I'm back! Yes, if you've been following at all you would be somewhat  aware that I was totally surprised by a stroke on May 25th, 2026. After the stroke hit me at home I went to the brand new Tucson Rehabilitation Hospital. That was my home and rehab center for two weeks before I was able to talk my way out of there and back home. Now, at home I am involved in outpatient rehabilitation two days a week. Began in Rio Rico and now transferred to Sahuarita where I get physical therapy as well as occupational therapy. The Physical Therapy is working on my walking, balance and the use of my left arm; the occupational therapy is with a hand specialist who is trying to get me back to my former typing skills. You can't know how difficult what I'm doing right now is for me.

I've learned some about strokes. There are between 700,000 and 800,000 strokes in the USA every year, at least one out of every four have a second stroke so that is something a stroke survivor like me lives with for the rest of their life. There are two types of strokes: Ischemic and hemorrhagic. The first is the type I had, it's when a fragment breaks lose and blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The second is caused by a leak or rupture in a blood vessel that causes blood to flood into the brain resulting in pressure on the brain. The hemorrhagic stroke is usually the more serious while the Ischemic is the most common, about 87% of all strokes.

From my experience you really don't want either one. Prevention involves not smoking, keeping your blood pressure under control and a healthy, low fat diet. If you aren't doing it now, start today. Also exercise helps.

What they don't tell you is that a stroke, any type is an injury to the brain and brains have a lot of control over not only the physical aspect of our bodies but also the emotional. It is quite common for stroke victims to have increased and unexpected bouts of anxiety, anger and depression. I have experienced all three along with paranoia. This process can easily change a person's personality. I'm now working on that aspect since I am walking pretty well and certainly hope to improve my typing skills.Please stay tuned. I have to say thank you to Katherine the Great and God for being on my side throughout my recovery. 

Stan the Man 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mind-Boggling Struggles

 

Post-stroke...we finding its a roller-coaster ride of moods and emotions, brain altering, body and balance meddling, and yes, life changing.  It's a maze we have to find our way through.  What's not helpful; stroke survivor groups posts on their subsequent 2nd and 3rd strokes following the first one, being told, "it could have been worse," and all the flim-flam posts on Facebook on this or that gadget "guaranteed" to fix weak limbs in exchange for your $$$.  Turns out stroke recovery is an industry unto itself. With 700,000-800,000 folks per year falling victim to strokes, they have a large audience, and pool of buyers.  

What to and hope for as we move forward on this path to recovery?  Stan the Man is resolute in ditching "Johnny Walker," and his newest helper, "Hurri-Cane."  He's getting there!  We'll keep you posted.

Until then...adios, 

K 

 

 

  

Mind-Boggling Events...

  

I am home again as of yesterday, the 8th of June.  The target date for my release was the 9th but I was able to impact the process and get out.  What?  Was I in prison or what?? No, on May 25th I had a stroke while sitting at our new table in our new home in Rio Rico.  I still can't believe it!  Stan the Man had a stroke.  It didn't impact my cognitive processes, speech, or anything like that-only my left leg and arm have been weakened and I don't have total control sometimes.  Two weeks in a rehab hospital with 3 hours of therapy a day; speech, occupational and physical therapy and nothing else, about drove me crazy.  If you have been following the blog, you can imagine the shock to me and Katherine. Mind-boggling events continue, but not all are positive...that's life!

With the loss of dexterity I am finding it difficult to type.  I wrote this long-hand and Katherine is typing it for me.  Thank you Katherine for all your love, support, and assistance.  You are truly Katherine the Great-I love you! 

Stan the man 

 

A Mind-Boggling Place 

Yes, in a number of ways, this place is mind-boggling. In the first place it was mind boggling how we found it, we searched Green Valley, Tubac, Nogales and were getting discouraged but then we stopped in Rio Rico and saw one place for rent, called the owner who came to show it to us but the then current tenant wouldn't be out until the next day. The owner said, "I have another place that's available" and vacant. We followed him for a couple of miles and here was this kind of weird looking house, brand new. The next day we went back and looked at the first house and then took another look at the new house. It was no contest and we rented this new one the spot after a little successful negotiating. 

