Recovery is endless!

8 months after my haemorrhage stroke on Christmas Eve. I am str to stay positive!! I can take a few steps with quad stick and my husband nearby to catch me! Still nothing in the arm! Am debating whether I would benefit from a private rehab facility to o give my husband a break and ! Acceleration of my recovery? 

Dear Jane

please continue to be positive. Think about how far you have come. I am sure there are vivid memories of Christmas last year. How much better are you going to be this Christmas.

I think physio is brilliant, so do take whatever becomes available. Make sure the physio has good stroke knowledge. And do keep things within your means. 
 

I was keen to go into a care home, partly to ease the burden on my wife. Covid wasn't an issue at the time.

Physio made me want to help myself even more. And it gave me loads of ideas.

can I remind you that 8months is the early stages. There is a lot of exciting recovery for you to enjoy over the next 8months.

keep smiling

be positive

you are not alone

colin

 

 

 

That you can take a few steps with a quad stick is great progress! !After my stroke 3 years ago I was completely paralyzed on my left side.  Eventually I could stand.  Then I did a walker for quite a while.  Then moved to the quad stick.    I would take any rehab I could get!  That's the way to move forward.  They used electro stimulation on my left hand and leg and rehab 3 times a day in the hospital.   After coming home  I had a lot of physical and occupational therapy-- twice a week for several months.  Can you believe it-- I walked 1 1/2 miles today on my own and play the ukelele and piano with both hands!!  You are in the early stages of a journey,  but if you keep positive and keep working hard, you'll be amazed at where you'll be some day.  Hang in there.  You're not alone.smiley Love, Jeanne

Dear Jeanne

i do enjoy your posts. It is uplifting to hear your success stories.

I now think of you walking whilst playing your ukelele.

and you have reminded me to get up and go for a walk whilst the sun is shining. I didn't walk yesterday and the day before, so it's a must do for today.

colin

Am seriously considering rehab! It's expensive! Thank you for positive thoughts!! 

Thank you Colin I do worry about my husband and the impact on his life!! Your posts are always so positive! Is u you your life good now!! 

Thank you all of you for the replies. I have had a week where I have really struggled. However I am starting to realise that I am hard on myself. My husband reminded me that "I am alive".....it could have been otherwise. Today I am forcing myself to go for a walk (I missed a few days last week). Because I am limited to where I can walk (there are lots of hills here) I am getting bored with the same old routes. I am going to try to do what I did before my stroke and listen to some music as I walk.

Mentally, I am finding that I am anxious about so many things. I know I am lucky in that I have got most of my mobility back after my stroke at the end of April. My right leg and foot don't appear to be improving much. But I am so determined to keep going.

The anxiety has manifested itself in me becoming a moaner (so my husband says), so I will try and work on that. 

I am so grateful for this forum and The Stroke Association who put me onto this, as quite often it can feel a lonely journey. but with you guys there to civvy us all on, I feel like I am part of a team again. (I miss not being back at work)

Jane,

It's a tough journey recovering from stroke. My late father had a stroke in the days when none of the support mechanisms were there. Take your time with the recovery. It's hard but do persevere. Take what physio you can get for as long as you need or want it) 

Jeanne,

I supported a lady who had electro -stimulation back to work (I work for a trade union, so we were looking at what reasonable adjustments she needed to return) I was amazed at the improvement in her mobility.

And finally not all our journeys are the same - as I have realized. Your brain has had a major trauma and needs to take time. (Thank you Colin for reminding me of this in another posting)

I am off for my walk soon. Have a good day....

Love to you all

Fiona

If you want to moan come on here. i think we all need to have a good rant now and then.

Colin,  It will take a lot more therapy for me to walk along, playing the ukelele!!!  But it brings a smile to my face and heart to be thought of that way.  Maybe I should try it???wink Jeanne

Dear Jeanne

please keep up the walking regime. With or without ukelele. Perhaps without to avoid a loss of concentration and a trip over.

 

my daily walk only gets as far as the pub, and it's another 200 yards to the shops and 300 yards to the surgery. I need to collect my tablets this week and will need to get a lift.

I ache all over, cut the hedge yesterday and overdid the exercise. Now shall I walk today ? 

my adored Sooty is sat right next to me, he doesn't really like the iPad, so I will say ttfn and make a fuss of Sooty,

colin

Sounds like if you ache all over, maybe you should take a day off! Good for you, though, that you cut the hedge.  That's a lot of work.  Like my husband always is telling me, "Don"t overdo!"  I tell him that I've been overdoing for 3 years.  Every move I've made after my stroke feels like overdoing!!!  Ha  Ha   Halaugh

I used to treat Sunday as a proper day of rest. But with the church closing that went out the window. A service without music and with us all kept apart, plus masks, is hopeless so we don't go. Maybe another visit soon.

regret to say that the plants do not allow for illness. The less they are tended, the worse they get.

I have planned three more small wild meadows, in the hope it will be less to do. This year there have been lots of strawberries, millions of runner beans, plenty of spuds and good onions. And the best year ever for tomatoes.

my favourite is sweet corn and it's poor this year, strangely, a trial American mini corn has grown six foot tall. But no ripening cobs.

I am sure the garden is closing down early this year. Hope that doesn't mean a long winter. Perhaps a long Indian summer will rescue us. The log store is full just in case. 
 

you are right, every move is overdo.

