The Stroke

The Stroke

Every second, of every day, something happens to someone in the world. Sometimes it is for the best, and sometimes it is not. I truly believed that the bad only happened to those who deserved it. The human population lives in their safe little world believing that nothing bad will happen to them. Or at least this is what I believed. Unfortunately, as the saying goes “shit happens.”

On July 31st, of 2004, Judy Kolstad was walking back to the bed from the bathroom. Without warning she fell over, and her head proceeded to land on the floor. During the week prior to this she had complained of flu like symptoms, headaches, and problems with her menstrual cycle. She was taking many medications for these symptoms, and was beginning to feel better. She had been drinking wine the night of the accident, and wasn’t able to fall asleep.

After falling to the floor, her husband, my step-father, came to her aid. and called Buffalo Hospital. She began to experience trouble breathing, and was none responsive to us. Because of the fact that she had been drinking we assumed her fall was caused by a mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. She was rushed to the hospital where she underwent many tests in attempt to locate the source of the problem. Three hours later they reached the bottom of the list, and came to the conclusion that it may have been a stroke. By this time my mother was in a coma. She was transferred to Mercy Unity Hospital in Fridley, Minnesota. It was there that she underwent neurological testing to try and discover the root of the problem. On August 1st, my stepfather came home from the hospital, where he was discussing my mother’s condition with the neurological surgeon. From the moment he walked into the house, my sisters and I knew something was wrong. He began telling us in a somber voice that our mother had had a stroke. From that moment in time, life has changed dramatically.

Judy was a workaholic, and full of life. She was a strong headed German woman, and I held great respect towards her from the moment I was born. My mother lived for the day, and took pride in all the little aspects of life. She maintained a home, a family, a husband, and a career. Judy had worked as a field rep for a large sales company in the machining industry. My mother had always told me that if it wasn’t for my father she would know nothing about the industrial industry. She was very successful in her career and was admired by many. She was also a woman that gave life to others, by helping in the community. Judy was a woman that was loved by friends and family alike, and had supported her family through thick and thin.

For the next five days my mother laid there lifeless in the middle of the room. Drugged, poked, and probed, she laid there; the world was passing her by. It is at this point in time when I felt my worst. We were playing the waiting game, and with an impatient family this is not a game we were in the mood to play. With movement on the fifth day we cheered; to witness a transfer from death to life is a beautiful sight. After praying and pleading our family had its heart back. This wouldn’t last for much longer. By day seven, she was responsive, but still highly medicated. My mother understood very well what had happened to her. She was able to open her eyes, but she had lost her peripheral vision. All feeling in the left side of her body had been lost, and it was possible she would never walk again. She even lost her control to go to the bathroom herself. This is what led to the depression. She had lost her way of life, and feared she would never get it back.

Before the stroke, our family spent a lot of time together. Granted we weren’t the “Brady Bunch,” but we managed to get along. My two younger sisters and I bickered constantly, but we still loved each other. We talked to each other constantly and had a great communication level between the three of us. My step father was, and still is, a workaholic. To him it’s all about machines, diesels, Harley Davidson’s, and tractors. Now and