The Story

On April 26th, our dad, Jerry Ham, suffered a massive stroke on his dominant side.  He was in ICU for 4 days and spend an additional 10 days in the hospital after that.  When they first showed us the MRI results and the size of his stroke, the prognosis was pretty grim. They basically told us we had to wait 48 hours to see if his brain would swell more and if he would survive.  Needless to say, those were the longest 48 hours of our lives.  Luckily, not only did his brain not swell, but the swelling in his brain decreased slightly.  Praise God!  After he survived, the doctors said that he still may not make much of a recovery.  Due to the stroke he was unable to eat, talk or use his right arm and leg.  We, as a family, decided it was best to bring him to Houston, where we live, to recover.  Those of you who know him know that he lives and breaths for his grandkids, so we figure they are the best medicine.  He was admitted to an in-patient rehab hospital here in Houston on Thursday, May 9th.  Since the stroke, he has made some small steps towards recovery.  He can point and direct us to communicate. It's not clear and takes some work to understand, but at least it's some form of communication.  They have him stand daily.  He doesn't like it, but it does show that he has some strength in his right leg.  He has jerked his right arm away from us a time or two, so there is life in there!!!  Best of all, he can shake his finger at us and give us lectures.  We have no clue what he's saying, but I'm sure it's important.  They did begin to feed him real food today!!!!  I haven't heard how it went, but will be sure to find out tomorrow.  He has been fed through a tube in his stomach for the past couple of weeks. 

We truly appreciate all the thoughts and prayers from those of you that know him and love him!  He is a fighter and we hope he continues to fight and makes a strong recovery!  Jennifer or I will keep this blog updated daily as we travel through this journey with our dad.  One thing we have yet to receive is much support or information for us, the family.  I'm hoping to find a support group in the area.  It's so hard to see your father, the man who has always taken care of you, now need taken care of at such a young age.