31 years ago I married the guy in the photo. David is his name 

David enjoyed good health, a little overweight but other than that able to help round the house, walk the dog go to work daily and help out friends as needed. On the morning of June 8 2023, David was preparing to leave for work, he came upstairs  to my home office to see if I needed anything, I asked for some tea he brought that , petted the dog and drove away. Two hours later my life was changed when he called from work said he didn't feel well and asked if I could come and get him. I noted that his speech was slurring and said Dave, I think you are having a stroke. An ambulance was called and when next I saw him he was in the ER of Akron General hospital. Discussing his options with the doctor they were going to break up the clot with laser treatment. I left the room for about 10 minutes, when I came back in his leg was shaking and I ran for help. What was going to be a quick procedure had now morphed into a major operation. The next time I saw David he was in intensive care, on a ventilator and had more tubes in his arms , wires on his head and a bank of beeping monitors. I reached for his hand and mouthed words that I cannot remember. We have no children and I have no siblings so I called Dave's brother and my closest friend. I knew no one close that had suffered a stroke so i did not know what to expect. When he fell from the stroke he also broke his leg. Eventually they placed a trach tube as well as a feeding tube. Selfish I know but I felt my world collapsing around me. My Mom was in a nursing home and I was torn between my obligation to each. For almost 3 weeks Dave hovered between being awake and sleeping. Then he was transferred to a step down facility still on a vent etc .. By mid July they were trying to do some minor rehab exercises with him, to get him to speak or exercise etc but he could not yet follow simple commands. Finally he was sent to a “boot camp” rehab but one again he was hamstrung by his inability to aid alot with his recovery. In August he was sent to a skilled nursing facility with rehab and now he was ready to start working. However due to personnel shortage they could not provide the amount of therapy that he needed to b successful and his progress had been slow. On October 26 he must leave the facility however I am seeing real progress as has  his neuro doctor. His stroke thus far has created more than 1.6 million dollars in medical bills. Yes, I do have insurance, so my co-pay obligation will be around the 50k range,  but the rehab coverage has run out. I have found another rehab facility affiliated with University Hospitals of Cleveland  but it is out of my price range at the moment. How do you look into the eyes of someone that you love and deny them the best chance of recovery. If Dave had a chance at intense therapy then he could segue either to home care or light skilled nursing with the goal of transitioning back home. He can be cantankerous at times but I love him as do our friends.