Out of the woods · 6:39am Dec 11th, 2013
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, but things are getting better with alarming speed and reliability. It turns out my brother didn't have a heart attack at age thirty: he's had a stroke at age thirty. Doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do drugs. The doctors even think it had little or nothing to do with his diabetes (though it certainly didn't help). Just a stroke, out of nowhere, for no discernible reason. In most cases, people get a heart attack that causes a stroke. In his case, it's the other way around: he had a stroke that went on to cause heart arrhythmia. A neurologist just happened to be in the hall when my bro was admitted, and this triggered a lucky chain of events that led to an MRI that revealed what really happened. The neurologist and the cardiologist hardly ever have a reason to chat, apparently: when you come in with a heart attack they don't usually think about the brain.
Regardless of the hows and whys, he's made an astonishing recovery. He's talking, eating solid food, remembering our names, operating a spoon, and sitting upright. He's even making jokes, singing (I'm not even kidding) and remembering all the good times we had: his short term memory is still muddled, but he knows who I am. He knows who he is. His first words to me were "still here," and I immediately knew it was true. Almost every nurse or doctor I've spoken with has used the word "miracle" at some point or another... these people are not naturally given to exaggeration or emotional platitudes. The neurologist said that this is an extraordinarily rare thing to see happen, and that studying his case will help save lives in the future. It's been only one and a half weeks and he's already been moved out of the ER and given some physiotherapy. Most stroke victims take months or years to make this sort of recovery, if they ever recover at all.
I'm still visiting him every day. He still sounds confused now and then. He's still far too weak to walk. But he's still alive and he's still my brother. Thanks to everyone who sent their prayers and/or best wishes. I'll be going back to work in a few days, and I'm hoping life will begin to feel normal again (even if it really isn't). But one thing I'm definitely going to do is get back into writing. My brother's biggest concern is that he won't be able to finish a comic he's been working on for almost a year now. Life is too short--and far too precious--to waste on procrastination and doubt. This was true even before the stroke.
Which reminds me. I have two completed full-length fics to finish editing. No time like the present.
That's good to hear!
I'm so glad to hear that he's alright! Hope he makes a full recovery soon.
Holy moly... yep, I'd say "miracle" is an entirely accurate description. Man, that's an incredible story. With all the doom and gloom that we tend to hear about in the world, it's a breath of fresh air to hear about something so uplifting and wonderful.
Oh wow, that's amazing news. :D Here's to a strong recovery!
Hooray!
I second the
!
Mike
My faith in the essential goodness of life has been restored a little bit today.
Thank you for sharing the update, and best wishes to you and him.
Awesome news! I hope he recovers well.
Thanks for all the comments and well wishes, everybody! The most important thing for him now is simply this: never give up. And the key ingredient for that is encouragement and support.
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The wierd thing is that I've had to change my understanding of what the word "recovery" really means. He's lost a lot of neurons, and the sad truth is they're never coming back. The good news, however, is that the brain is much better at rebuilding itself than most people realize: when one part is damaged, other parts sometimes take over the workload. With effort and support, he'll be able to relearn what he's lost. I'm just glad his personality and long-term memory seem mostly intact. Memories and identities are much harder to build from scratch.
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I like to keep in mind that miracles happen all the time. A prime example--no matter how cheesy it sounds--is babies being born. It happens about ten million times every month, all across the globe... but the fact that it happens so often shouldn't make it any less significant an event.
Of course, my bro's recovery is both miraculous and extremely rare. That just makes it easier for me to appreciate it!
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The day after it happened, my dad commented "Think about all the people who don't know." I spent the day looking at everyone I passed in the hallway, or saw across the street, or sat next to in waiting rooms. They were just going about their usual days, with no idea what had happened to our family. What a strange thought to have.
Nowadays, whenever I see someone, I assume until proven otherwise that they're on their way to visit a loved one in the hospital. Makes it much easier to be patient and understanding of total strangers who act insensitive or impolite.
I've skipped most of my feed for the past few weeks. Didn't even know that was going on. But this is great news!
If he's as good an artist as you say, I hope you collaborate with him on a comic or graphic novel. I mean it! (Artists seldom realize that they're not writers.)
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There has been much talk of that throughout the ages. Sadly, it never seems to come to fruition... we both have tons of our own ideas to work on after all.
We did get the idea that he could do a ton of illustrations for one of my still-unreleased fics. We were both really excited about the project, but I kept procrastinating about it. One of my biggest regrets, at the moment.
We haven't given up yet, though. It's only a matter of time before he has a pen in his hand again.