I’ll start with the nuts and bolts and then end with an analogy about Will’s recovery.
We visited with Dr. Edgely Wednesday, who decided to switch up Will’s medication from Dextroamphetamine to Ritlian. I imagine he was thinking Will may have built a tolerance to the Dextroamphetamine and now would be a good time to switch up the drug to another drug that will increase mental alertness and cognitive functioning. For now we are staying on Aricept as well. Dr. Edgely approved of Will’s daily routines of job shadowing, volunteering at Globus Relief and continued therapy. As well Dr. Edgely said he would talk to Dr. Milne, the doctor in charge of the residents, about setting job shadowing opportunities up at the University of Utah Hospital. As usual, Dr. Edgely remarked on Will’s extraordinary recovery in this process.
After Dr. Edgley’s we visited with his speech therapist, Lisa. As therapies Lisa suggested we keep up Will’s studies, which we do everyday. He studies in the morning I test him at night. She also encouraged Will to continue planning out his weeks and days. Which we do every Sunday on his iPhone. We set alarms for each activity. He loves it when the alarms go off in time for our workouts in the wee hours of the morning (not really). We plan to do a Triatholon this May. Last year our plans to run a Triatholon were rained out and everything but the run was canceled, so we did the run and Will did great! She thinks Will’s clarity of speech is coming along nicely and basically told him to “keep up the good work”
Now I’ll end with an analogy. I’m a violinst. I have played since I was three years old. While I became proficient at the violin quite early in life, the challenges to rise to new heights never ceased. As a teenager I played in the Utah Youth Symphony I had to learn to play with the other instruments, count in time with the other performers, and play in tune with the rest while watching the conductor. In a similar way Will is learning to rise to new heights. Our brains don’t work as one solo instrument. They work as many instruments, weaving melodies and harmonies into the patchwork of our lives. Independently, Will has regained his capacities to remember, speak clearly, initiate activities, carry on dialogues, and so on. Now, however, in the orchestra of life, Will is learning “to use” all of his regained abilities at the same time. It isn’t easy keeping up with the rest of the players, but he is rising to the challenge. It is remarkable to watch. Everyday is a new symphony.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Will's Bit...
This is Will. I decided to write just a little to add to what my wife has said. It is true that I knew her for quite awhile before we got married. It's a shame we didn't get married sooner, but I'm definitely glad we are married now. You know by reading this I had a stroke. Fortunately I also had Summer. I think having her made the stroke bearable. Now that I'm on the mend I hope I can do something for her as well.
Will
Married Life
Will and I are married, and I have become one of the authors to this blog, mostly because I spend everyday with him. First off I'll try to unlock the mystery behind our love story. I have known Will for five years, in that time we have dated seriously on and off. I admire no man more than Will and so when he had his stoke I came to see him. Whenever I was with him I felt a peace. A peace I had never felt before. After months of this feeling I realized there was something more to the relationship, something eternal.
We're now married. I feel like the luckiest girl on the earth. I call him my miracle. Not only because his life has been preserved, but because I am married to such a good man, one I can trust with everything I have and am. There world doesn't seem so daunting with him by my side. The next entries will be more about Will's health. I saw fit, however, to introduct my piece of this story, and look forward to interacting with those following this blog. Thank you for your love and support. It means more than you know to both Will and I.
Summer E. Clarke Blackhurst
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Winter's Storm, Summer's Wind
As many of you who have followed the blog know, I, Will's Mom, like to write poetry. Before the wedding, Summer approached me about doing some poetry for the luncheon. She suggested Elizabeth Barrett Brownings, "How do I Love Thee." My friend Nola VanWagenen, who accompanies my poetry on the violin, suggested the theme song to "Somewhere in Time" as background music. I thought they fit beautifully together.
I don't want to be compared to Browning, but I decided I needed to put into poetry some of my impressions of the year of the stroke as it pertained to Will and Summer. What I came up with I titled, "Winter's Storm, Summer's Wind." Nola heard it and immediately thought of "When You Walk Through a Storm Hold Your Head Up High...and You'll Never Walk Alone." It was the perfect song for the occasion. Thanks to all of you and your constant prayers in his behalf, Will has not been walking this difficult journey alone. I felt it would be appropriate to share with you the words to the poem. While Summer has been the wind, you have been spirit in the wind, the enabling power of grace, working behind the scenes to give both Will and Summer the strength, courage and determination to keep going.
Winter’s Storm and Summer’s Wind
When winter’s blast unleashed its cruel stroke,
And Will from thirty turned to be thirteen,
Much of his hope lay dead, yet there awoke
In him a realm made clean by suffering;
An inner kingdom in whose pathways ran
A heightened sensitivity to love,
A shredding of the carnal, natural man,
A wakening to insights from above.
It was a world where broken, wounded things
Intensified in him a wondrous awe,
Which wedded woundings to awakenings
As with new eyes he recognized and saw
Not but the surface, he beheld the depths.
He knew the pain and grief of sorrows born.
Unbidden tears welled up where once he’d slept
Unmindful of another’s cause to mourn,
Insensitive to open wounds which wept.
But now no more was kept from him the gift
To see another’s pain, and know of ways to lift.
Will’s stroke has grown in him that Flowing Fount
On whom all men rely for hope to rise;
Its Living Waters navigated mounts whose storms
Would sunder souls, and claim captivity the fate of their fair prize.
Will’s soul was rescued from captivity
As someone dear to him unleashed a surging gale,
A mighty wind whose hopes and humorous cheers,
Like to a billows, now blows out the folds of his deflated sails
And makes once more his destination clear.
