Just Breathe...

OK. Here's the news. Will and I are going to Ohio October 16th. While there he will do a two week rotation. Once the rotation is up he will be evaluated and considered for another two weeks. This is great and terrible news to a wife who has been on pins and needles for months now. Wanting so badly for Will to have his life back, but not knowing the perfect time to "release" him for all to see. He has moments where he is perfect. Like Sunday for example -- we walked home from church and he recounted three hours of information he took in-- detail for detail. He even recited the chapters and versus mentioned in the lessons. Much of what he recalled were things I had forgotten. I was floored, and excited. His recovery continues to amaze me. However, in other moments he does not do as well. Specialists have said this is good news that if he is not consistent it means he is still improving/healing.

Now I mentioned in the last blog that I would give you more details on the test results. The neurologist- gave Will a great letter-- saying as far as he could tell Will was doing wonderfully and had little chance of having another stroke. He did, however, defer the decision making to the nuero psychologist as his examination is much more thorough. Dr. Mayer, the nuero psychologist, advised that Will go through an "intermediate training," slower paced than a residency but more intense than just shadowing, like he has been doing at the University of Utah. Dr. Mayer believed that starting an official residency next July was very plausible.

Neither of these doctors were able to address Will's energy levels. The time in Ohio will be our best bet at answering the question of performing well after having worked for 30 hours without sleep - While I think it is a miracle that any body can do this, it is certainly a lot to ask of a guy recovering from a serious stroke. I am the only one who complains about this however, Will recognizes the experience as invaluable to his medical career and is willing to take the shift(s). I'll give you the skimmy in Will's sleep schedule from my point of view-- he doesn't take naps at all anymore and he sleeps less than I do-- as he gets up earlier to shadow at the U. I believe he has a very good chance of making this hurdle.

The above photos: Will and I switched off taking pictures of one another so I could update a website I am creating to showcase some of my writing, photography and public relations projects. Also, I've added a picture of a 25 mile bike ride we did the other day with my older brother.

We've got the results

OK. I've been wanting to wait for the extensive neuro psych report (I'll pick up later today). But I realized I have too much I want to say. So you'll get part of the results today and part of them in the coming weeks. Where to start. I realized I have only blogged lately about our trials and have missed talking about some significant improvements in Will this month. His speech. I told my mom this morning I had given up on thinking it would ever be perfect again. I somehow thought that it was "done" healing. I was wrong. Will is speaking clearer now than ever before. I rarely have to have him repeat himself and he rarely speaks too "loud or soft" as he had before. What a blessing! And as stated in early posts, we continue to see improvements in Will's executive functioning (this area has been a bear to work with, however, his initiative and performance are better all the time and not nearly as frustrating).

Now for part of the neuro psych results. Will and I sat with Dr. Mayer this past Wednesday. My understanding was last year at this time Will's parents were going over the same test results and the mood was very somber and the results less hopeful. This year it is like we were all (even Dr. Mayer) dreaming up what kind of doctor Will should become. I think this neuro psych test was more like a thousand dollar personality test. We decided Will should not go into emergency medicine, or heart surgery, etc. He is thorough and takes his time. He analyzes everything before giving his answers. Will scored very high on accuracy. Speed however was not so high, in fact we have some room to grow there before being able to resume an actual residency. He also ranked low on taking initiative. I spoke with Dr. Mayer about this and said-- I have to say I'm thinking Will might have scored low in these areas before his stroke (I should know I had to wait five years for the kid to ask me to marry him ;) Dr. Mayer agreed but said it is still lower than what he was before and I'd say that sounds right.

As far as all the other tests Will has moved from low average to average -- Meaning he is finally Normal! (As a side note Will was not being tested on his intelligence-- he continues to excel there-- Dr. Mayer said if being a doctor was just about intelligence Will could have gone back a year ago. Will is just as brilliant as he has always been.) There were even a few tests where Dr. Mayer said to me "you better not challenge him in this area (short term retention memory) because he'll beat you."

I'll end by giving you a sneak peek into what I've seen in Will. In a recent financial seminar we took personality tests. Will tested as a ENTJ (Extravert, Intutive, Thinking, Judging) these personalities are "field marshals" with great abilities to lead and initiate. I know his abilities will match back up with what is in his heart. We believe a rotation in Ohio would bring back the rest of what was lost, as most jobs inspire responsibility and initiative (much more than a nagging wife;). Keep us in your prayers as we hope next month finds us in Ohio.

ps the pictures above were taken this past weekend by Will of a buffalo a mile from our camp. A moose in our camp and our hike around Jenny O lake in the shadows of the Tetons in Jackson Hole. And yes the little dots behind Will and I in the grassy area are a herd of buffalo.

In the midst.....

So we're going the rounds and have been "hit down" some. But we're still standing. The visits with the doctors have been very positive. But the logistics to the return to Ohio are complicated and discouraging.

Will's visit with the neurologist. Dr. Wilder determined in fact Will had the bilateral Thalamic stroke and that the probable cause was his PFO (hole in his heart that was fixed March 08). Dr Wilder does not worry that lack of sleep will contribute to a recurrent stroke. He also thinks Will should be able to work his way back into being a doctor. He said Will is lucky, because of his youth, he is regaining much of what was lost. He mentioned only time will tell if Will will be able to regain all of the "awake energy" he had before the stroke. It is possible he will, and possible he won't.

Dr. Mayer, who gave Will the Neuro Psych test last week, as usual is confident Will will be able to return to his medical residency and believes it would be best to "ease him back into it." We'll see the specifics to the test results this next week.

The sleep apnea test. What a nightmare. Will shows no "obvious" signs of sleep apnea. The insurance is refusing to cover the cost of the test because of this. However the doctors want the test done (side note: it frustrates me to no end that insurance companies can dictate the health of a human being-- that should be the doctor's choice). We are in the processes of appealing the denial of the claim-- but who knows how long this could take. We're running out of time to get these tests - as interviewing for residencies start in Oct-Dec. Keep up your prayers. I know they make a difference. With your help and of course the Lords, we can rise every time we fall ;)

Above are pictures of our latest hike up Adam's canyon. Will took the fun photo of the stalks rolling in the wind.