JD

I know that there are many who use the blog to keep up with the happenings around our part, so I thought posting might be the easiest way to let all of JD's great friends know that on Friday morning, JD suffered a minor stroke. They think it occurred sometime during the night, but JD woke up feeling a little dizzy and off. He didn't think much about it and went to his internship. Later that morning he noticed that things were getting fuzzy. He was talking to a fellow law student and she could tell something wasn't right. Pretty quickly thereafter, he started losing feeling on his right side. They rushed him to the ER where I met him. It was confirmed that night or the next morning (things are kind of a blur) that he did suffer a stroke on the left side of his brain where it affects sensation and the heart.

Because JD is so young, is in amazing physical condition, and has no risk factors, doctors are very concerned about what caused it. He was put at the top of all waiting lists for the different tests that he needs. It's crazy that he, of all people, would have suffered a stroke. They have checked his brain and the blood vessels to his brain and all look normal (besides where it shows where the stroke occurred). They are now trying to examine his heart to see if there is some abnormality that caused the stroke.

Right now, he feels sensation on the right side, but it all feels like it does when your foot falls asleep- that pins and needles feeling. He teeth even feel numb. He has not lost any strength on his right side. He can still move everything, but he has a hard time with precise movements. He can't write and he can't pick up small objects. He tried to grab a strawberry from me and couldn't get his had to go to the strawberry without a lot of concentration. He also can't walk at this point. His speech is fine. In fact the doctor said that if it had been any higher, he would have lost his speech. Gratefully that was not the case.

He will be starting physical therapy tomorrow and so hopefully we will be able to see how much he is missing and get an estimate as to long it will take to get it back. We are confident he will have a full recovery. He was promised so in a blessing- we just don't know how long it will take.

We are primarily worried that we may not find the cause. We don't really want to find something wrong, but we do want closure and reassurance that it will not happen again. We will see.

JD and I are both doing ok. The blessing JD received was so helpful and there have been many small manifestations of God's awareness of him. We know that there may be some hard roads ahead, but that he will eventually recover.

Please keep him in your prayers. He can use them. It's amazing how life can change in an instant. I love JD so much and am so grateful that the right people were there to help him when his body shut down. I just keep thinking that even if I told him every 1o seconds that I love him, it's not enough. Be sure to tell those you love how much they mean to you. Thank goodness for the knowledge that there is a Plan. The Lord is truly great.