rod123

Hi Phil and a Happy Birthday for yesterday, great news about Sharon bet that was best present you had, Best Wishes to you both Rod

Hi luisa, congratulations on becoming a granny, Merrill and i have 6 grandchildren and a new great greatdaughter,Merrill had her sah just over 12 months ago, and the rehab doctor said keep the visits with grand children down to 15 minutes and make sure you don't over do it , but in reality it does'nt work like that, but they don't cry all the time and for her it's worked out quite well,your daughter will understand that you won't be able to do all you might liked to, but do what you feel able and i am sure some days will be better than others,and i think kids being kids some days it's lovely when they come to see you, but it's better when they go home, i think thats me just being an old fart though, Best wishes Rod

Hi jen.and welcome, will look forward to reading your story,Best wishes Rod

Hi Zoe Merrill used to come out with some strange things just after her ops, and for a few days she would shout at other peoples visitors which was very starnge for her as she is usually quite quiet and reserved, i can remember the neuro nurse saying to me "I can see you are going to go home with a black eye each time you take her out" but it all settled down quite quickly and if anything she is now a very much quieter person than she was before the sah, good to hear he's doing well Best wishes Rod.

Hi Caz great news about Richard, just how it was for us things change by the hour Good luck in his continued recovery Rod

Hi Michelle hope you are feeling well, and best wishes with the MRI scan,Rod

Hi Angela, great news about and the driving,must be doing really well, i think the tiredness ect will be there for a while but sounds as though he's doing great, Good luck Rod

Hi momo, glad the news was good for you, and a very interesting bit to read, Best wishes Rod

Hi Zoe glad you are now feeling much better about the whole thing Good luck Rod

Hi Zoe, hope you are well, I can remember back to about nowlast year,when merrill was exactly the same,the eye the slurred speech and when she did speak it was'nt anything that made sense,and when they did eventualy get merrill out of bed,one day i went in and the physio came and got merrill out of bed for about the third time and the 2 previous times she had walked okay but this time she could'nt remember how to walk and we were going left leg, right leg and she could'nt get it right, i went home that night devastated and felt just how you said you feel, each night i rang the hospital at 10pm and that night i rang a bit earlier because i was worried and when i asked how she was the nurse said oh fine she's gone for a walk around the ward, when i told the nurse she must be wrong as merrill could'nt walk she said well i can see he from here theres nothing wrong with her walking now, a year on merrill has good days and bad days sometimes she slurs when she speaks her walking is'nt great but she manages and on bad days she has a wheel chair, things just change hour by hour at first and it is alarming, but comparing it to merrills recovery this to me is pretty much how it goes but it does get easier for both of you, Best wishes Rod

Hi Caz and Congratulations on your 2nd anni-versary Best wishes Rod

Hi Zoe, glad things are starting to go in the right direction, good luck Rod

Hi Zoe, sorry to hear that things are still hard, watching my wife when she had her sah was the hardest time in my life that i can recall, and i felt so helpless, but hang in there,stay strong and as time progress you will have your bit to do, this will be a long job but you will find that it gets easier as time goes on, my wife is a year tomorrow, and looking back it's just flown, I really hope things start to improve soon for you both. Best wishes Rod

Hi Angela,and welcome, I know how scarey it must have been for you,as my wife,had her SAH a year ago tomorrow, and it was the scariest time of my life, as i'm sure it was for you, but he sounds as though he is doing really well, fatigue is something most seem to suffer from so lots of rest, lots of fluids,carry on with the tlc and you're doing fine,Best wishes to you both in his recovery, Rod

Hi, I think we all deal with things in our own way, I've said on here before that Merrill does not talk about her sah, when ever Merrill worries about something she goes into herself and me I want to talk about it, as i'm a talker (someone once asked me how i find time to breath) It can be very frustating when you want to talk and they don't, so i come on here, but it does get easier the changes in the way they are, i think it's just getting used to it and in time it gets easier, Hope you find that too,Good luck Rod

I've got mass highlites all over my head Merrill says i've gone grey, but i'm sure she's wrong

