At the end of 2011 my mom had a heart attack and was taken to Mercy hospital in Muskegon. While she was there she had a stroke, and was paralyzed down the left side of her body. After being held there for several weeks she was finally released to a nursing facility here in Grand Haven.
She has made some encouraging progress since then. She has recovered most of her mobility, but she is still unable to speak or use her right arm very well. She gets very aggravated because she can't articulate to us what she wants to say. Last week while I was there with my niece Sarah my mom sat up and was trying to tell us something. We waited. Finally, as tears welled in her eyes, she managed to say, "I have no home anymore."
She has made some encouraging progress since then. She has recovered most of her mobility, but she is still unable to speak or use her right arm very well. She gets very aggravated because she can't articulate to us what she wants to say. Last week while I was there with my niece Sarah my mom sat up and was trying to tell us something. We waited. Finally, as tears welled in her eyes, she managed to say, "I have no home anymore."
My niece has taken over the house my folks lived in and she is handling the rent and bills and keeping an eye on my dad, who isn't doing very well himself. My brother drank himself into a stupor and Sarah had to call the ambulance to take him to the hospital. After being there for several days they told her that he would never recover and so they sent him to a rehab facility in Fremont. So now it's just me and Sarah trying to keep what little family we have left together, for the time being at least.
Last week they allowed my mom to leave the nursing home and come back to the house for a short visit. She was able to sit outside with Sarah and my dad and enjoy the quiet of her yard once more. She can continue to come home or go for drives as long as she is doing well. She makes progress everyday, because my mom is very stubborn and refuses to give up. Her beloved computer is now gone. I had my own drama happen at the beginning of 2012 and I'm now staying in the basement of a friend's house. I gave the computer to my friend's son, and his wife is using the computer desk. I have the monitor.
We certainly had a traumatic new year here at the Cloud residence and while things can never really go back to what they were, we can only hope and pray that what we do have will improve.
- Doug Cloud
