YEARS AGO...essay

I shall never forget 9 pm, Tuesday, August 24, 1999. Glancing at my watch that precise moment, I was barely able to withstand a monstrous sound threatening to explode inside my head. For approximately ten seconds I made a slow spiral until I lay comatose on the ground.

Unknown to me at the time, I had suffered a stroke.

Approximately two weeks before I was a busy outdoorsman. Canoeing was a favorite pastime. And loons, ducks, geese, the swirl of water and forest scenery provided an escape from stressful work expectations.

In retrospect, I was a bit of a braggart about my conditioning because of many hiking, camping, hunting and fishing trips. My challenges were to be first at everything within my domain. Even to sit at the table ahead of everyone for a sumptuous meal. No one ever called me twice.

On that night I came face to face with death. A backdrop of sky, with its band of red and yellow pastel colors, masked the scene at the busy Ryland Street entrance of the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition in Bible Hill. Large crowds had already entered this fun place where horse racing, tractor-pulls, food concessions, a midway and other amusements awaited.

As a variety of lights flashed from the Ferris wheel an overwhelming sound like some out of control twister suddenly filled every crevice in my brain. I was felled to the ground. Grabbing the top of my skull with both hands, I kept saying, “Turn the music off. Turn the sound down.”

I slid to the ground and lay on my back. I was talking gibberish then I could not move my lips or any other part of my body. I was comatose, yet someone kept saying, “Don’t get up, and stay down.” I was not even aware I lay in the center of a large crowd. But I could hear voices coming from different directions. “I’ll phone your wife,” I remember my friend Charles saying.

Then I heard an ambulance siren for a long time, heading off to Colchester hospital. At first I could not comprehend it was I in the vehicle. “Sounds awfully close by,” I remember thinking. It was only as we entered the hospital that I seemed to be able to move at all. And my body parts began to move around, not realizing I had been comatose for about 45 minutes.

I found out later Esther my wife had an urge to pray for me at exactly 9 pm at home where our regular Home Bible Study group met. I believe those prayers prevented more serious stroke damage, and pressed into my body during the ten seconds it took for me to end up on the ground.

At Truro’s Colchester Hospital, I went through a series of tests-Had IV, Oxygen Mask, Blood Pressure monitoring, heart machine, EKG and two cat-scans done. Also had three lumbar probes, very painful. First two had a hard time getting through the muscle. At 11:30 PM doctor said they were sending me by ambulance to Halifax, since it appeared I had a mild stroke, due to what he believed was a leaking aneurysm.

In Halifax two neurosurgeons probed, poked, scratched feet, checked eyes, feeling, muscle strength and took a cat scan. Could not find anything life threatening. Said to come back in a week for an ultra-sound on neck carotid veins.

Recuperating at home was quite an experience. Headaches when standing or sitting, poor writing skills, numbness in right foot, calf, leg, and arm. Extreme tiredness. I was afraid to sleep, in case I never would wake up. It was a worry that was overcome by prayer and I slept well.

I went to Halifax hospital to have an ultrasound on my Carotid veins. It meant sitting still for about 45 minutes while this lady pressed something across the back of my neck. It tested the flow of blood into my brain. The doctor there confirmed I had a stroke. “A mild one,” he said.

It was wonderful having my first get together with our family, to visit my mother-in-law and celebrate my birthday. Of course, in my excitement I did a little too much walking, had a severe reaction, which included a massive headache, numbness to my upper mouth, hand, leg and right foot.

But I learned a valuable lesson, to take it easy and not try to recapture too soon the ability to fulfill former activities.

Almost five years later, I continue to recuperate, and pleased to have completed a video which has been aired many times on our local Cablevision channel. It’s about having patience in overcoming limitations, enjoying love and encouragement from family and friends. And to accept gratefully all prayers sent my way.

I now look forward confidently to when present ills, are behind me. Simply being able to walk across the floor, lift a cup of hot chocolate, and turn my head to watch my wife’s smile is such a blessing.

These accomplishments are precious. Thank you Lord!

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© Richard L. Provencher 2004

Note: Although, as of Aug. 19, 2008 I continue to ingest five RX's daily, and have recovered most of my mobility, I still have some issues to deal with. However I dwell on the positive. I continue to massage all parts of my right side from toes to face, and monitor my weight carefully as well as live smarter regarding unnecessary worries, and of course pray daily for my family and friends. PTL from Richard & Esther.

Co-authors Richard and Esther Provencher invite you to view their newest novel SOMEONE’S SON written during Richard’s recovery from a stroke, which gob-smacked him in 1999. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with a family crisis. http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_someonesson.html