Ironically after we sold our Green Valley house in January the first Air B&B we stayed in was probably 1/2 mile from here so to some degree we were familiar with this "outback" area of Rio Rico. We enjoyed our time before and now we love this place. Beautiful surroundings, hills of all sizes and shapes and the peaks of our familiar mountains in the distance. The sky is so blue, gentle breezes most of the time and so quiet. It is an unusual occurrence to see or hear a truck. Coyotes serenade us every evening with birds joining in that we haven't been able to identify. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets every day.  

This will be our home base for a year but who knows after that. We still have the travel, wandering bug so that won't go away. Need to go take care of an errand at the mini post office that's a ten minute drive from here but we will be back on soon I'm sure.

Stan the Man 

 Beams From Above-Mind Boggling...

 

Yes, we are linked to Starlink, back up and running, including our phones with Wi-Fi calling. Hooray!! A real eye opener how "linked" we are to the internet.

Another mind-boggling experience...suitcase separation anxiety!  Who would have thought with clothes neatly put on shelves and hangars, that I would look winsomely at our lonely suitcases now relegated to the storeroom, thinking they were so much a part of our daily lives since January.  Oh well, time to move on...oops, I mean stay put for a bit.

Our brand new home comes with appliances that play a lovely melody when the cycle is finished or to remind to close the fridge door.  Quite nice from the old buzzers on our old machines.

More from Stan the Man soon...until then, Adios!

K 

 

 

 

New Home  

What a mind-boggling development and what a change. We have leased a brand new home in Rio Rico, AZ. Rio Rico is an unincorporated area in the hilly desert of Southern Arizona, surrounded by mountain ranges providing gorgeous views. There are many homes scattered about, many new houses going up but none of those tract homes and developments with houses 3 feet from each other and no HOA, not one. We celebrate the NO HOA as much as anything. We are just 12 miles from the Mexican Border and a big portion of the population here is Mexican, seems like everyone speaks Spanish.

Our first night in our new home we sat on the back porch and watched an incredible moon rise over a mountain about a mile from us. An awesome and mind-boggling welcome to our new home. Yes, its brand new, not only to us, no-one else has ever lived in it, an experience we have never had in our 33 years together. And, to make it more interesting we have no furniture, that's already caused us to spend a good deal of money. The only piece of furniture for that first night was a brand new bed delivered at 3PM on May 1, the day our lease went into effect. We bought it several days earlier in Nogales. Of course the bed was what allowed us to spend night number 1 in our new home. 

We are also still staying in our Air B&B in Tubac which is just a short drive away. Our time there doesn't run out until May 5th so its a little chaotic right now with one foot in each place. Also a lot of our stuff is in Green Valley in a storage unit so we need to begin ferrying those belongings to our new digs.

This new home provides 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms which is a lot more space than any of the places we've stayed in the last 3-4 months of travel. We are not done with travel so if you are interested where we might go next stay tuned in here. Thinking about Europe, Mexico or who knows where. But we felt the need for a home base rather than constantly living out of suitcases.

Stan the Man 

 An Unexpected Turn...

  

A clap of thunder at 5:55 pm today, then 10 minutes of earth rejoicing rain.  Maybe it was the earth clapping at the prospect of rain-"bring it on!"  Mind boggling!

Reflecting on our travels as we are about to put our long-haul, over-filled suitcases to rest.  Yes! We have leased a house for a year in Rio Rico, 50 miles south of Tucson.  We've explored this area and Stan the Man has been a part of the community Face Book chat for some time.  We like the sense of people helping each other which seems to be the vibe here.  We know what that feels like-we experienced acts of kindness on our travels back here-strangers helping with the heavy lift to overhead bins, or carrying our over-filled suitcases up a flight of stairs-we didn't have to ask! We were grateful.  So, keys in hand, we move into our new home tomorrow, and a new chapter, and another adventure as desert rats unfolds.

Until next time...

K