I'm not sure who here has had experience with stroke incidents, either with friends or family, but if you do have experience, I'd appreciate hearing about it; particularly if it's a positive story about the recovery process. It being the night of March 24th, we've made it through 3 days of this, but it already seems like an eternity. Dad did manage to feed himself a piece of his favorite key lime pie today, which was surprising, as he only nibbled on what the hospital had provided just prior (not a surprise). It was encouraging to seem him actually pick up a spoon and do that. He also holds his pen beautifully and likes his paper to be situated straight. That said, because his language center has been affected, he hasn't quite re-grasped how to spell words that he's trying to enumerate on the page. He can however write his name, fully. He also managed to walk all the way to the window just outside his room... this wasn't without the help of two physical therapists and a walker, though. Again, we're only on Day 3, so I'm hoping for the best.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could keep my father in your prayers. If you can offer any words of encouragement to me or my family, it would mean a lot and go along way.

As for the healing power of music, I did some research and discovered that playing classical era music for stroke victims can assist in their recovery:

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Patients listening to music were better able to recover memory and attention skills, and also held a more positive outlook on their situation. After three months, verbal memory improved by 60 percent in the music-listening group, compared with only 18 percent in the audio book group, and 29 percent in the group who listened to nothing at all. Moreover, the ability to resolve conflicts and perform mental operations improved by 17 percent in the music-listening group, but did not appear to improve at all in the other groups.

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So, I've loaded up my iPod with Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Mendolssen. I played some for dad today and he responded very well; even rested more soundly simply with the presence of the music playing in the background, and his rest has been restless his entire time there thus far... So, that's encouraging, and I'll continue to explore classical music with him during his recovery.

Anyway... this has all been pretty shocking and we're all still having a hard time believing it's happening. The world of my mom, my half brother, and 2 half sisters has been turned on its head (my siblings are from my father's first marriage) - I am an only child between my mother and father. Not in a million years did we ever think this would happen. It's a testament to the strength of our blended and functionally dysfunctional family that we are able to band together and face this with a unified front.

Thanks in advance for even reading this. I know it has nothing to do with film music or the site itself, though I have considered Peter, Brian, Justin, Sean, Scott, and several others as close friends for a long time. Some of you have even had the chance to meet my father -- even Peter, several years ago, so I hope this message isn't ill received.

::hugs::

--Bri

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Originally posted by Jeron:
Thanks for the support, guys. Here are some pictures of my dad & family...
http://jeron.smugmug.com/gallery/783250_KppmG#34731622

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You have a great looking family Jeron. As was mentioned, the brain has a miraculous ability to heal especially with prayer and a loving family for support. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers too.

Also, if you would like some more classical music, I would be happy to send you some. I have over 1000 classical CDs.

By the way, I'm a fellow Texan too and my dad will turn 72 next month.

Wishing your dad a speedy recovery,
Dave

My grandfather had a stroke about 10 years ago, so I don't remember the details of the first few days very well, although what I can add is that from my past 5 years experience as a doctor, people who have strokes can often amaze relatives and doctors alike with their improvement over the following months. How much of what was lost is regained is impossible to predict, and very variable, but the key elements are the will to enjoy life of the person involved (which your father seems to be full of), and the round-the-clock support of loved ones and medical staff.

I assume he's already be seen by a speech therapist (they might have a different job title in the US), but speech therapy is of course paramount in a case like this, at least to get an idea of what can be regained and worked on.

Remember that the deficit in one's functioning is at its worst on the day of stroke - from the next day onwards, things can only get better (or, at very worst, and if no help is given, stay as they are). But patience is important at this stage, because results will come, but not overnight. Physiotherapy, although often laborious and repetitive, is key in such cases. And keep that Bach playing - anything helps!

Recently, a successful businessman in our community passed away suddenly. He was a friend to so many. He was healthy, and his life was ordered right in the eyes of God. It was he who took generous care of his elderly sisters despite his successes. It was a shock to lose him.... no one was ready for it. What this reminds us of is just how frail we are as human beings and how necessary it is to get our important things in life into their proper order.

I had a friend, a roommate, in college whose dad suffered a stroke just as what you describe with your dad. It was difficult for their family, as his memory was scattered, as was his speech and nearly every normal faculty of life. It was a great burden on them all; with time, improvements were made to help lessen the burden, but it never was the same as it was... but they all came together in an incredible show of love. Some people might never have the strength to cope with this and withdraw, others may find a great new love for life as theirs is significantly re-ordered so that they may do all they can to serve the family member in most need.

