Yesterday I managed to open a sealed jam jar without any aids.The pride and joy I felt made me wonder about other peoples experiences.
Are there any ‘minor’ tasks that were mundane pre stroke but filled you with a real sense of achievement the first time you managed it post stroke?
Well done on opening the jar. I still use a gadget for mine. 
Squeezing the toothpaste with my affected hand was my 1st achievement. Then actually getting the toothpaste on my toothbrush felt amazing at the time 
Yes, to hold a cup of tea in my write hand…I’m a true tea jenny so I was so pleased with that For me, my second best achievement was walking in a straight line, without veering off to the right and out into the road 
My hubby always walked on my right to coral me in 
Putting my socks on and tying my shoe laces, while I was in stroke rehab unit about 4 weeks after my stroke. Reduced me to tears.
Progress was rapid back then. Not so much now though
@EmeraldEyes oh yes I used to veer all over the place too. I’m much better now as long as I don’t try & walk & talk or think things. If I do my feet have a mind of their own 
@stokiejoey thats a fab achievement. I’m nit surprised you were emotional. It’s only when you can’t do these things do you realise just how much it means when you can again.
stokiejoey, I can relate to every word of your post. May I ask how long it has been since your stroke? It has been 16 months for me and whilst improvement seems to have slowed down to a near standstill I do still get the occasional ‘blinking heck I opened a jam jar’ moment.
Hi it’s been 9 months, last June since my stroke. My biggest problem now is post stroke pain and stiffness in my affected left side. Got another doc’s appointment next week and really hoping my current medication gabapentin is changed cos it’s not working. Mentally I’m feeling very alert and more like myself of old, but physically I’m still lacking and finding it very frustrating. Keep looking for small positives but it’s difficult when I feel restricted what I can do cos the stroke pain and stiffness in my muscles and joints
All the best👍
Being able to enjoy a shower was a real first milestone but a year later it was the pleasure of having a bath. Now I have therapeutic baths which don’t entail any washing, just relaxing and listening to music in a room full of steam.
Ha - I came here to post exactly this.
I’m still in rehab at the moment, but I had my first shower in over 3 months last week and - my god- it was amazing. I didn’t get out until all of the hot water had gone and still wanted to go back in again that evening
Managed to do a bit of litter picking with the village ‘Keep it Tidy ‘brigade. So donning luminous jacket I set off with bag and picker-upper in pouring rain to clear verges. Stuck it out for as long as I could, boy couldn’t wait to stagger home to a coffee and bed. To dream about crisp packets and drink cans. My problems are visual so felt doubly chuffed I could spot items others had missed. Set myself target to keep verge to post office/ shop clear on my weekly walk.
Please update if you are able to as I am following a few other people on this forum who also deal with pain and stiffness that has been resistant to medication intervention. I am ten months out and feel like I’ve tried everything. Best wishes.
I was sure I replied to this but I guess I failed to hit send 
I used a knife with a fork recently the first time. Not for the whole meal and not very well (just till the frustration got the better of me) but a first is a milestone and a step on the way.
I always do light switches and door handles now. Writing and typing are on the horizon when once they were far below it
Jam jars are now passé 
But some way to go till a new and really stiff one can be beaten like in the past
Keep posting your wins 
@Pds that’s a great thing to do. Pre stroke i used to litter pick our village regularly. Amazing what people discard at the side of the road. A couple of weeks ago I went out for a short stroll & ended up bringing home some rubbish from the lane - someone had obviously enjoyed a lager or 10 as they’d gone past.
I’ve been managing to open jars and such for a while now, but my ultimate goal to test my strength was unscrewing the top of my son’s protein shaker to wash it 
I finally managed to do it myself about a month ago No more running to hubby or son to open it
That’s fantastic Simon. You have inspired me. TBH I’d kind of given up on trying to use a knife and fork. I’m right handed so I can mostly get away with just using a fork but I’m going to push myself to try to cut food again, rather than just folding big old chunks of meat into my mouth and letting my teeth do the rest. 