Sorry, Roland, my attention has not been so good since my mother died a few months ago. I may have missed somewhere in your story that your arm/hand was better than I would thought.
If you can go the green flexbar, that is fantastic!
Wow - the wonders of Chinese medicine. I can’t believe that in one month’s time, your mobility went from basically zero to 90% or more. Just imagine what you’d be right now without ancient Chinese wisdom. LOL. I don’t think you’d have much luck elsewhere, outside of Eastern medicine, but small gains would always be somewhat possible with strong determination.
I sincerely wish that Chinese medicine was practiced in all of the hospitals around the world, alongside Western medicine.
So, if I am gathering you correctly, your main issue is “feeling” in your affected arm and hand?
When my mother’s arm and hand came back, all her feeling came back as well, save a few tingling sensations in the middle part of hand and fingers. But she told me it was so mild that it was not bothersome. It’s interesting how you can move your hand and arm so well, but you don’t have much feeling in it. I thought mobility and feeling came back together in proportion.
By the way, I did so much hip rotation, I think my head is still rotating. lol
no need to apologize whatsoever… I get in a terrible muddle, mixing ppl up all the time,
Yes, agreed, about Chinese medicine being something special. in adition, my Dr. represents “old school” chinese medicine… not mainstream these days… even for China.
Most ppl have feeling but not mobility ; I regained mobility ( I would never be in this condition left on my own ) but my feeling didn’t even start returning until 6 months after my stroke, and is in progress. I’m on 11 months. So I’m the opposite from 99.5% of people. Most have feeling, but not so much mobility.
With regards mobility it probably went from 10 - 70 % in the first week (3 sessions). The progress was startling to witness. It was basically one minute I was paralysed, the next I was moving ( a bit weakly, but moving ). I always thought nobody would ever believe it, so I have never talked about it until now. I think most people would think I exaggerate ; but since you realise there is an established ancient art called chinese medicine, then you are more likely to believe me. The remapping (I’m not sure if that’s my term, or someone else’s term ) could save thousands of stroke limbs… it’s frightening to think of the wasted opportunity. But the arrogance of western culture… what can we do?
I think there are a few unique moments I went through on my recovery journey. One of them was the return of the start of feeling. I invented a routine which I followed for a month before i first felt something in my hand. That was another startling achievement
Again. thx for following
I feel you’re getting to know my journey !
I’m sure many stroke survivors have improvised and invented ways to help themselves. Many of these inventions will one day become official methods for dealing with recovery.
I agree with you: I wish stroke survivors knew about these ancient Chinese methods - I really do. The arrogance of the West is just staggering.
I believe you when you tell your story - every word. I am a firm believer in Chinese medicine. I am have been doing qigong for a few years. I’ve seen amazing things happen to me and to others.
I believe my mother did have feeling first before she had mobility, but I cannot be sure. Her stroke, as you know, impacted her emotional state to an extreme. Every one is different. They said her stroke was a 15-17 on the stroke severity scale (it goes up to 45?). Also, they said she had a moderate-severe hemorrhagic stroke. She probably recovered so well physically because her stroke was not massive or full-on severe; that said, it ruined her emotional mind, so she got no real advantage from it being less severe.
Interesting stuff indeed. I have managed to get at least 90% movement in my arm but strength is not as high. However, it is the lack of feeling in my hand (particularly the fingertips which is about 10%). This means I can do things but rely heavily on using my eyes and concentration to do things with my affected hand.
I keep using it as much as possible and have now got a fair amount of feeling further down my fingers. Have been playing video games to try and stimulate fingertips.
I’d be really interested in how you get on with the sensation side of things.
firstly thinking about your mother : I spent the whole of my third month post stroke (january) screaming and shouting and wanting to die all the time. I felt awful was the main reason. That’s almost completely over now. Maybe i could not come to terms with the losses i faced. I would no longer be able to play my violin ( i was trained and that was my profession and purpose in life ) then i couldn’t paint , couldn’t goto backgammon club, couldn’t even take a photo , photography having summer job status. Your mum was a different person with different values etc. what I’m saying is that the cruely of a stroke can be so considerable… that mentally it’s not so easy to overcome. I am not totally in the clear, myself.
I’ve known him for 15 years. It’s an interesting story how i found him. Basically some chinese pupils did some research & said all their friends, and the chinese doctors even went to him. I sent my wife first ; she had a bad back… always had a weakness there, but anyway he has looked after us and cured us from many an illness. Once I had an illness that modern medicine coulndn’t help me with one bit. He cured me. it’s a long, fascinating story.
I’m starting to get curious about your curiosity. You never suffered a stroke, right ?
It’s absolutely fine ; I’m just wondering what drives you, Matthew ?
If you had witnessed my arm remapping, you would have understood. I’m sorry that my account of it is so unclear ; in real life it was a synthesis of simplicity and what looked like magic (only it wasn’t magic)
hi Mark,
i also rate my arm 90% mobility 50% or less in strength and 10% feeling.
