celebration Day. Goal one achieved.

Today is a great day and a very scary day., I get released today from rehab and move into transition to outpatient. I am a long way away from being recovered. I suffered a major stroke to the upper right hemisphere of my brain. In fact, I have been brain damaged and still have lots of swelling in my brain. I can only feel pressure on the left side of my body, which they tell me is normal and could take up to a year to fully recover all the feeling if I'm going to. Whatever was lost in the stroke is lost in the stroke. I have to retrain my brain to do everything. I have amazed them, but that is really just gross motor skills. I won't be able to drive at all as my left eye is completely blurred and I don't trust anything on my left side. It takes a long time to process information on things that I see on the left side of me. My processing speed is way down and my attention span is none. If you’re trying to say something to me of any meaning, you better be done in 30 seconds or less. It it takes a lot of energy to pay attention and absorbed. And most of the energy is being used to just do basic movements on the left side of my body.

It's hard to describe, but if you saw when they had me close my eyes and tried to touch my earlobe with my left hand where my hand goes I have no idea where my hand is, and I have no idea where my left earlobe is. It takes enormous energy just to look at your thumb and try to make it twitch. It is very draining.. I have lost a ton of memory, which may not be a bad thing. I can barely move my left arm, and I have no fine skills with my left hand whatsoever. I can't hold my own phone in my left hand.

But I can walk, with the help of a walker. I'm not gonna get frustrated. As I may never be able to hold a golf club again and play golf or do things that I were doing outside, but I am going to give myself the OK to recover and heal. They have a saying around here and I love it. I am goddamn tougher than a stroke.

For the people who haven't had a stroke, you have no idea what that means.

I have regulated my blood pressure and it is under control now I'm going home with 18 prescriptions. My stroke was caused by a blood clot from my left leg because of the ankle bracelet. Even though it wasn't directly related to my smoking or high blood pressure I am not going to smoke ever again. but now I'm susceptible to having more strokes which I never want.

And the fact of the matter is and I proved it I'm still here and I'm still breathing and I'm going home. I am goddamn tougher than a stroke. Joey one stroke zero.

The stroke took a lot from me that will take a long time for me to retrain my brain to overcome, but I will because I'm not gonna let a stroke beat me

5:40 AM 01/03/25