Wallenberg Syndrome and other adventures

When Mordy first had the stroke, one of the symptoms he was diagnosed with was Wallenberg Syndrome. This syndrome (named for Adolf Wallenberg, who described the symptoms in 1895), is characterized by a lack of feeling of pain and/or temperature on one side of the face and the opposite side of the body.  In Mordy's case, he doesn't feel pain or temperature on the right side of his face and the left side of his body. He does feel a slight tingling when exposed to these things, but not a real sensation of pain or temperature.

This has come in handy when the doctors or nurses need to draw blood--he always has them draw from the left side of his body, so it won't hurt.  He feels the needle, but it doesn't hurt at all.  Also, the other day Mordy stubbed his left toe.  He said that it didn't hurt, but that he felt his toe catch on something, and he probably stubbed it.  We checked for blood (since he's on blood thinners, so bleeding could be dangerous if not caught) and made sure nothing was broken.  But since the lack of pain is only on the surface, not internally, it was clear he was ok.

Lastly, the other day it was steamy and warm outside.  Mordy walked outside and said, "This is weird--it only feels hot on one side of my body.  The other side feels completely normal."  That's Wallenberg for you...

The good news is that Mordy doesn't have other potential symptoms of Wallenberg, like difficulty swallowing or slurred speech.  Everything is functioning just fine.  It's just that he doesn't feel temperature or pain in those places.  I've joked that if I want to slug him, I know which side to punch :-)

Well the big news is that today Mordy began to feel temperature in his left foot for the first time since the stroke.  When he mentioned it to the doctor, the doctor said that the Wallenberg might be going away, starting with the foot and moving up the body.  We'll see what happens in the next few days and weeks.

The other big news today is that we had a flood in our basement from a misbehaving washing machine.  Here's proof that Mordy is getting better and is now quite physically robust: he walked down both flights of stairs, used the shop-vac to suck up the water, and carried a number of large and heavy items upstairs.

Mordy fixed the problem with the washing machine, so things are clearing up now.

Mordy wants me to let you all know that even though he's still working on his balance and vision problems, he is certainly not frail.  He is capable and strong.  Although he still has a long road ahead in terms of full recovery, he has gotten to the point where he is able to manage on his own and accomplish things around the house and in the world. (Albeit without being able to drive still...but the therapists are working on that, too...)