Jane. It is very hard I know. Five years on, I still get down days. We cannot help missing the life we had. Nowadays, I can go nowhere by myself, not even by bus. When I am down, it helps to do something. Yesterday, I changed my bed and got my suitcase from the top of the wardrobe. Neither of these tasks are easy, but they make me feel less reliant on my partner.
I'm also aware that whilst my three exercise classes a week help me maintain my level of progress, at 77, ther might not be much further improvement once my age is factored in. However, I am a long way from the me who came home from hospital. Try to stay positive. And, yes, losing a brother is another blow. The year I had my stroke, a very dear friend died. She had made me promise a few years before that I would go to her funeral in London. This was 5 months after I came out of hospital. I did go, but how I managed it, I do not know.