Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Recently I got a new cell phone. Changing my phone led me to update a lot of information including contacts and “frequently called numbers.” On my phone I had several “ favorite” cell phone numbers. I had my my wife, my brothers, my sisters in law, and Heather’s relatives. But I also had several close friends that I used to call all of the time. We don’t call each other anymore. I just deleted those favorite numbers. It’s interesting when a life-changing event happens and your priorities change. I did add my son to my favorite list. That makes me feel old! I also updated my huge contact list. Honestly, there are many contacts who are dead. My contact list goes back at least 25 years. In addition to deleting those souls, I am deleting professional contacts that are not useful to me anymore. It is interesting to go through your past. Were they even worth it before my strokes? It’s all about priorities. Mine have changed.

For about three weeks I’ve had pretty severe headaches. Since my strokes 5 1/2 years ago, I’m pretty in tune with all aches and pains. In particular, when I get headaches I get pretty focused. Nevertheless, I just assumed that the headaches were caused by too much stress. The only thing that would take the pain away would be a Norco. And even that would basically dull the pain but not take it away. When I had my strokes, I had a very consistent pain. My left temple throbbed and I had right side vision auras. These recent headaches have been completely different. I would note the severity and the locations of these headaches just to make sure I wasn’t having another stroke. In those three weeks, I only had two days with no pain. At my Idaho Aphasia Support Group last Wednesday, I told the group about the headaches. I also told the group that my wife said many times that “ given your history of strokes and seizures don’t I think it would be wise to check it out?” I always respon