It is the wind of love which fans the flame
Of one small candle yearning to burn bright.
A Summer wind, whose warmth and empathy
For Will’s ischemic stroke, diffuses in its wake both truth and light
Against the night of Will’s Gethsemane.
Will’s stroke brought Summer’s angel to his side,
As breath of mercy, warm with radiant beams.
Now is she his, his helpmeet and his bride,
The sweet fulfillment of his fondest dreams.
We who beheld this tale of love unfold,
Did with our eyes a miracle behold.
I don't want to be compared to Browning, but I decided I needed to put into poetry some of my impressions of the year of the stroke as it pertained to Will and Summer. What I came up with I titled, "Winter's Storm, Summer's Wind." Nola heard it and immediately thought of "When You Walk Through a Storm Hold Your Head Up High...and You'll Never Walk Alone." It was the perfect song for the occasion. Thanks to all of you and your constant prayers in his behalf, Will has not been walking this difficult journey alone. I felt it would be appropriate to share with you the words to the poem. While Summer has been the wind, you have been spirit in the wind, the enabling power of grace, working behind the scenes to give both Will and Summer the strength, courage and determination to keep going.
Winter’s Storm and Summer’s Wind
When winter’s blast unleashed its cruel stroke,
And Will from thirty turned to be thirteen,
Much of his hope lay dead, yet there awoke
In him a realm made clean by suffering;
An inner kingdom in whose pathways ran
A heightened sensitivity to love,
A shredding of the carnal, natural man,
A wakening to insights from above.
It was a world where broken, wounded things
Intensified in him a wondrous awe,
Which wedded woundings to awakenings
As with new eyes he recognized and saw
Not but the surface, he beheld the depths.
He knew the pain and grief of sorrows born.
Unbidden tears welled up where once he’d slept
Unmindful of another’s cause to mourn,
Insensitive to open wounds which wept.
But now no more was kept from him the gift
To see another’s pain, and know of ways to lift.
Will’s stroke has grown in him that Flowing Fount
On whom all men rely for hope to rise;
Its Living Waters navigated mounts whose storms
Would sunder souls, and claim captivity the fate of their fair prize.
Will’s soul was rescued from captivity
As someone dear to him unleashed a surging gale,
A mighty wind whose hopes and humorous cheers,
Like to a billows, now blows out the folds of his deflated sails
And makes once more his destination clear.
It is the wind of love which fans the flame
Of one small candle yearning to burn bright.
A Summer wind, whose warmth and empathy
For Will’s ischemic stroke, diffuses in its wake both truth and light
Against the night of Will’s Gethsemane.
Will’s stroke brought Summer’s angel to his side,
As breath of mercy, warm with radiant beams.
Now is she his, his helpmeet and his bride,
The sweet fulfillment of his fondest dreams.
We who beheld this tale of love unfold,
Did with our eyes a miracle behold.
Wedding Day Jitters
Will's goal of getting married on December 30th came within a hair's breath of being foiled. He and his fiance were at the temple in plenty of time, but they had come without their temple recommends and marriage license. They thought the had them with them. They knew they had them somewhere. But where? What to do?
They called Summer's brother Dell and asked him to comb Summer's apartment. He did, but to no avail. He said a prayer and kept looking. Still no luck. He finally decided to get in his car and go to the place Summer had gone when she left her apartment. As he was driving out, he noticed some papers on the ground. He ran over them, thought, "could those be the documents I'm looking for?" He backed over them again and got out of his car to examined them closely. They were the very things he was looking for, riddled with tire marks and clearly the worse for wear, but also clearly identifyable. Summer had put them on top of the car for safe keeping as she was loading other things, forgotten that they were there, had gotten in the car, and driven off.
Once he had brushed them off, Dell called Summer, who was in the temple just a bit above panic mode. She heaved a huge sigh of relief at his good news and passed the word on to Will, who was outwardly remaining calm but inwardly going berzerk. The word that Dell had found the papers and would be on his way to the temple post haste, was enough to get them both out of range of cardiac arrest. Dell made it in time for the ceremony to proceed with only a minor delay. We are happy to report that things went somewhat smoother after that.
The people at the temple who received the documents looked at them like this was nothing. They had seen much worse. Apparently wedding day jitters are not all that uncommon among people who are tying the knot, not only for time, but for all eternity. A journey of that magnitude could understandably be taken with a bit of faltering on the first step.
They called Summer's brother Dell and asked him to comb Summer's apartment. He did, but to no avail. He said a prayer and kept looking. Still no luck. He finally decided to get in his car and go to the place Summer had gone when she left her apartment. As he was driving out, he noticed some papers on the ground. He ran over them, thought, "could those be the documents I'm looking for?" He backed over them again and got out of his car to examined them closely. They were the very things he was looking for, riddled with tire marks and clearly the worse for wear, but also clearly identifyable. Summer had put them on top of the car for safe keeping as she was loading other things, forgotten that they were there, had gotten in the car, and driven off.
Once he had brushed them off, Dell called Summer, who was in the temple just a bit above panic mode. She heaved a huge sigh of relief at his good news and passed the word on to Will, who was outwardly remaining calm but inwardly going berzerk. The word that Dell had found the papers and would be on his way to the temple post haste, was enough to get them both out of range of cardiac arrest. Dell made it in time for the ceremony to proceed with only a minor delay. We are happy to report that things went somewhat smoother after that.
The people at the temple who received the documents looked at them like this was nothing. They had seen much worse. Apparently wedding day jitters are not all that uncommon among people who are tying the knot, not only for time, but for all eternity. A journey of that magnitude could understandably be taken with a bit of faltering on the first step.
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