Update written by Stephen (which is amazing since he couldn't type until recently)
On December 7th I had a stroke. My entire right side was tingling, I was disoriented and listing slightly to starboard when I walked. I called my wife then dialed 911 and caught the next available ambulance to Mary Washington. By the middle of the next day I could not get up on my own and the numbness had spread to the centerline of my body from head to toe. I couldn't dress or undress myself. I couldn't bathe or use the bathroom on my own. My speech slurred if I talked too fast and I sometimes drooled on myself without even realizing my mouth was hanging open. I could not open or close the fingers of my right hand. But the doctors had begun to get my bloodpressure under control and over the next couple of days I began struggling to get the function back in my limbs. After a week in the hospital I was moved to Heathsouth, a rehab center specializing in stroke and amputee patients. I made considerable progress there and left 10 days later with a walker and a wheelchair and the ability struggle in and out of my own clothes, take a shower on a shower bench, and hold a fork in my bad hand. I've been home now for two weeks and tomorrow will mark one month since having my stroke. I mostly get around on a cane now, though I still use my chair if I am going to be out in a crowd for any length of time. I can dress myself, tie my own shoes, stand up to take a shower. I can even type with all 5 fingers now instead of hunt-n-peck - though writing with a pencil is still a bit of a chore. Funny all the simple little things I took for granted in my life. Here at the end of my first thirty days I know I am also at the end of my fastest gains in improvement and what I gain in the next 60 days will pretty much determine the bulk of my functionality for the year. But I'm hopeful. Thank you all for praying for me and I hope you continue to do so, and I will also be praying for you.