I do remember meeting your mom and dad in San Diego when that group of film music crazies met up. It was good fun and good for me, and meeting your parents gave me a glimpse of the major forces that influenced your life growing up. It's saddening to hear this news, but I know true goodness will come of this... that your whole family is together there to offer support already shows this.

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He was healthy, and his life was ordered right in the eyes of God.

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Things continue to improve, though slowly. Dad managed to walk, again w/ the help of therapists, around the entire square lap of the hospital level he is on (from the square, four hallways branch out -- his room is at the end of one of these hallways). That's an exponential increase in what he did yesterday, and shows that he is really determined. He also brushed his teeth today by himself. And my sister let me know that he ate 3/4's of his meal last night.

My brother stayed the night with him so my mother and I could come home and get some sound rest. Dad gestured to mom that it was okay for us to go. With that, it seems he rested very well last night, his first full night of solid sleep. I imagine the rest is critical to the healing process in his brain, so we like for him to get plenty.

He also vocalized more w/ the speech therapist today, which was encouraging. He's trying his hardest to get it out. I'm sure the pain meds he's on isn't really helping, as I bet they'd make it hard for a person to speak even without having had a stroke. That said, they help him rest, so it's a trade off that will hopefully pay off as it's allowing him to heal.

Again, thanks everyone for the words of comfort. It means a lot. This place, Moviemusic.com, has been a home to me for a very long time -- it's where I met several of my very best friends, friendships that came out of the woodwork and materialized in real life. Heck, my parents have become really good friends with Brian's parents (Crono/Kyp), and we always hang out with them when we make a trip up to Seattle -- my dad and Brian's dad love to talk it up about golf; they are golf channel addicts. So, the fact that I can come to you guys and speak freely about this means a lot and continues to validate how important this place is.

Thanks... will keep you guys up-to-date.

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1>He was healthy, and his life was ordered right in the eyes of God.<HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

Which one?

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
Which one?

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Don't go there, friend. Not the thread for it.

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Na, TJ; I'm not the argumentative type anyway... I merely wondered where Peter was coming from. That's all.

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To those who know, they know, especially as it relates to Jeron's father.

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5 minutes of mental analysis, and I still have no idea what you're saying there. No problem.

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Originally posted by NeoVoyager:
I pray for people all the time that I don't know at all, Jeron, and your father and family will be no exception. I hope and pray to Jesus for a speedy recovery... and patience and resilience for all of you.

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Thanks Neo & TJ, sounds like we're all on the same page. I'm sitting here with my father, he's resting very well... We finished a game of Tic-Tac-Toe and now we're listening to the complete Sleeping Beauty ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky. Always been one of my favorites... And he slipped right into his nap once I turned it on. Somehow fitting.

My very best to you and yours Jeron in what can't be the easiest of times.

I've never forgotten that your voice was amongst many here when I lost my Mother back in 2001 and the support of friends and family mean so much in harsh times.

May your Father gain a fast and full recovery.

All the best to your father, you and your family.

My dad suffered a mild stroke 8 years ago when he was 58. He lost alot of his strength in his left side, fortunately no motor skills such as vocabulary and eyesight were affected.

He was and is still able to function normally and can still drive but as he ages it's starting to take more of an effect. The day before Christmas Eve he fell and broke his kneecap and spent a month in the hospital and rehab so now he has to use a cane or walker to get around. He had his home modified to fit the needs of a handicapped person to include being able to use a wheelchair.

I know it's not the best news you wanted to hear but it is my experience I wanted to share.

Thru love, prayer and will power I'm sure your family can pull through this, things may not be the same as they once were but don't give up hope.

I've set up a blog that I'll be using to keep up with my Dad's progress. It should allow the dissemination of info to flow a bit more easily, so friends and family can stay up-to-date. If any of you guys are interested in keeping up with it, feel free to check it out. It would mean a lot.

http://jim-moore.blogspot.com

I'll be posting another entry today or Sunday. I went out and bought an HD Sony handycam that I've been using to document Dad's progress, as well... so keep an eye out for embedded video. Dad gave me the thumbs up to do all of us.

Jeron

I still remember fondly, the hour-long coffee chat we had back in October 2006 in that Toronto hotel lobby.

You may recall these words of Alec Guinness at the finale of Doctor Zhivago. They were his character's response to the young man who answered that no one had taught his girlfriend how to play the balalaika.

