A new chapter is about to begin in Tom’s journey of recovery: Tom is approaching his discharge from GF Strong.*

As many friends and family will recall, late on August 3rd, my brother Tom underwent an emergency four-hour surgery to repair a ruptured brain aneurysm. After recovering in Neuro ICU at VGH for three weeks Tom was transferred to G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre where he received regular sessions of occupational therapy, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, speech therapy, and recreational therapies including music and art. Tom’s intensive therapy schedule has continued for 8 weeks, and has made a remarkable difference in Tom’s ability to function.

For those of us fortunate enough to have regularly visited with Tom over the past three months, we are aware of the phenomenal gains he has made to regain some independence. He has not lost his impressive memory for the many historically significant stories of Vancouver. He continues to look forward to embellishing giclées, as well as joining in with his familiar social groups. He can still belt out beautiful tunes on the keyboard. However, these activities are impacted by ongoing issues with hearing, headaches, and back pain. It is more difficult to engage in concentrated focus on an activity without rest breaks. Activities that were taken for granted as easy now require more thoughtful tracking and checking, and some independent tasks now require assistance.

*So- the release date is both a celebration and a new challenge for Tom. We will bring Tom home on October 22nd. To that end, we are arranging follow-up appointments to address his issues with back pain and hearing loss. We will monitor his level of need for a care attendant. Rehabilitation will continue over the coming months, with ongoing visits from an occupational therapist to continue to help Tom to improve upon his organization and way-finding skills. Continued work with a speech therapist is needed to continue to strengthen memory. Continued safety habits will be practiced to compensate for homonymous hemianopia a loss in the left field of vision.

The road back for Tom is going to be long and challenging, both physically and financially. Stroke recovery is measured in 3-month periods over a year, looking at the patient’s progress at the 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 12 month marks. We are thankful for the progress we have seen at this first 3-month progress point. While his medical team has supported Tom’s progress physically, we want to thank friends and family for their financial donations, as that has been a significant relief to the financial challenges this crisis has posed. As a self-employed artist s income was abruptly halted this summer-limiting the resources he could draw upon to cover his day-to-day living expenses. Thanks to the donations collected through friends and family, Tom will be able to delay his move from his home until after Christmas. Tom’s spirit has been greatly sustained by the overwhelming support from many wonderful friends and family through cards, food, visits, gifts, well-wishes and contributions to this campaign. To everyone who has contributed (and to everyone who has yet to give) -a massive thank you! We will continue to leave the GoFundMe open to donations for the time being.

Tess Souder

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