Supporting Jay's Stroke Rebuilding & Recovery

Campaign created by Suzanne Wantland

Campaign funds will be received by Jay Wantland

Supporting Jay's Stroke Rebuilding & Recovery

BRIEF SUMMARY - my husband had a stroke on August 1, 2024 and this event had changed our lives forever.

For the last several months we have navigated this road. Jay is slowly making progress because that is the nature of a stroke that causes entire right-side paralysis.

Jay is learning to walk again. At the 75th day he can now stand without support, walk with the help of an AFO (ankle, foot orthotic) and using a cane. He cannot use his hand or arm for any functioning activity just yet.  He has to wear a shoulder brace to help stabilize the shoulder and keep from subluxation.

Jay is unable to work. He still needs help with basic things and has faced anxiety and neuro-fatigue. He tires easily still and still feels the need to have me with him or another person.

We created this page because friends and family asked how to help financially. After much prayer I created this page. God is our provider, and I am awe as I see HIM move in pretty amazing ways throughout our life.  I have zero expectations other than prayers. Our only request is for you to pray for Jay.  And IF you feel prompted to give PLEASE seek Father God if it is HIS desire for you to give.  And -if He ministers to give, then prayerfully do so but NOT to the detriment of your family or needs.  

WHAT HAPPENED- Jay and our 2 oldest boys were working on a jobsite a couple of hours away. The previous day, Jay had gotten a tooth fixed with a crown. He was at the dentist for over 4 hours. When he woke up Thursday morning, he had a headache and was dizzy.  He thought maybe he was dehydrated because throughout the entire week they had been working in an extremely hot attic with temps outside over 100 and the temps in the attic in excess of between 120-140 degrees. Jay went to work but by early afternoon felt very ill.  Extreme dizziness, weakness and even some tingling/numbness.  The clients drove him to the ER at a regional hospital. His blood sugar was well over 400.  Jay has type 2 diabetes but he had put it in remission through diet and exercise and we hadn't seen such high numbers in awhile. 

The hospital did their BE FAST stroke protocol and ruled it out from that. So they then ran some blood work, gave him 30 unites of insulin, 2 bags of fluids and deemed that he was simply dehydrated, suffering from heat exhaustion (heat stroke) and possibly a touch of vertigo.  They released him.  Jay was waiting for me to arrive - my trip took several hours. Rather than waiting, Jay decided to walk back to the hotel which was like a mile or two away from the hospital.  He began to feel sick again and stopped and waited for me. I picked him up a couple of blocks from the hospital.  He was walking like a drunken sailor.  He appeared to have what the hospital had called "vertigo like symptoms" so at the hotel, I gave him electrolytes and sent him to bed.  He woke up the following morning and had a headache, fatigue, some general weakness and continued dizziness. Pretty much the same as the previous day.  He went to work and I drove home. He sat in the truck and the client's house the entire day because he couldn't really get up the stairs and continued to feel sicker and sicker.  The order from the ER was if his blood sugar rose above 400 to return to the ER.  It did not - in fact it returned to a more moderately high number but below 220.  Jay returned to our hometown late Friday night.

He slept almost all of Saturday.  When he awoke Sunday, he had weakness on his entire body. I read the description online for heat exhaustion, dehydration, heat stroke and vertigo.  It said that heat stroke can cause one sided weakness so I assumed the hospital knew what they were talking about and thought it just appeared Jay had a severe case of those and since he didn't seem to be getting better we began to wonder if the dental treatment played a part.  Could he have mercury poisoning?  By Monday, his weakness had become extreme on the right side of his body. He had hiccups. He was coughing when he ate.  We did the BE FAST on him by Monday late morning.  His face and eyes did not appear to be affected.  His speech did not appear to be affected.  We took him to our chiropractor still believing this was bad case of vertigo and heat stroke as the hospital had said.  Our chiro asked about Mercury poisoning and got us a test to rule that out. He also did BE FAST with him.  He asked us if we thought he had a stroke. We stated that the ER didn't think he had and so we didn't think it was that.  We would monitor him over the next days.  By the 3rd day - his speech appeared slow or thick. He lost all mobility in the foot and hand.  His arm was hanging down limp.  He appeared to have a drop foot.  Our chiropractor suggested strongly we go to the Hospital to have an MRI with contrast.

