Uncle Russ
On June 28th, I was informed via phone call from Laurie (Russ's wife) that my brother was having some heart issues, so they were in the hospital. I did not worry too much, as often times heart issues are resolved with a stent and the patients "so to say" go home the next day. I think this is what we were all anticipating.
Then I received the text and phone call from my sister who was down at the hospital in Milwaukee that 4 of Russ's arteries were clogged. 3 of them at 70 % and 1 at 99%. The one at 99% was what was causing him the chest pain. For those who do not know, heart disease runs rampant in my family. My father's first heart attack came at the ripe out age of 36, followed by another at 48. We have crappy genetics...and sometimes, like any other person, we do not eat healthy, or exercise the way we should.
So, the news of a potential quadruple bypass came. Wow. From a possible "stent" to a quad bypass (potential). That was a shocker. Tears and tears and tears rolled down my face. Of course, we were all scared, sad, you name it. I was in West Bend, but not at the hospital. So I prayed and prayed and prayed that this surgeon would use his hands to heal my brother.
I am not sure anyone slept that night. Surgery was Sunday morning June 29th. I went down to the hospital around 10am and hung out and played cards. The surgery was over by about 1 and time for recovery and a slow slow wake up. He was finally awake come Monday, but was unable to speak. Russ had a stroke in the midst of the surgery. He could not speak, but seemed cognitively away of everything (and very sad). Prayers were said, tears were shed, and as Laurie said, after praying with a pastor, she said she would be right back and asked Russ if that was ok and he said "ok." A prayer answered! (Mind you, I am not here...this is second hand).
From then on, Laurie has taken this "language" challenge under her wing and has proven to be one of the strongest people I have ever met. With the help of God, she would not give up on her husband and she WORKED him to restore his language. She has an awesome description of it on Caring Bridge.
This is what's happening: If you ask Russ about an individual word without a context, he gets lost. It's like going into outer space to find it. That's because the normal operating system, as it were, is damaged. The words are stored in the "cloud" of the rest of his brain, but he can't express them, so in effect, they are lost to him. There are multiple other ways, however, to go around the system that's damaged, or perhaps even restore the original system. That is by accessing the contexts in which he has used the words and phrases in the past. Although it sometimes seems like we are helping him retrieve memories, remembering past events is not the problem. We are really re-connecting words to context through his relationships. So, as he re-establishes and restores these relationships, he has a new access point for language. Then the synapses go to work to allow the free flow from storage to expression, perhaps through the previous operating system (the left frontal cortex) or by bypassing it. Since Monday, his time with visitors has been the key method by which he has re-established these lexical relationships. Each individual has provided a critical point of reference for some aspect of his language recovery. As his hockey players visit, Russ has an opportunity to re-claim the language relationships in order to access HOCKEY. As his Habitat Work crew visits, Russ regains the language of HABITAT. It's sort of like establishing a vocabulary set, but so much more. He re-connects to the context, so that his search for words is no longer a frantic hunt in a vast space with no apparent order, but a pleasant recollection of a face or a handshake. In this way, Russ can locate the language in a in a kind of file, or drawer, or box that he himself has labelled. This brain is an amazing thing that God has created. It makes sense that for Russ, his way back to words is through the people who are important to him. Indeed, It has been such a blessing to experience all the outpouring of love from all of his visitors, but it is also clear, that the visitors have been God's method of restoring Russ' language. In a very concrete way, each visitor is helping him to HEAL! Many of you have been asking about how you can help. I now know the answer! Visit! Visit! Visit! You are not imposing, you are not disturbing our family time. The opposite is true: you are agents of restoration! Please join us on this unlikely build site!! Russ needs you!
Russ was released from the hospital on July 5th, exactly 7 days after his heart attack/stroke. This is nothing short of a miracle. I saw him on Tuesday when his language was beginning to reappear. He was of course confused at certain things, but the progress from one day to the next was amazing. I talked with him on the phone last night and he mentions that he is frustrated that he cannot play the piano (have I mentioned that we "Wanta's are not very patient). He will regain this in time, and if not, I will come back in and teach him the chords he needs to know. He also mentioned that he was "a little closer to death" that he really wanted to be. We concur.
He has a lot of healing and therapies to go, but this is some sort of miracle. God really helped not only Russ in providing that one word of "ok" but in Laurie being as strong as she is and never giving up on him. Also, the children have been nothing but amazing rocks as well. Seeing their excitement over the little things.
Needless to say, this was a scare and wake up call to all of us siblings. As healthy as I am, I already have my cardiologist appointment set for the end of July to start some preventative work. I know my genetics are already stacked against me, so it is time for me to step up my A game in regard to eating even more healthy, exercising more, and attempting to maintain as stress free life as possible.
Russ and Laurie, if you are reading this, I am so thankful that God has given you two the strength to endure this challenge in your life. We are thrilled with the recovery and ever so thankful. We love you endlessly.
