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What I never thought I would ever be able to do again in the 1st few months after my stroke but can do now.


Willis

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So many fears race through our minds the 1st few months after our strokes. There are so many things we are sure we will never be able to do again in front of us all to different degrees. One of many for me was to tie my own shoes ever again. Now on good days I'm doing it with almost the ease of the old days.

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11 hours ago, Willis said:

Madade I appreciate your comment for sure! I'm often torn between posting somethings or not. I think it can be a fine line at times of whether something might make someone happy or sad and I never want to hurt anyone in anyway. ✌️

Willis, I went thru and still have such thoughts. Years ago as my improvements came and I was able to resume more of what I did before my stroke, I also felt guilty and was fearful of making someone ask “why him and not me”. That concern nearly drove me off this forum but encouragement for some readers back then kept me on. My blogs have become much less frequent and less about stroke recovery/issues, but on most I still try to mention some medical stuff, which is easy to do as I get older!

 

keep up the great recovery and enjoy life as best we can.

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10 hours ago, GeorgeLesley said:

Willis, I went thru and still have such thoughts. Years ago as my improvements came and I was able to resume more of what I did before my stroke, I also felt guilty and was fearful of making someone ask “why him and not me”. That concern nearly drove me off this forum but encouragement for some readers back then kept me on. My blogs have become much less frequent and less about stroke recovery/issues, but on most I still try to mention some medical stuff, which is easy to do as I get older!

 

keep up the great recovery and enjoy life as best we can.

Thanks! I have to remember I'm hoping with most comments and blogs to spread some hope.✌️

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Yes sir Madade unfiltered with no malice intended. Not always easy though as things are often taken the wrong way. You made your cousin's day because you were being you. Something that's important to do I feel once a day, reach out and touch someone's life in a nice way no matter how small.

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I couldn't come close to holding a bar of soap in my left hand in the shower to soap my right side or a wash cloth for a long time. I noticed yesterday how much that has changed. I also had a shower chair when I 1st came home 4 1/2 years ago. I have 4 handles around parts of the bathtub's walls so I can grab one or hold on to one while I stand and shower. Bet y'all never thought we would find such joy in these little (but huge) accomplishments.

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Oh yes the shower! thanks for the memory jog. I had a few "fights" with my OT over that one in the early days. I hate showering in the chair you just don't feel clean all over (which I know is not truth). One of my first goals in rehab hospital was to shower "properly" and wash my own hair. I hated the nurses doing it.  But hospitals are so risk averse they wouldn't let me do it. I had to wait until I went home. I had the stool/chair in the shower so it was there if needed but I would stand as much as possible.  I got better at very quickly, I only remember one bad fall where I tripped getting out of the shower. My sister then made me go to the doctor in case I'd given myself a concussion, but I was lucky.

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Atta girl Heather! Here's another one I noticed today I can do a little better now. Pull a glove on my left hand and get my darn fingers to go into the proper fingers of the glove.

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now that's a bonus! I've been a one mitten and 1 glove girl for 9 years now.  given I can't use the fingers anyway it doesn't matter. the fun part is putting the glove on the good hand when the bad one can't help, this is one where I do ask for help

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Heather you have to be just about the strongest person on this site. I always look forward to your comments and insights. You are a great help to many of us. Onward my friend.

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This discussion reminds me of me not being able to zip up my winter jacket after my stroke. I told Lesley if she could sew a loop on the bottom of the jacket near the left side of the zipper I could put my thumb thru it and hold the zipper in place and zip it up. I no longer need that help, but still keep the jacket to this day as a reminder of how it used to be.

 

one other thing Lesley and I did together after my stroke was operate the snow blower together. We lived in Northerm Minnesota at the time and had a 1000 ft long driveway. My left hand did not work so I could not operate the snow blower controls on the left side. So, I walked on the left side and operated the left controls with my good hand and she walked on the right side and operated those controls and we cleared the driveway together.

 

keep trying and doing!

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that's great George, we do something similar for splitting wood with the hydrolic splitter.  The controls are deliberately designed to need 2 hands as a safety measure. so that you have to take your hands away from the log to be split before activating it. My sister and I work it as a team. she holds the left control and I (or both or us for the really big ones) load/unload the logs and operate the right control. It works quite well once you get a rhythm going.

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George a snowblower!!

Man that is something I'd love to give a go!

Snow is beautiful but I'm pretty glad really, that we don't get snow. It would really limit how often and how far my beloved Henry and I could get. 

 

No snow, but we wouldn't mind some rain. Over the whole country.

 

J x

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3 hours ago, GreenQueen said:

George a snowblower!!

Man that is something I'd love to give a go!

