He's the Best
We hope you are all doing well! As you may know, our father Artie suffered his second stroke on 12/12/12. At the young age of 52, this one was more severe than the first. The stroke affected the left side of his brain and the right side of his body.
Artie was in Kingston Hospital for almost a week, spending his first two days in the ICU and then transferring to the stroke unit. The first few days were hard on everyone, especially Artie. His speech and mobility were not good. We weren't sure if he knew who we were or if he understood what we were saying. Thanks to the hospital staff and Artie's hard work, things started to improve slightly each day. He was able to start walking and lift his right arm. His speech improved incrementally. After being released from Kingston he was transferred to Benedictine Hospital for rehab, where he definitely seemed to be getting back to the old Artie (he was threatening to leave after 2 days). Our dad has never been able to be cooped up for very long.
We were thrilled, nervous, and anxious when they told us he would be discharged on Christmas Eve. This year more than ever, being together as a family on Christmas was so important. Today, Dad is home and participates in outpatient occupational and speech therapy. My brother John and I know how important it is to recovery to have early and thorough therapy, so we've added an extra two days of in-home therapy even though insurance won't cover it.
As you can imagine, this has shaken our family to the core! A man that we love more than we can describe is struggling. We hope that with hard work Dad will be back to himself in no time and we're doing all we can to make that happen.
In the meantime we've had new things to think about. Artie is unable to drive or work. This has left the burden primarily on our mom. We are dealing with medical bills, co-pays, and the new responsibility of driving Dad back and forth to rehab and doctors appointments, all while worrying about the every day bills. It's hard for us to see the ripple effect of Dad's stroke on both of our parents so we decided to help!
We will be fundraising and training to run the New Paltz half marathon, 13.1 miles on June 16th (FATHER'S DAY!!), in honor of our Dad! A portion of the proceeds will be used to help offset the costs of treatment for Artie, while the rest will be donated to the American Stroke Association. As soon as Artie is able to return to work, we will up the percentage going to the ASA to 100%. We hope that you will be able to make a donation to help our parents and the American Stroke Association!
If you would like to run this race with us, please do! The more runners on Team Artie, the better!! All we ask is that you help to spread the word!
Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes during this very difficult time. Keep Praying! We will be updating this page and will keep you posted on Dad's progress. If you would like to send a check please send them to Artie's daughter, she will be managing offline donations:
Kayde Wagner
142 sutton st.
Providence, RI
02903
From the loving children of Art DeGasperis.