Hi Zoe, and welcome to btg,sorry to hear about your husband, My wlfe had an sah 12 months ago this saturday she had 2 aneurysms 1 coiled and 1 clipped and all the complications along the way, but the doctors are very good and they do their job well, i know exactly how worried you are this is the most awfull time for you, and i'm sure just like the rest of us you feel totaly helpless, nothing happens quick enough but hang on in there and stay strong, don't neglect yourself, and please let us know how he's doing , Best wishes to you both Rod

Hi Caz, and well done you seem to be getting on fine, Good luck Rod

Hi Yosista, and welcome, this is the most awfull thing in anyones life to experience, 12 months ago it happened to my wife, so i know how helpless you can feel, you must just put yourself in the hands of the doctors,and be there for your mum, your bit will come later these can be long and drawn out and improvement is often slow. My wife had a pretty bad time too but yours seem a different situation and i'm sure there are people on this site who can give you better advice than me, but if you have any questions as you go along, feel free to ask them i'm sure someone will nearly always have the answers. Good luck to your mum in her recovery and best wishes to your family Rod.

Hi all,and thanks feel a bit better now as i had booked a friend of mine who is a hairdresser to come round tomorrow night and trim merrills hair i had ask him to do a test while he was here and then come back when he can and put the colour on, Thanks everyone, Bets wishes Rod

Hi all,a question for the ladies, Merrill had her sah almost a year ago, and a month after the sah she had shunt fitted, because merrill suffers from excema there has'nt been a time untill this week that she has not had a minor infection somewhere in her head, well my question is that if you have a shunt fitted is there any problems involved with her having a colour put on her hair, does anyone colour their hair, and has anyone had problems with colouring their hair, Thanks Rod

Hi Melbury,sorry to hear about your worries with you husband, but i think there is no such thing as normal,as everyones recovery is different i read of people who have returned to work after just a few weeks and people who are off for very much longer than that, my wife merrill had her sah on march 27th last year and a month later she had a shunt fitted due to hydrocephalus, but she still has very poor short term memory and very poor mobility, her cognative thought is not always good,and many minor problems along the way,this week she's having hearing aids fitted,as it has affected her hearing, but recovery is very much an individual process in as much as it is different for everyone,Merrill goes to rehab hospital,who said to me right from the start that an sah is very much a life changing thing, and that the old merrill has gone, they even gave me counciling for this as i think they thought that i was having trouble accepting this, they gave me a piece of advice which i thought was a bit silly at the time and that was (do not compare her to who she was but accept her for who she is) but we had been to gether for 40 years so that was not a piece of advice that was easy to follow. With Merrill things have changed all the time,we have just had 3 not very good weeks where i thught she was getting worse,and the last couple of days she has been better than she has been for a long time, and i think thats just how it is, maybe in a week or so things will improve for a little while, but the last twelve months for us have been good times and bad times but i think slowly the good times get better, i hope this helps a little, and you soon get some of the good times, Best wishes Rod

Hi, thanks paul and myra hope you are both well, and yes hopefully they will be able to cast a little light on it the 25th, Best wishes Rod

Hi all, Merrill is almost 12 months since the sah,and throughout her recovery she had little problems that comes and goes but about a month ago she developed a little jerk on her left side which has'nt got worse and it has'nt got any better, but about the same time her speech appears to have gotten worse, these happen even when she isn't tired and i've mentioned them to the hospital where she goes for rehab, but as she has an appiontment on the 25th of this month for a review they said they would look at all that then and if she needs a speech therapist they would get her one but the jerking they said "oh that may go in time but it really bothers Merrill wonder if anyone has had similar experience this far along in their recovery and if it just rightened it's self many thanks Rod

Hi, and welcome to the site, thanks for sharing your story and i hope that in some way this helps you, i was with my wife when she had her sah almost a year ago and i remember the waiting around it was the worst thing in the world, i felt so helpless. I think you did a really good thing donating organs, i've always thought it was something everyone should do to but don't know what i would do in that situation. Best wishes Rod