I fell last week. Into the garden bed. I always have a handy escape route and thank goodness for that, I never would have gotten up. As it was, I was stuck for several minutes. And of course I found the only stinging nettle amongst the flowers. I knew I was going to fall and just went with the flow.

Cataract treatment today. At the opticians , not the eye hospital. That's a new change. And the opticians will collect me from home. Excellent.

keep smiling

be positive

colin

 

 

 

Sounds like you have a wonderful garden.  Sorry about the stinging nettle you found. By the way, I live in California, so I grow tomato and bell peppers, melon, squash and onions.  I'm curious as to what is your handy escape route?  Also,  how do they "treat" cataracts, as my sister has them?   I thought they always replaced the lens.  Hopefully, they'll open your church again soon.  Ours opened last month, and it was wonderful to see everyone again.  I watch funny shows on the television to make me laugh, and when I get a negative thought, I mentally give myself a slap upside the head.smiley 

Dear Ann

i have a long thin garden. Not attractive, but it's like an allotment added to a modest garden.

my escape route. I will often have a garden fork nearby, to enable me to get up. If not a fork then anything that will get me up. Every where I go, I check where I can fall. Indoors and outdoors.

when I fell the other day I had a large pair of shears, easily able to take my weight. And I knew that there was space between the big shrub and my sunflowers. I had to shuffle backwards then lift myself. 
the key is to consider how to cope with our limited muscles.

cataracts are removed by laser. Then a lens fitted over. Takes about a half hour. I guess that's replacing the lens.

the ops are done a few weeks apart. 
 

best wishes

colin

Colin, just checking in with you to see how you're doing with the new lens.  Hope you are feeling okay.  Is Sooty a dog or a cat- rabbit or hamster?  I assume he/she is black? Hope your eye is not too uncomfortable. frown Jeanne

Dear Jeanne

my new lens is ok. Just a bit of infection for which I now have drops. Then in 6to8 weeks I can have a new lens in the other eye which,after a few weeks of settling, I could then have glasses and my sight could be ok. I won't be driving, or reading this year. Maybe first thing in the new year.

My best friend is Sooty Oscarthemagnificent. He is a large black cat. He adopted us a year after stroke and he has been constant ever since. He is too big for me to pick up. He will come for a cuddle when the weather is colder. We haven't had a pet before Sooty and we spoil him rotten. Life would be very dull without him.

he has his humans well trained.

we have a long garden so has plenty of room to explore. He remains nocturnal and sleeps a lot of the day. 
the magazine "your cat" had a one page article in the October 2019 edition telling Sootys story oncluding a good colour photo.

I do think some of the lonely stroke survivors would benefit by having a cat. Our revised brains seem conducive to caring for someone else. Sooty accepts me for who I am, which friends and family can not.

keep smiling

colin

 

 

Glad you're on the mend.   My husband had both his eyes done a year or so ago.   He was amazed how much brighter colors were.  An animal is always one of the best of friends.   They love your soul and don't judge.  I love cats and dogs, but hubby is not an animal person.   He put up with one cat or dog after another while we had children in the home.   But now the nest is empty.  I think he's earned an animal-free home.  We can't have an outdoor pet because there are so many coyotes around.   But I do miss a pet.  Best to you and Sooty Oscarthemagnificent!smileyJeanne

Jeanne, Your post has given me hope. My wife had a stroke on 30th August (The worst bank holiday Monday ever!) and is paralysed on her left side. After a week of physio in hospital they tell me they have low expectations of her getting the use back. Her communication and understanding are pretty good and she reminded me to send a birthday & anniversary card on particular dates. They are working on her neck which has trouble supporting her head and also working on enabling her to sit on the edge of the bed unaided. They will go back to the arm and leg once they have acheived this they tell me. She is fatigued most of the time and I think their sessions with her are shorter because of this. She is being turned every two hours and so she doesn't get complete rest. A vicous circle. I ask her if she thinks about her current paralysis and she says 'no'. I ask why and she says 'no point'. She doesn't seem depressed as far as I can see so maybe it's a form of self protection, or she thinks it's not worth thinking about at the moment, I don't know and I don't want to upset her by probing. I hope she can eventually do as well as you.

August Bank Holiday is so recent, so please don't give up hope. My stroke was also on the left side. It took me a good month to be able to turn in bed. After that they try to get you to transfer to a chair and that starts from sitting on the edge of the bed then standing. After that they try to get you walking with a frame. After that it's constant exercise to strengthen weakened muscles. The brain generally helps by re-wiring.

Your wife's attitude is actually promising. You can't alter a stroke, so you have to accept it and keep on trying. After more than five years I can walk with a stick, cook meals, bake and make marmalade. I can also go on short breaks with my partner. Things are often frustrating, but not impossible. I wish you both all the best.

Ctop1-A lot of getting better is attitude and hard work.  When I was in the hospital, there was a fellow there that couldn't hold himself up at all.  It took two big men to support him.  He was like jelly.  But they held him up and were working on rehabilitating him.  I was amazed.  Also, I remember feeling like your wife right after my stroke when I was still completely paralyzed.   For some reason I felt calm and at peace, not depressed, very accepting.  I think that's a good thing.  It may have been a form of self protection.  I don't know.   But it helped me get through those long weeks of feeling like a lump and not being able to do much.   Fatigue goes with the territory, as everything takes tremendous effort.  I haven't heard of a stroke patient not feeling fatigued, and it will likely continue as healing progresses, since a lot of "hard work" will be involved.  Keep positive!smiley Jeanne