My mother suffered a stroke in July, 2002 after beating cancer a 3rd time. Long term aftereffects from treatment for bout #2 some 15+ years previous, including loss of most eyesight, led to this stroke. The stroke, in turn, devastated her ability to remember things in the short term and has virtually erased part of her longer-term memory.

After a 3-week hospital stay, she was placed in a nursing home. Her recovery over the next 6 months or so was slow and sometimes suspenseful but the stroke ultimately proved treatable. I visited her often during that period and became acquainted with the staff and several of the other residents. My mother kind of stood out near the end of the stay for her higher level of energy and lucidity (compared to the average resident).

One day, a few months into her stay, while I was duly taking full note of the piano sitting silent in the corner of the main social area, it suddenly occurred to me that she may have lost her ability to play. You see, she took lessons for 3 years starting at the age of 9 and that was it. Period. But for as long as I could remember, she enjoyed sitting down at the small piano at home, and boy, could she ever blast away at them popular songs and themes. I mean it sounded like Liberace. Flowing arrangements and all, chords that just pirouetted from her fingers to the keys. And it was all done by ear. All of it. And she was now 77.

"Of course I can still play!"

She sat down and fingered a few tentative notes before launching into Night and Day. Ay, was the rickety thing ever so out of tune and all but lack of fine tuning has never hindered her. Anyway, it was amazing. And before long, residents and staff members were coming over with eyes and ears wide open. "Martha, you play the piano?" I then explained what she used to do at home.

Well, that was the start of her piano-playing comeback. She became the hit of the place, and I mean The Hit. We’ve always acknowledged at this website the incomparable power of music to affect but you have to see the effect on old folks, especially those we might call feeble-minded. Music injects life where life seems most absent. As for my mother, the piano has become the best therapy for every reason under the sun.

It gets better. A couple of months later she was evaluated as now being capable of living with assistance, so we found a wonderful assisted-living facility that had the look and feel of a fancy resort hotel. And would you believe, up on the 3rd floor, there was not only a grand piano but a tuned grand piano. Naturally we had her sit there and do her thing during an introductory visit before the transfer (we figured it might make a good selling point). The administrator’s eyes lit up.

Well, it didn’t take long, once again, for Martha to become a big hit. Residents were coming up to me and my family in the first few weeks and raving about how she plays all their favorite songs "by ear!!!". One man, a widower, says all he has to do is say 1 or 2 words and out comes a song. He could not get over that she knew an oldie called I Apologize. A widow lady confided that she asked her if she knew her & her husband’s song, Always--yep, the one weaving in and out of The Pride Of The Yankees--and then she cried as Mom played it. Another lady told me she had to leave the room or be moved to tears when she heard her play Music Man’s Till There Was You.

These are just a few experiences. My mother has a catalogue of a million songs in her head that no stroke has been able to throw away. And when things get sketchy, all you have to do is hum a few bars or lyrics and presto, watch the human piano roll shift into gear. Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, R&H, L&L; Sinatra, Cole...she knows 'em; Astaire, Holiday....MANCINI. I had her go through Moon River, Charade and The Days of Wine & Roses. She positively adores Mr. Young’s Stella By Starlight culled from his wonderful score to The Uninvited; Raksin’s Laura; Jarre’s Lara Theme; she knows em all.

Years ago she fell in love with the quintessential romantic score, Mr. Barry’s Somewhere In Time, after seeing the flick on cable. She didn’t remember the main theme so I delivered her the soundtrack audiocassette (didn’t even know she had it, found it in a moving box).

There are staunch advocates of melody in film scores. I whole-heartedly am one. But it has taken this chapter in my mother’s life to make me fully realize why the most memorable scores are most often the ones with melody: that grand measurement of value, the level of engagement. Just as popular music of the 20th century is filled with joyously indelible melody & lyric, so is the film music that I hold in much esteem...and as a staunch advocate of keeping the film in any discussion of film music, I maintain that the film becomes the lyric. When the marriage between film & music is no less powerful than that between words & music, it is no wonder that the two become one in the mind’s eye and ear. For me, Hitchcock/Herrmann, Spielberg/Williams, et al. is the film music equivalent of George and Ira.

--Herrmann? The guy who couldn’t sustain melody? ABSOLUTELY. He may not have created full-bodied melodies, per se, but his music had what I would characterize as the melodic aesthetic to such a high degree as to render formal compositional criticism moot. And what do I mean by "melodic aesthetic"? Well, I can’t put it definitively into words. It’s abstract, a feeling, but oh so very real and true. An indefinable ear thing.

Sort of like the gift my mother keeps giving to all the grateful folks that have become her extended family, ya know?