Three Months Later by Kath

It was three months ago that Ariel and I rushed Peter to the hospital for a stroke.

A lot has changed in that time.

There was fast change like during that first week when our lives were turned upside down and our pockets were searched for loose change.

And there have been the slow changes as Peter works very hard to regain what he lost from the stroke and we work out what our lives are currently and are going to be in the future.

There have been some serious and not so serious speed bumps along the way.

The most recent had to do with some medication changes for Peter, which finally reduced the number of pills he was taking in a day. He seemed to be suffering a side effect that was not in the list of side effects. We took him off the medicine and went back to the previous one for a day or so and then back to the new one. Second time around the problem didn’t re-appear so it was an aberration rather than a side effect. It just showed up the same time as the medicine change so we were all playing it cautious.

His rehab is still going well. He is still making progress in getting back what he has lost. His walking is stronger and firmer. His balance is better. He can go longer distances without tiring out. His hand is improving slowly. The shoulder is still a problem. There doesn’t seem much that can be done for it but time and strengthening. I do think it is something that we need to revisit soon as to what might be able to be done and to make sure there is no more harm being done.

I have to thank both the rehab people and Sifu for that. They have worked very hard to help him get back to even this point. Peter has worked very hard too.

We did go to Farpoint this year much to the surprise of just about everyone there. It was nice to see the gang and spend some time among fans.

Our next convention is going to be the Phoenix ComicCon over Memorial Day Weekend. Caroline will be with us and we look forward to seeing everyone there. That will be the longest plane ride since the stroke.

It is nice to be able to plan for the future and to get back to going to conventions and the like.

There are frustrations along the way. Things we can’t do. Things that we have to rethink and second guess ourselves that before the stroke we wouldn’t give a second thought to. Personally I haven’t made a creative anything since the stroke. Thought a lot about it but haven’t done everything. And now I have some deadlines looming that need to be done that I don’t’ want to blow off. So I am going to pull it from somewhere and give my muse a chance to come out and play.

Caroline is dealing pretty well. I won’t say that it has been a walk in the park for her but she puts on her brave face and saunters on. I think we are fortunate that she does express her feelings and frustrations to us. She also has people she can talk to when she doesn’t want to talk to her parents. We are getting a little taste of the teenager who is just around the corner but that it understandable considering all that is going on. She misses being able to just go out with her dad and do things. Now doing something is a production rather than a spur of the moment idea.

Honestly it is the closer we get back to normal, the better we all feel. We know that we are living in a new normal and we are about half way to figuring out what that is.

And again I have to thank our family, friends and the fans. To the gang at Marvel Entertainment, thanks for all the help and the reassurance. To Heroes Initiative for stepping up and giving us a hand up when we weren’t sure how we were going to get to the next step and your continued support. To the gang at Farpoint and everyone who helped with that auction. To JK and everyone who participated in the art auction, thank you. To everyone who bought a book or donated or just passed the words around the net, thank you.

If there is one thing we have learned from all this is that we are loved and that has helped a lot even in the darkest of times during this whole thing.

I am so very grateful that my husband is alive and working.