Force Base, which is a huge aircraft graveyard. We’ll continue into Texas because we’re now Texans, but have yet to even talk about what follows. Our original plan was to keep on traveling until it’s time to drop anchor. After Natalie’s stroke, we will need to consider whether it’s time yet.

Regardless, it’s sure a blessing to be where we are in life now: Together, in love, happy together, and loving life. Everywhere we go.

---