Mr Caudle had his first stroke on February 27,1999. When I (daughter) went
to his house on Sunday afternoon, I noticed that all was not well. His speech
was extremely slurred and he could not complete a sentence. He was having
difficulty walking and moving about. When I questioned him he denied being
sick. Just a bit under the weather. My husband and I both agreed he needed to
see a doctor. After 2 hours of begging and pleading, we finally conviced him
to go to the emergency room. My mother had not been able to convince him of
this. If I had not visited that day, I shudder to thing how much worse his
condition would have become.
Once at the hospital, it wasonly a matter of minutes until he was diagnosed
with a stroke. The CAT scan showed that damage had been done to his brain.
Only time would tell how well he would recover. He was in the hospital for
approximately a week. His blood pressure, which was extremely elevated, was
lowered with medication. Of course he was placed on numerous medications for
his condition.
Once home Jim was very disoriented and needed someone with him at all
times. Family members took turns with this task. Stokes County sent out a
Speech Therapist who worked with him. She came approximately five times and
said there was nothing more that she could do. The family had to stay with him
for about one month before we felt comfortable leaving him alone for short
periods of time.
Over the past few years, we have seen gradual ups and downs. Some weeks it
seems that he's improving drastically. Then just a few weeks later he seems to
have regressed considerably. Also, Last fall the doctor beleives that he
suffered another stroke, although not as severe as his first one.
Jim still has good and bad days. however since he has begun his exercise
regime with Dan. I've noticed sound improvement in his mental health. He has
suffered greatly with depression and I truly believe this program has helped
him in this area. It has given him hope to see others thriving where he
thought was no hope.
Thanks for all you do in helping those who do not know how to help
themselves.!
Vickie Beauchamp
