It's now 1 year since Bev's accident and Bev is improving very slowly. The effects of her stroke and brain injury have left her with poor balance when walking and limited endurance, she can walk about 150 meters unaided before needing to sit and rest. Bev uses a walker for short trips and we take a light wheelchair if we are going anywhere that requires a lot of walking. Bev's hands have suffered from not moving for so long resulting in curled fingers. The right hand has recovered to a large extent and the left hand is slowly improving. Bev has permanently lost the sight in her right eye and the upper portion of the right side of her face feels numb all the time. This will probably never go away. Bev's right eye must be lubricated 10 to 12 times a day as the right eyelid does not close all the way when she blinks and the eye dries out, this may improve with time. Bev will probably need physiotherapy for another 2 years. Bev is also being treated by a neuropsychologist to address some lingering issues from the brain injury. During the healing process the 2 bones in her lower left arm have become fused with excess bone growth which stops any rotation of her lower arm. In May Bev will have an operation at St. Mikes to remove the excess bone buildup to restore the ability to rotate her arm.
On a brighter note her therapists are pleased with her progress and say that Bev can still expect a great deal of improvement with continued therapy. At the present time Bev gets therapy 5 days a week at home. Bev has started to get back to cooking meals, maybe 3 times a week. She has not resumed any housekeeping, she says she never liked doing it anyway. We keep busy with visits with friends and family, eucher nights etc. We leave for a 6 day cruise on Feb 20th. Bev is starting to get excited about that. Bev is also going for a girls weekend in March with some old friends. Life is slowly returning to normal,or rather the new normal. Hopefully when the weather improves Bev will get out a lot more.
We would like to thank our many friends and family who have provided so much support over the last year. You have made the last year easier to deal with.
Thank you all,
Bev & Dave
