I hope this is my last installment of “Mackenzie Posts” as the news is all good.

Mackenzie has been back to work part-time since January 7 and I think that’s gone very well. She gets some brain fatigue after a few hours at work and therapy, but that too has been improving. Therapy might be winding down soon as well, she has 2 sessions this coming week and will probably transition to once every couple of weeks after that.

We return her to UIHC Neurology for her 3-month follow-up on Feburary 14, and barring any hidden issues I think she is likely to return to full-time work and “normal” activities immediately or soon after that.

I wanted to close by sharing the best news of all… when she started speech therapy at GRMC in December she took a stroke impairment assessment as part of her first visit. Her score was something like 65 from a possible 100 points, and that gave her a rating of “moderate” impairment.

On Tuesday, January 28, she completed that assesment again and we got the tabulated results on Thursday. Her score this time around was in the 97-98 range, almost perfect and very, very “mildly” impaired. I had frankly forgotten just how far she has come! In fact, in my old age I find myself stumbling for words far more often than she does now!

As ever, I am thankful for having each of you to share this adventure with. Take care.

-Mark M.