After I got a little bit of rest the night before, I woke up in the hospital room and Richard was on the phone with his nephew, Sean. I looked around but that was all I could do. My right-side was completely useless. I was paralyzed on my right side - I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom, I couldn't wash my face or hair, I couldn't change my clothes or anything like that. It was so frustrating. Plus I couldn't talk to let anyone know how I was feeling.
Ken and Terry came to see me at the hospital (again, I'm not sure of what time it was). I think I said "Hi" or at least that's what it sounded like to me. Terry was crying and I couldn't figure out why she was crying. I couldn't say anything other that "hi" and I believe that shocked her. We had been friends for over 30 years and I couldn't say anything, I couldn't move my right side and I couldn't comfort her that I would be okay (and really at that point, I didn't know that I was going to come out of it or in what capacity). They would return on Sunday to see how I was doing.
Richard, Zach, Aaron and Kennedy were around on the weekend. It's funny, because Zach is a worrier, Aaron keeps things to himself and Kennedy just had it in her head that "mom will be fine". I'm not sure if I ever will be truly "fine" the way I was before the stroke, but at this point, I just wanted to operate my right side and I needed to speak words, not just "hi".
The first weekend at the hospital, the staff couldn't feed my anything other than "mashed" meat, potatoes and vegetables. Because the doctors couldn't evaluate my swallowing and such until the following Monday. It was really quite gross!
I know people were reaching out to Richard to find out what was going on with me and how they could help. He didn't really have any answers though, and Richard would have to wait until the weekend was over.
When Ken and Terry came back on Sunday to visit me, I guess I must have been saying somethings better, because Terry was a little more relaxed. It frustrating even now to me, that I couldn't say more (it wasn't aphasia because I have to learn to talk all over again...like a toddler). Plus the I still was paralyzed on the right side but that didn't seem to bother me as much as not being able to talk.
The next week, the days sort of blend in to one another. I was able to each small portions of food, and the doctor's sent me for a couple of tests to try to see why I had the stroke. The doctor's said everything "looked all right". So the next week, they would send me for some more tests.
People came to see me that first week, but really I couldn't understand and it was really quite tiresome. All I wanted to do was sleep. They say that is the body's way to recover and I had a whole lot of recovery to do.
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