Very similar stats to yours i seems. You’re possibly 10% further on with feeling
I still haven’t completed prprioception fully… at night in the dark, i don’t know where my hand is.
I started practicing the piano (my 2nd instrument) yesterday… but alas I can’t feel the keys, they are so smooth.
Good luck to our arms ! thx for sharing, ciao, Roland
No, I never had a stroke, but I lived with someone who did. It changed my life profoundly.
What drives me is that fact that my mother couldn’t recover from her stroke, and it angers me every single day. I couldn’t understand how she could recover so well physically (almost completely), but her mental state was so ungodly terrible. I couldn’t do one single thing that made her calmer or happier. To this day, I don’t know how my father and I made it through taking care of her. It messed her mind up so badly. What killed her was her apathy.
To answer your question: it makes me feel connected to her when I see others getting better from something she couldn’t. That’s my motivation. I guess it’s a bit selfish, but I do genuinely want you to get better and better.
I wouldn’t consider myself any better in any way than your mother. Her stroke may have affected her amygdala or other parts of the brain that compromised her emotional stability. I feel fragile now, though I am gaining strength by the minute… i never used to feel vulnerable and insecure before my stroke.
You talk about feeling connected to her. I have lost both parents, for some years now, yet I will never feel a disconnect from either. Why shouldn’t we feel a connection? ; it must be a good thing. The apathy you talk about may be something that manifested well before her stroke. I had a couple of issues that surfaced after the stroke, but were initiated years before.
My brain was having a day off yesterday so I couldn’t have coped with this post, there was just too much to it. I am so glad I could come back to it today because I had a perpetual smile on my face watching your videos as you steadily progress. You have a way about you that makes me smile and I loved your interactions with everyone, your sense of humour. But most of all I just loved seeing your progress. They were fascinating to watch and to see your reactions. They also brought back so many of my own memories of my time in hospital and I envied you your ability to speak. I wanted to ask so many questions back then but couldn’t.
You’ve come a long way and I’m looking forward to hearing you play the piano.
“It’s mind over matter” and “engage the brain” my two constant mantras since my stroke
My mother’s stroke was in the front left part of her brain. So, could that have still affected her amygdala? I would have never thought that. That would make sense as to why her emotional state was so out of balance. But, again, she did have emotional issues before the stroke, such as super high anxiety, etc. (maybe some apathy?). They told us that your negative traits before a stroke can get amplified X 10 after a stroke. My mother kept some things to herself in the last few years. My father knew that she was going downhill emotionally in her late 60s. We don’t know why. The stroke just brought everything out X 10. Who knows!?
Do you meet with your Chinese doctor this week? Or do you do the exercises on your own?
Yes, I went and moved my hips tonight. I did hip rotation for almost 30 minutes whilst sitting in lotus position. It was fabulous. I felt so light and refreshed afterwards.
I was sincerly impressed by the doctor commanding you to do things, then you doing them. My brain had to tell my mouth to tell my brain to do everything I have relearned. I still have to have my mouth tell my brain to make the tremors stop, or to take the first few steps toward where I am moving, or how to find the icon for my telephone and how to make a call…
I’m no expert, but could your mother perhaps have had Alzheimer’s; could she have been in the early stages of it prior to the stroke? almost half of all people with Alzheimer’s have evidence of strokes in their brains .
No, the doctors said she had no signs of any kind of dementia. They said it was just the stroke, and possible PTSD. Her memory and speech were excellent. They did all kinds of scans of her brain. But, you never know. I know people can get vascular dementia from strokes, although they ruled that out from the get-go. Who knows?
Thank you for asking, EmeraldEyes, and feel free to ask me any questions about my mother, etc. I am trying to get to the bottom of it, but I don’t think I ever will. It was just the stroke and her weak personality before it all, on top of the PTSD she got from the trauma.
“No short cut”, “No cheating allowed” I loved it, you make an adorable patient and you got an adorable wife, I bet they were sorry to see you go
When you are ready, you should watch them and see just how far you have come, how much you have achieved and regained. It’s something to be proud of, there is so much life left inside you yet to be lived and enjoyed and celebrated and you are beating this. Don’t you ever give up . . . because I want to hear you play the violin again, never mind the piano
I’m prob. very inaccurate with the amygdala, was a wild guess. Yes, I think a stroke forces one to re-evaluate everything. I had a few sore issues resurface, and it must have tipped the balance. Issues magnified x10 sounds about right.
I meet my chinese dr. Wednesday evening. He does acupuncture on me. He addresses many things, and in the first 6 months he would always strengthen my spine because I always slept in my left side… now I sleep equally on both sides.
I did some Qigong leg swinging yesterday, and hip movements - I’ll definitely repeat them today. Good luck, have a nice day, Roland
I loved it, you make an adorable patient and you got an adorable wife, I bet they were sorry to see you go