We Are Coming Home!

Wednesday, October 30 I got to go home!  All of my "teams" came in to clear me.  They were impressed by my improvement and felt confident that I was going to recover well.  By this time I had already gone two nights with only having nurse check ups every 4 hours.  That was AMAZING for the amount of rest I got at night!  I was still getting the heparin shots and by this time my left thigh was entirely spotted with bruises.  I looked like a cheetah.

The only thing I needed to do to be able to check out was poop.  Yep, I just said that.  I felt like I had to go.  But here's the deal--that first day my neurologist was in my ICU room talking with my family.  Of course it was asked what caused this now when I had been in athletics my whole life, given birth three times, and had been doing an intense exercise program the year previous.  You know what one of his reasons was?  A difficult bowel movement could have put enough pressure on my head to make it bleed.  So do even know how terrified I was to poop?!  I just sat on the toilet just willing it to slip out so I wouldn't have to push.  I did not want my head to explode.  I know that is TMI, but I am just being honest.  When you have a stroke, the types of things that worry you are a little different from the average person.

I never did poop, but they let me go anyway.  I had one IV in my left hand and one in my right.  One for use and one for emergency backup.  The right IV came out easily and continued to bleed a bit after it was removed.  The left IV was incredibly painful.  Even with my decreased sensation I about lost it.  It was literally stuck in my hand like it had set in stone.  It didn't bleed one drop after it was taken out.

Since I was doing so well Patrick was allowed to take me to Covenant.  We stopped for McDonald's --don't judge me.  The hospital food was awful, I was pregnant, and that is what I wanted!  I inhaled my food and slept the whole way back.  I think I would have gotten pretty bad motion sickness if I was up since my vision was so crazy.

We arrived at Covenant around 2 pm.  The rest of the day was spent checking in and visiting with family.  By this time, everything made me exhausted.  I was sleeping by 7:30 pm.

Facebook post from Patrick on October 30, 2013

We're coming home, Thank You God were coming home!! (With a little stop at Covenant for rehabilitation) We are so very thankful to the talent Doctors and Nurses at the U of I hospitals for providing us a second chance at this crazy, but yet amazing thing called life! One special nurse, Lisa Stevens, we are indebted forever to you!!

We know so many of you would love to come and see Jamie at Covenant, at this time we ask to hold off until she can get better acquainted with her new setting. We ask for your continued prayers and support!

God Bless, Patrick and Jamie Smith