Think I could manage the kitchen walking without a stick but our lounge is too big Iām sure. However better not try yet as I couldnāt cope with another broken bone!
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@Apple hopefully in time you will build up stamina and will suddenly feel able to give walking without a stick a try. Youāve had a set back which has knocked your confidence a bit i think.
I was very unsteady on my feet initially but i resisted a stickā¦much to the physios disgust. I moved around using the furniture for support. Then i progressed to a few steps without tye furniture but with it close enough so if I felt wobbly I could hold on. Then i started a walk along the hallā¦stairs were half way so i could take a seat if I needed too. It took me 12 months to build the confidence to try walking in the lane. I still stumble but manage to kerp upright mainly. I sometimes take a golf umbrella for support.
Try building your core strength as this will help you stay upright if you do stumble. Use Google to find some exercises.
Good luck & take care.
P.s. itās horrid here today too.
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Hi Mrs5K. Yes you are right about the fall and broken wrist knocking my confidence. Itās really got me terrified I will fall again and break a leg or hip. The trouble is my foot turns over even though Iāve had a splint on it. Nothing seems to help so I tend to creep around. Hope work is going well for you. Thank goodness I retired years ago!
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Sunnyday. I wish I knew how people graduated from a stick to walking on their own but I canāt ever imagine being able to walk without a stick. Like you the idea that this stick will be an essential part of the rest of my life fills me with horror! Janet
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@Apple i wonder if you could think of your walking stick as your bid for freedom. If it means you can get out & about then that is better than being stuck inside ? Many people use them to improve their confidence but it is also a visual aid for others so they know you might need more space or more time. I know it shouldnāt matter but when i go out without my orthotic I find people get frustrated with me being in their way. When I wear my orthotic they can see i have a problem & they are more patient.
Just a thought xx
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3:35 and the sun is finally trying to break through, been pouring down all day today and I had plans for the garden 
By doing lotās of cruising the furniture, walls and door frames thatās how 
How do you think babies do it. And you are sounding just like youāre itching to be offā¦just like a baby on the brink of crawling
If you want it badly enough you do it yourself not as and when youāre fatigue allows you to or feels like it. I have my whole family at home with me, hubby, son and daughter and all are well able to everything for themselves and me too if I aloud it.
So what you need to be asking yourself is, what would you do to fend for yourself if you were alone on a deserted island in your current state. And the first thing youād want to do is get off that walking stick a.s.a.p. because 2 hands are better than oneā¦unless one of those hands is your stroke hand, in which case you definitely need to get off the stick because 1 hand is better than no hands 
To me, one hand means twice the number of journeys, double the fatigue.
But while youāve no hands, because of your broken wrist, this is all just food for thought, a bit of inspiration for the future when your broken wrist is freeā¦which is not long now 
Though you would still need to be very cautious as the bones will still be very weak, just newly knitted together, you donāt want to risk putting too much pressure on too soon Iām afraid.
My Osteopath recommended one of these many years ago to help target the pressure points of muscle tension. Iād totally forgotten about it tucked away in the back of a cupboard 'til a few weeks ago. Iāve now used it a few times on my stroke leg, digging in and running down the sciatic nerve path from base of spine to knee, around knee, down outside to ankle and a few spot around there and sole of foot. Also some very tense spot on shoulders and down spine.
Anyway, that seems to have brought on some positive results for my drop foot the past few days, in that itās not been dropping! There is some hint of it wanting to revert back so I will be having another go with it.
Using the hook as I do, does leave you feeling a little battered and bruised for a few days afterwards (just like after a sports physio session) so itās not until that settles down before you start feeling the benefit.
Chin up and keep going, stay positive and focused on your upcoming freedom
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That is how I felt 5 years ago when I was still employed and I was attempting to get back to work. Having a stick gave me the opportunity to try working again (the fatigue eventually beat me and I had to take early retirement).
Since then I usually use 2 sticks when going out and I also have a rollator that gives me even more flexibility to go a bit further from home. My walking aids are quite normal to me now and do give me some freedom to remain independant.
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Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply to my moans and give me such good advice. I am the eternal pessimist but will try to look on the bright side a bit more. Certainly the broken wrist hasnāt helped and also the fact that I have been told I need to see a specialist at the hospital regarding my foot that turns over and caused my fall but then said I am unlikely to get an appt before September. What else could I break in the next few months?! Have tried to go privately but with no luck. However onwards and upwards. Emerald Eyes that hook looks a lethal piece of equipment! Pleased it appears to be helping though and yes Mrs5K I will think of my stick as a passport to life outside as indeed it is. Hope everyone has had a good Easter weekend and seen some sunshine 
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This is an old thread but thereās some good points raised here, I think it deserves a bump.