Snow is beautiful but I'm pretty glad really, that we don't get snow. It would really limit how often and how far my beloved Henry and I could get. 

 

No snow, but we wouldn't mind some rain. Over the whole country.

 

J x

Ha-ha GQ! Yes the snow can be beautiful (at 1st lol).I use t really love winter before I stoked out and couldn't play outside in it any longer. Now it's beauty is observed from behind a picture window. The thing about snow is it can be moved if it's in your way and it has never leaked into my home and put any part of my house under water. The winters are about a month or 2 too long some seasons here in Michigan but the springs and autumn are always beautiful.  

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I can imagine autumn to be absolutely beautiful. 

We don't really have deciduous trees; no where near enough for "fall" to be evident. 

I do envy you that. And spring. Watching everything grow again. 

Winter is our best time for greenery. 

I live in a very windy town, October is the worst!

Bring on November!!

 

J x

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I wanted to throw this out there while I was thinking about it and noticing it again. My numb left arm and leg and really entire left side  confuse me from time to time. At times I'm almost convinced it has gotten much worse and my progress is going backwards. In thinking about it deeper it is making me feel like this because of the fact I can feel it somewhat better than in the past so there is some discomfort and mild pain when before the left side was there and functioning but mostly numb. It's confusing.

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Willis, sorry you feel your left side has become worse.

 

I do think sometimes we are our own worst enemy when it comes to improvements.

 

We get used to changes, either good or bad. Hopefully you are just used to the ability you have in your left side, and subconsciously feel it's worse?

 

I don't know Willis. I'm just trying to make you feel better.

 

A little bit of going backwards is ok, as long as mentally you keep going in the right direction. 

 

J x

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OOPS! Sorry if I sounded down. I'm really not at all. It's just fascinating to me at times what goes on with our brains and bodies at times. Thank you for your kindness GQ! 

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Here's something small but I like it. When I lay on my back and sleep in bed I sometimes like to lay my 2nd pillow on my chest and fold my hands on top of it. Eerily like someone in a casket! 😩 Well in the dark I usually can't tell if my left arm and hand are under or above the covers and have to use the right hand to search. Recently I was in that situation and thought I could kind of feel the covers on the back of my hand and their weight. So being a betting person I thought I would wager that numb left paw was under the covers. I won the bet! Baby steps.

 

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yes it comes very slowly sometimes, but you got it right! like my hops. My physio is getting me to do 6 - 10 hop attempts at the end of each session with her. We count the number of successful ones (where I clear both the toe and the heel) I now get more successful than failed most times.

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Well that just keeps you hopping and moving forward. Progress!  It is important for us to feel things are getting better no matter how small our victories. Bring on tomorrow.

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On 11/10/2019 at 5:46 PM, heathber said:

yes it comes very slowly sometimes, but you got it right! like my hops. My physio is getting me to do 6 - 10 hop attempts at the end of each session with her. We count the number of successful ones (where I clear both the toe and the heel) I now get more successful than failed most times.

Hey Heather! Your countries wild fires were on our national news tonight. Hoping you and all from Australia here are out of harm's way.✌️

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Thanks Will, the area with the fires has also been in severe drought for several years which is part of why the fires are so bad and starting this early in the season. Thankfully I'm much further south and Janelle is much further west. Sue would be the closest of the regular Aussie Strokeneters that I know of.  Fingers crossed that everyone gets through today OK, the forecast is for a "catastophic" day in that area today. They don't use that fire danger rating very often, thank goodness.

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That is good. I will be watching for something soon from Janelle to know she is good. I know it's a huge country of course. They were comparing that area of Australia to California areas that burns like that. 

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Thanks for the kind thoughts, Willis.

 

We've had a couple of fires in town, lots of Bush areas in town.

 

Thanks no evacuation needed, and no one injured.

 

Pretty scary stuff, considering it's only November. 

 

Going to be a very long summer, as it's hot all the way through to end of March.

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When I stroked out Saturday February 14, 2015 I  was 82 days from turning 65. Physically I was in pretty decent shape after being involved in athletics at all levels in different sports most of my life from early on. Not in marathon runner shape but I made sure I wasn't sedentary either. Over the past year or so I notice what I had stored up all those years in my "fitness bank" is just about gone. I continue ride a stationary recumbent bike just about every single day for 15 minutes. 44.8 total miles in March. I also lift weights every other day for about 10 minutes. This seems to be just enough for me to continue to hold on to what I have. One of two things is happening here. I am weaker because my active physical life style ended or the fact that 70 years old is coming up with blinding speed and the machine is wearing out. I'm leaning towards the later from other subtle and not so subtle things I notice with me. Damn glad to be here! God Bless

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