my dad

Here is my dad, Sam, many years ago at the microphone of his radio station KBUH.

It's a difficult thing to see your parents age and the health problems that come along with that. This past Saturday morning, my dad had a stroke. He woke up unable to speak or use his right hand. Since we don't know exactly when the stroke occured, the doctors didn't feel good about giving him the drugs that are usually given to a stroke patient within a 3-hour time frame. Apparently, once that time frame has passed, it actually becomes quite dangerous to administer the drugs. So not knowing whether the stroke had occured 1 hour or 5 hours earlier, that option was not available. When I made it to the hospital by that afternoon, I was shocked to see how bad his speech really was. He was only able to muster out some slurred sounds, and I couldn't understand anything he was trying to say. And since he is right handed, he couldn't even write anything down. This left him completely unable to communicate.

My dad has the most beautiful voice! It is a very deep, crystal clear voice. He once ran his own radio station filling the airwaves with his beautiful sound. He has recorded many narrations over the years. He always said that he regrets not auditioning for the host/narrator of "Music and the Spoken Word". I agree, he would have been perfect for that.

When I spoke with him on the phone this morning, I was blown over when he answered the phone! He then proceeded to tell me that he couldn't find the phone as it was buried in my mom's purse. I understood every word he said. What a miracle! As I talked with him, he still struggled with some words, and others were slow and a bit slurred, but his voice is back. What a blessing. I am amazed at how quickly he is recovering. The stroke occured only 48 hours ago, and the progress so far is very promising. I hope that this first stroke is his last. My dad will be 80-years-old this July.