Oh, and Russ, since you are re-learning the language...I would like to let you know that you were a Liberal before all this happened!
Then I received the text and phone call from my sister who was down at the hospital in Milwaukee that 4 of Russ's arteries were clogged. 3 of them at 70 % and 1 at 99%. The one at 99% was what was causing him the chest pain. For those who do not know, heart disease runs rampant in my family. My father's first heart attack came at the ripe out age of 36, followed by another at 48. We have crappy genetics...and sometimes, like any other person, we do not eat healthy, or exercise the way we should.
So, the news of a potential quadruple bypass came. Wow. From a possible "stent" to a quad bypass (potential). That was a shocker. Tears and tears and tears rolled down my face. Of course, we were all scared, sad, you name it. I was in West Bend, but not at the hospital. So I prayed and prayed and prayed that this surgeon would use his hands to heal my brother.
I am not sure anyone slept that night. Surgery was Sunday morning June 29th. I went down to the hospital around 10am and hung out and played cards. The surgery was over by about 1 and time for recovery and a slow slow wake up. He was finally awake come Monday, but was unable to speak. Russ had a stroke in the midst of the surgery. He could not speak, but seemed cognitively away of everything (and very sad). Prayers were said, tears were shed, and as Laurie said, after praying with a pastor, she said she would be right back and asked Russ if that was ok and he said "ok." A prayer answered! (Mind you, I am not here...this is second hand).
From then on, Laurie has taken this "language" challenge under her wing and has proven to be one of the strongest people I have ever met. With the help of God, she would not give up on her husband and she WORKED him to restore his language. She has an awesome description of it on Caring Bridge.
This is what's happening: If you ask Russ about an individual word without a context, he gets lost. It's like going into outer space to find it. That's because the normal operating system, as it were, is damaged. The words are stored in the "cloud" of the rest of his brain, but he can't express them, so in effect, they are lost to him. There are multiple other ways, however, to go around the system that's damaged, or perhaps even restore the original system. That is by accessing the contexts in which he has used the words and phrases in the past. Although it sometimes seems like we are helping him retrieve memories, remembering past events is not the problem. We are really re-connecting words to context through his relationships. So, as he re-establishes and restores these relationships, he has a new access point for language. Then the synapses go to work to allow the free flow from storage to expression, perhaps through the previous operating system (the left frontal cortex) or by bypassing it. Since Monday, his time with visitors has been the key method by which he has re-established these lexical relationships. Each individual has provided a critical point of reference for some aspect of his language recovery. As his hockey players visit, Russ has an opportunity to re-claim the language relationships in order to access HOCKEY. As his Habitat Work crew visits, Russ regains the language of HABITAT. It's sort of like establishing a vocabulary set, but so much more. He re-connects to the context, so that his search for words is no longer a frantic hunt in a vast space with no apparent order, but a pleasant recollection of a face or a handshake. In this way, Russ can locate the language in a in a kind of file, or drawer, or box that he himself has labelled. This brain is an amazing thing that God has created. It makes sense that for Russ, his way back to words is through the people who are important to him. Indeed, It has been such a blessing to experience all the outpouring of love from all of his visitors, but it is also clear, that the visitors have been God's method of restoring Russ' language. In a very concrete way, each visitor is helping him to HEAL! Many of you have been asking about how you can help. I now know the answer! Visit! Visit! Visit! You are not imposing, you are not disturbing our family time. The opposite is true: you are agents of restoration! Please join us on this unlikely build site!! Russ needs you!
Russ was released from the hospital on July 5th, exactly 7 days after his heart attack/stroke. This is nothing short of a miracle. I saw him on Tuesday when his language was beginning to reappear. He was of course confused at certain things, but the progress from one day to the next was amazing. I talked with him on the phone last night and he mentions that he is frustrated that he cannot play the piano (have I mentioned that we "Wanta's are not very patient). He will regain this in time, and if not, I will come back in and teach him the chords he needs to know. He also mentioned that he was "a little closer to death" that he really wanted to be. We concur.
He has a lot of healing and therapies to go, but this is some sort of miracle. God really helped not only Russ in providing that one word of "ok" but in Laurie being as strong as she is and never giving up on him. Also, the children have been nothing but amazing rocks as well. Seeing their excitement over the little things.
Needless to say, this was a scare and wake up call to all of us siblings. As healthy as I am, I already have my cardiologist appointment set for the end of July to start some preventative work. I know my genetics are already stacked against me, so it is time for me to step up my A game in regard to eating even more healthy, exercising more, and attempting to maintain as stress free life as possible.
Russ and Laurie, if you are reading this, I am so thankful that God has given you two the strength to endure this challenge in your life. We are thrilled with the recovery and ever so thankful. We love you endlessly.
Oh, and Russ, since you are re-learning the language...I would like to let you know that you were a Liberal before all this happened!
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