Support During Wally's Road To Recovery.

Hi, my name is Sue Purcell. My husband Wally Occomore suffered a stroke on September 17th.....

On the morning of September 17th, I was scheduled to teach agility at my dog club on our property until 11am, and I had expected Wally to join me on the field at 10am with our new puppy. When he didn't show up, I assumed that he had gotten distracted and lost track of time working in his shop. I checked the shop on the way back to the house but he wasn't there. His car was still in the driveway, so I went into the house and called his name - I thought I heard something upstairs. I started up the stairs calling his name and I heard him say "What?". Laughingly I told him that he had forgotten to come out to the field with the puppy, and all he said was "What?". Something was wrong. I went to his office and found him lying on the floor on his side with his head resting on his hands. I asked him what happened and all he could say was "What?", I asked if he hit his head and checked for blood, and again all he could say was "What?". I asked him if he knew his name, my name, where he was, and the only word he could say was "What?". This was serious - I suspected he had a stroke. I called 911 and they arrived in only 15 minutes. I told them what happened and that all he could say was "What?", and they took over from there.

They rushed Wally to the Civic Hospital which specializes in strokes. I followed them in my car, and by the time I got to the ER they had already taken him for a CT scan. When Wally was returned to his room in the ER he was more coherent and knew my name but couldn't remember anything about falling in his office. His speech was slow, and he seemed disoriented, but at least he could talk to me. The doctor came in a little while later and confirmed that he did have a stroke - a subarachnoid hemorrhage - and they would be inserting a catheter into an artery in his groin and threading it up into his brain. A detachable coil is guided through the catheter and placed in the aneurysm which reduces the blood flow there and causes the blood to clot. Luckily they were able to take him to get that procedure done within an hour. I tearfully gave him a kiss and said I'd see him tomorrow. Wally's road to recovery had begun.

Initially the doctors said he would be in the hospital for 2 weeks, but after his second week in the hospital Wally got a blood infection from one of the many IV sites in his arm. This set him back a couple of weeks while they treated his infection and started to wean him off the heavy drugs again, which were making him delirious. After being immobile for so long, he was unable to get out of bed or stand without help, so they sent him to the Rehabilitation Centre at the General Hospital. Wally had a great team of therapists that got him walking and doing daily self-care activities to get him ready to come home. Although he needed a walker to help him walk, they released him on November 10th. He was finally able to come home.

Wally is now able to walk without any assistance and go on 1 hour walks with the dogs, help with anything around the house, read books and use the computer like he used to. Some things are still a work in progress, like his balance, memory and manual dexterity, but in time they will become better. He'll have to take a driving test to get his license back, and when he goes back to work it will have to be a very long and slow reintroduction. He wants to go back now because he's bored and we need the money, but the doctors say he should wait 9-12 months to give his brain time to heal.

Wally was the primary income earner in our household. He worked full time as a Supervisor at Canadian Tire. I drive a school bus in the winter months, and I run a dog sport club during the summer. When Wally first had his stroke I spoke with his insurance company who informed me that he didn't qualify for disability because he was over 65. Luckily he did qualify for EI Disability which gave us 2/3 of what he made at Canadian Tire. This benefit ended January 9th. We were shocked and very disappointed to learn that he does not qualify for the newly enacted extension to EI Disability which extends benefits from 15 to 26 weeks, because he had already started receiving benefits before the bill was passed.

As much as it hurts us to ask for help, we know we can't pay our bills without it. The money we're no longer receiving monthly from EI Disability is crippling us. Once the dog club opens for the summer we will start to get more income to cover our bills, and by June we should be able to take care of things on our own. Wally is hoping to return to work on a very reduced schedule in September, and gradually increase his workload through the fall and winter.

Thank you so much for reading our story. If you can donate any amount to help us through the next 5 months we would truly appreciate your kindness. If you are unable to donate, you can help us by sharing the link to our story with your friends.

Sincerely,

Sue & Wally