These are the facts.
Death
Strokes in the area of the brain where the stroke hit me are over 70% fatal. The fact is God blessed me to keep me alive from that very first moment.
Swallow
It is very common to have trouble swallowing after a stroke but uncommon to not be able to swallow at all. I could not get anything down at all for over two weeks. I was told after two weeks that I was very likely looking at 90 days of intensive therapy in order to regain any swallow.
Then it happened. On the 17th day, I was able to swallow water. I was and I am incredibly thankful. The therapists worked. I worked. God worked!
Each swallow is still an effort and I am struggling to swallow different textures so that I can eat, but I am so thankful I can drink water, even though it takes a little extra effort.
At the initial moment of the stroke, when I realized I could not swallow, my thought was, How in the world can I not swallow?
14 days later the overwhelming thought in my mind was, How had I ever swallowed freely? I knew I could, but I could not figure out how to do it. The fact is God gave me a miracle!
Voice, Singing and Preaching
The fact is, my voice is very affected from the stroke. The same nerves, muscles and other parts of my throat that affect my swallowing, also affect my speaking and singing voice.
Those of you who know me, know that I have used my voice to sing and preach the gospel and make our living most of my adult life. The fact is that would be utterly impossible at the moment.
However, we do not believe that must remain impossible. They have given me a full retinue of vocal exercises and I am trying to be diligent to regain the ability to sing again. We know that God is able!
Numbness
Also, it is a fact that my whole right side is greatly affected. It is completely numb like it is asleep. Thankfully I have strength on both sides and that is definitely a plus.
Therapists are working diligently to teach me to have balance, walk, and to help me have manual dexterity in my right hand. I do have a long ways to go and at times it looks impossible, yet we believe God.
Eyes
The fact is my eyes are partially affected and even though I seem to see well, I am extremely dizzy at almost every movement. The therapist is also working on that and I am practicing every day and believing God to change that fact as well.
Faith
These facts could be emotionally paralyzing but we believe in a God who He is able to do the impossible. Faith in God can overwhelm and change facts.
That is why we are praising God for the obvious miracles and making the facts known to all of you that believe in God by faith. We believe in him, we have faith in our God who eats the impossible for breakfast!
Please continue praying and believing and there is no telling what God will do.
Davy