We had been praying the night before and when we prayed that morning we felt an urgency to go to the ER.  They whisked him back and took all the scans.  Only the MRI with contrast showed the proof of a stroke. It was a Medullary Ischemic Stroke. The neurologist said it probably happened that Thursday he was working out of town and first got dizzy and she felt that his weakened veins from long-term diabetes and the dehydration probably caused a vein to collapse.  These type of strokes sometimes do not immediately present as a stroke - and the early warning signs are excessive dizziness, hiccups, coughing when swallowing - Jay had all of those that first day - and they would increase until the day he went to the ER in our hometown. We have since learned with this type of stroke - it takes time for the tissue to die and the pathways to be impacted - hence why he didn't have full paralysis until days later.  And that is why the hospital missed the diagnosis and released him.  Had they done an MRI with contrast it would have revealed the stroke. Had they did a CT scan or MRI without contrast they would also have missed it.  It was ONLY the MRI with Contrast that showed the pea sized infarction.  The dizziness, hiccups and cough with his description of tingling should have prompted further testing - but we now know so often those symptoms are attributed to other things.  Their focus was of the excessive dizziness, dehydration, his actual heat exhaustion/heat stroke from working in the attic and his excessive high blood sugar.  

Plus, Jay did not use the right words like "weakness" or "numbness" down his arm or anywhere on one specific side. He said tingling of the now affected-side but they chalked that up to neuropathy from the diabetes.  Not a stroke because he didn't match the BE FAST markers. We have learned a lot.   Not a lot of questions were asked of him at the first hospital.  The big hospital in our town stated that these types of medullary strokes are often missed.  Jay's had been missed.  Even if he had returned to the ER on Friday, they would not have done the emergency stroke treatment because they only have a couple of hours window and they wouldn't have known the hour of his stroke.  They should have scanned him that Thursday, but for whatever reason they did not.  And we have come to TRUST GOD that He knows the why.

As I mentioned Jay cannot do any physical work. His job was 100% physical.  Now - his work has become physical therapy. We have reached our cap on that though.  Any therapy is now out of pocket.  We do therapy ourselves and some alternative therapy which very much has made a difference but those alternatives are out of pocket.

When someone has a Stroke it is a SEISMIC life event (as my older sister has repeatedly said to us).  It impacts the entire family and all who know you.  It impacts not only your physical body but your mental, emotional, spiritual.  Jay is recovering and healing day by day. But as the Physical and Occupational Therapists have stated  -  recovery is millimeters at a time and not in a day.  Slow. 

Since the stroke - reality of our new life has set in.   It could be next April or longer before Jay can return to working. My days are filled with rehab and trying to squeeze homeschooling our youngest son. We walk now by faith. Faith says to trust God.  I am trying to do that. 

Why this campaign? Are we begging for bread?  No and that is why I paused even doing this request. God had made a way in amazing ways. We continue to trust Him. There are so many others more drastically affected by strokes that it seems odd to even do this. Many end up destitute and living in their cars. Disability is tricky after a stroke.  It isn’t an option we feel led to pursue because Jay fully trusts God that he will be healed and recover! And Jay so needs to BELIEVE and TRUST He will be made well.  Are things tight? Yes of course. Are we struggling differently since the stroke? Yes of course we are. But - I am trying to NOT run ahead of God.  To trust and believe Him. Jay is fully walking out his greatest faith walk. So am I. 

I was asked to start a gofundme by family. I refused because I didn’t have peace. Tonight, GiveSendGo came to mind. I prayed about it and felt prompted to do it - because of the prayer aspects and I have no idea if anyone will feel compelled or prompted by the Holy Spirit to give. God is our provider and I have no idea what our future looks like. But THIS is what I KNOW - the God of the universe loves us and has a plan! Our faith and trust is IN HIM! And more than anything I ask for simple prayer for Jay and our family.  And IF God puts it on your heart to give to help with expenses for Jay's rebuilding/recovery.... then give the amount He tells you and that you can afford.  All funds will go to alternative therapies like chiropractic, supplements, diet changes, and additional therapies & treatments not covered by insurance.

If we raise nothing but people PRAY - I am so okay with that! You can message us prayers here. I thank you if you read all of this. Please pray for God's will for our life - whatever that looks like. I thank you!  Jay thanks you.

Grace & Peace to you!

- Suzanne

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Updates

Day 141 Stroke Recovery

December 19th, 2024

God is so very good!!  We updated Jay’s progress over the last couple of months on YT.  https://youtube.com/@hopeonthehorizonpodcast?si=zIB_NavjYKTBBtiR.


