On October 6, 2021 I had an ischemic stroke. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot keeps blood from flowing to your brain. In my case it was in underdeveloped blood vessels in the cerebellum part of my brain. I did not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The result was a form of ataxia which effects my balance and my left side. I cannot stand up unsupported or walk or do do simple things with my left hand like type.

Mark Bailey (before stroke)

I was standing in our kitchen in Salt Lake City about 9:30 at night after working remotely on the observatory when my vision suddenly blacked out and I thought to drop to the floor before I fell down. I called to Kirsten who came and found me curled up on the floor and called 911. The ambulance came and took me to nearby Saint Mark’s Hospital where they quickly administered tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to break up any blood clot. My daughter, Kristen, was in town from Washington performing with the Utah Opera and my son, Nick, also from Washington, drove all night with his wife, Chelsie, to get to Salt Lake. They were there along with my sister, Camille, and Kirsten when I woke up intubated in the hospital in the morning. My ex even came to see me. The question the doctors had was whether I had kept my mind. I recognized Kirsten and Kristen, and even said their names right, and the docs were satisfied. Initially I had double vision but that cleared up in a couple of weeks. The ataxia along with the commensurate slurred speech and lack of balance remain.

The question on my mind is “what now?” I am only 66 and otherwise healthy, although the stroke and my father dying in 2021 make me feel older. I have had a pfo (natural hole in the heart) closed and there are no remaining suspects to cause of stroke. We do not worry much about me having another one. I am not and have not been depressed. I continue to make progress without Improvement. By that I mean that I have not recovered from the stroke after the double vision went away but I have learned to control my left side foot and hand a little better.

Kirsten Johanna Allen

I have a good life. I have Kirsten to thank for that. I can read books and I use my phone and computer. Kirsten does the laundry and the grocery shopping for starters. She had our house in Torrey fixed up with handrails so I can get up and down the stairs. Kirsten is my spotter when I walk/stagger around with walkers. We use outside help for the things I used to be able to do myself around the house and Kirsten is adeptly learning how to be handy. We still use our little pop-up camper although it is a bit of a challenge for me to get in and out of. Kirsten runs Torrey House Press as she has since 2015 when we converted to nonprofit — and THP is demanding. I would be adrift without Kirsten. She often is my hands and legs. She is, as always, very good company. The challenge is to be equally interesting to her.

I don’t drive, but I could. The difficulty at this point would be putting the wheelchair in the back of the car and getting it back out. But I am retired and I don’t have many places to go.

For now I have a new grandson (Nick and Chelsie’s son), a pile of books to read, writing to do, the observatory to run remotely, and I’d like to figure out how to use my camera again (it will take help from Kirsten).

Mark Bailey 9/22/2022