My post sat as a draft copy that I will punch up now, for those who feel there is a wall and no getting past it.
Get the dynamite out !!
This post has sat as an unfinished draft until now, about 20 months in all since my stroke., its a little late, but Iāll get it finished and post it.
Iām just about 13 months into stroke territory.
The first six months led me to believe Iād never walk again.
After about 7 or 8 months I began to realise that being able to stand solidly was half way to walking.
I started writing this again, much later, here:
With little in the way of physiotherapy I began to take a few steps unaided. Even to this day my technique is poor. Some of this is due to lacking strength, stamina and co-ordination. Hopefully with practise each of these will improve.
I began by using a rollator.
A walking device with four wheels and a seat, which gave me a solid moving platform for support and somewhere to sit when I got tired. Eventually carting it around everywhere seemed like a nuisance, though it did have its uses still as a mobile trolley for moving things around.
Then I graduated to walking stick.
A magic wand, useful for reaching things, pushing doors closed, opening and closing curtains, hooking up things that fell on the floor, as well as a support during the inevitable wobbles that stroke walking produces.
And now progressing, (look mum no hands!) walking without aids.
Apart from the occasional door handle, top of a chair, or grabbing someone standing close by, then apologising of course.
Still Iām working over short distances, but I can stand in one place for longer and can successfully carry a cuppa, the list of wonders is wonderful.
Oh yes, also includes getting up and down stairs occasionally.
Itās not so far, thereās long way to go yet, but as I said at the beginning of this piece of writing, I never believed I could achieve what I have.
It is the old tortoise and hare thing. Slow and steady gets you there.
There have been slips and falls, but I accept the bruises and pain as signposts towards improvement.
Never give up, you might get down at times, but you are truly capable of far more than you would believe.
Keep on keepinā on
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That is the main thingā¦ we do get there!
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Really love that Bobbi! So many things in your post that I think āthatās just like me!ā Like you I thought I would never walk again but 10 months on Iām walking with a stick. Not as well as I would wish but walking nevertheless. I had a setback when I broke my wrist which has left my hand bā¦.y useless and painful.
However made a breakthrough when I discovered I could walk up and down the stairs. Donāt do it unless someone is with me but itās good exercise! Just have to
ākeep on keeping on!ā
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I love this post, in fact I love all your posts because I love your attitude to life.
Donāt ever stop! Keep on keepinā on
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And that calls for a celebration 
I know that achievement well after my stroke it was the 3rd time in as many years I had to relearn to climb the stairs 
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@Apple @EmeraldEyes
Iām glad it speaks to you both. Thanks too for the compliments.
. . . and hereās something if you are interested in exercise, that my physio told me.
At the bottom, of the stair case, holding the handrail or both handrails if you have two. Step up just one step, then stand. Step down one step and stand. Repeat this a few times and then go rest. This is a good strength building exercise, not about getting upstairs, just about building muscle by just using that first step.
Remember rest repairs, so be sure to do it.
Early days after stroke can be dark days, we need to be told that there is a future.
Keep on keepinā on
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And thatās how I always started off. Now I use the stairs to do my son and daughterās calf raise challengesā¦boy can they be painful 
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Thanks Bobbi but I have now found I can actually climb to the top of the stairs and down again! Donāt do it unless someone else is about but yay - Iāve climbed Mount Everest!!
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Iām returning yet again, an ancient guy taking another look at an ancient thread.
It is a few weeks short of the anniversary of that day when I left home in an ambulance as a stroke began to clobber me.
So much has happened. The story continues. In past weeks much greater mobility in my arm and hand has slowly been developing.
I am hopeful and want others to know that there is a future.
keep on keepinā on
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Iām interested to hear how your hand and arm are coming into use
Maybe we could compare notes to mutual advantage?
This would be a time to sayā¦ .
Onwards and upwards
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I canāt pretend to be a therapist or teacher and have no secret to pass on.
I can say with certainty that repair and healing are an ongoing process with no real end as far as my experience has lead me to believe.
I do think there are options, one of which is to simply stop, rest and accept that enough progress has been made.
This rest break can be very valuable and after a while the desire to advance drives one on a little further.
All I can really say is . . .
keep on keepinā on
but know when enough is enough.
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@Bobbi great to hear that your arm & hand have acquired greater mobility. I think all the baking might be helping but be careful if it works too well Hilary will be getting you to do all the chores 
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