You can follow updates there.  We want to thank every person who has prayed for Jay and his recovery and our family!  We see amazing things each day. Amazing things in so very many ways.


On this 141st day - Jay now walks without a cane.  He is learning better balance.  He no longer needs a shoulder strap/brace.  He is doing workouts at the gym and getting some muscle back or at least isn’t losing muscle mass so quickly. He still has hand/arm weakness but he is milimeter by milimeter getting neuropathways formed.  Thank God for neuroplasticity!!!  God did that - made the body to be able to form new paths in the brain and overcome or compensate for lack.  


Jay is doing alternative treatments which 100% are aiding his recovery - day by day.  Chiropractic. Red Light. Aquatic. Resistance Training. Walking, Walking, Walking.  God is faithfully directing our steps!  We belong to an amazing support group, and we have learned much!  We have such awesome family and friends and some awesome people in the Body of Christ walking out this journey with us! We thank you all and could not have walked so well without every person praying, moving, living, serving, meeting needs we didn't even know we had.


RESTORATION

So much healing emotionally.  Restoration is the word for 2025!!  And I cannot wait to post those praises!   But - we have seen progress and healing in areas we didn’t even know he needed that aren't just focused upon the physical!  


We will leave this campaign here as a testimony of God's faithfulness.  This campaign was never about the goal of monetary funds - because God has far exceeded what we could think or imagine in the way He has provided opportunities for us during this time!  We have seen Him meet needs - from the small to the big - from red light therapy to Ketones to donations or time, talent, resources and so much more.  It isn’t about $.  It is about seeing the hand of God move to change us to be more like HIM.  He used a stroke to do things only HE could do.  


So we thank Father God and His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.  We thank you if you lifted up Jay’s name in prayer.  If you have walked beside us - thank you. If you have thought LIFE and the WORD OF GOD over us - THANK YOU!  And yes, even if you cursed us or Jay's name because some people do such things online - we still thank you and bless you and we send the curse back to the one (Satan) who sent it and pray blessings on those who incorrectly walk in such things as they form an agreement with the great deceiver and not the Living God.  So, we Bless even you and bless your heart… to know YESHUA - JESUS as Lord and King and Redeemer!


UPDATES - I will post an update back here on GSG after our next neurology appointment in mid February to update progress. As I said - I randomly post updates on YT with videos.  We see progress day by day. Recently Jay's pain threshold has increased and we now say when he has pain we see progress soon after. And if you are part of Caring Bridge - I will resume posting in January there.  I just need a break as did Jay in talking about stroke every waking hour....


If Holy Spirit ministers to give more than a prayer - thank you and we thank God for you and have decided to not cash out funds on GSG until we raise enough to start hyperbaric treatments as that is next on the list to do for recovery.  It is very costly!  A full course for stroke recovery is a minimum of 40 days and would be twice a day and totals around $10,000 if we did it at a place we were referred to in Texas and is not at all covered by insurance.  Hyperbaric for stroke recovery or brain injuries is not covered. But we believe in the GOD of the impossible and He says by His stripes we are healed!  So we know one way or another Jay will be healed and we are praying it is this side of Heaven!


Amidst all of this - we have seen miracles and have even been so blessed to meet our precious grandbaby!!! We are so thankful to God that Jay didn't die on August the 1st and he is well enough to meet and hold her.  She is healthy and beautiful with a full head of hair!  She looks like her daddy and mama and she is so precious!  So as she learns to use her hands and arms and legs and feet so does her GJ.  As she learns to walk and then run - we pray Jay will be running with her.... New neuropathways for both of them.


One last thing - we know Jay isn’t the only one struggling.  There is cancer and disease and infirmity abounding.  We pray for every stroke victim we meet or hear about just as we pray for those we know or hear about who are fighting cancers or heart disease or brain injuries or other ailments that are truly life altering. We pray you see the HOPE that can only be found in Jesus Christ.  Because there is always HOPE on HIS Horizon!


But as we have learned over the course of our combined Christian walks, we often have to go through some things to find that HOPE!


James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."


Romans 5:3 "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces HOPE. And hope does not put us to shame or disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."


shalom and blessings and so much thankfulness for you reading this and yes for you praying for us

—- Suzanne and Jay and family


Update Day 141 Stroke Recovery Image

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