Deigh

I am right handed and my stroke affected that side so my first job was teaching my left hand and arm to take over the duties of the right. since my left side was also weakened by the stroke this did give certain problems! Eventually when strength, flexibility and feeling started to return to the right side I had to re-learn everything again. If anything good can be said of the stroke at least it has turned me into being ambidextrous! Deigh

No, I'm convinced it has some value healthwise but it seems mainly to affect one's mental state like tension and stress. It also appears to improve one's sleep. I am looking for something to improve my jaw muscles and I see no help there. Deigh

Just looked up TMS and found that is pretty close to PEMF! One of the problems the stroke has left me is a failure to handle a mass of words. Faced with a short message I am OK, but if I see a page of a book I sort of panic and end up not reading enough to understand. It is probably the fear of overstimulation! and adverts for products like PEMF love lots of words. My fear is similiar to the situation if I find myself in crowds. I think this is called Agraphobia, my problem I shall call Lexaphobia! Deigh

The numb hand on awakening was quite common for me for some time. It took about half an hour to come right. I still get it occasionally but since I am working my right hand all day to improve its flexibility and strength it cant be considered surprising. My clumsiness has improved considerably but still cant be ruled out. Deigh

Has anyone any experience of EarthPulse PEMF Therapy Devices? I have been reading some long winded advertising about it and wonder if it is worth a try to strengthen my mouth muscles and improve my talking ability. It is a bit expensive but if it works I'm prepared to purchase a set. Deigh

Karen, Nice thought answering everyone individually but it isn't necessary! I am two and a half years past my stroke and have had to call for help with my speech recently. I can talk and everyone tells me I'm doing well but I'm still very embarrassed with how I sound. Walking is fairly comfortable for me and I usually cover a couple of Kilometers a day. My fingers are pretty active and flexible but still lacking in strength. I work pretty hard every day at improving them still. Welcome to the club. Deigh

My wife got angry with me the other day complaining that I don't listen to her, and she is the carer, not me! She was right, she loves to talk and tends to ramble on so over the 57 years of our marriage I have tended to guess what she is going to say and often reply before she is finished talking. I must improve this, I don't like being growled at, especially when I deserve it. Deigh

Sandra, New Zealand has an excellent National Health System, but it can have its failures. They sent me home after four days because mainly the hospital was gradually shutting down for Christmas and I seemed to be in control of my situation. On the day before I left they asked if I'd been given the stroke information package. I hadn't and it was an eyeopener, much of the stuff I'd been struggling with including the emotional breakdowns were explained and gave me a good background knowledge of my condition. The infuriating thing is that I should have been given this information as soon as I was admitted to the stroke ward. Obviously there was a slip up and I wasn't. I had been floundering around for three days with a set of problems I did not understand. Thanks to the Xmas break it was nearly a month before any of the outside workers came to see me and by this time I had found stroke forums on the internet and thanks to them was well into my own remedial exercise routines. Deigh

Sandra, What you are referring to is not uncommon. Most of us have faced or are facing similar issues. To overcome my fear of people and crowds I make sure I attend our monthly Probus meetings and also go to our local club one evening a week. My daily exercise walk is planned so I visit all the local opshops where I can chat to the volunteer staff and am not under any obligation to purchase. Crossing a road was initially like facing a stampede of elephants but got better and better with time. I still do not challenge a vehicle and wait till the road is clear before crossing, the fear of stumbling still everpresent in my mind. I am not the person I was and am unlikely to ever be again. I still have occasions when everything goes wrong and these can upset me for a couple of days, but I am determined to make the best of a bad situation. Deigh

I love the idea of being 'Amazing', thanks. I'll throw the idea at my wife and see whether she agrees! Yeah right! Deigh

Yes, the 'move on' requirement is not always easy to accomplish. After reading mail from a stroke victim in a British forum I realised that I was having the same problem. He said that although his short term memory had taken a hiding he was remembering far too much long term stuff and a lot of it he would like to forget. These old memories of past insults, indignities, personal failures and similar offences kept re-surfacing in my brain and I was spending a lot of time in anger trying to solve them. I tried a system of laughing at them and this does work to a certain point and is good to keep things in perspective. Actually 'confessing' to them as I am doing now is probably the best solution! Deigh

I'm always ready for a quiz or test! Deigh

Betsy, Yeah, thanks for that, it explains where the saying comes from. I will have to use it on my wife, she takes everything on the news very seriously, anything D.T. does is taken almost as a personal insult. I have to frequently remind her to stop getting excited or upset about what other people are doing. My attitude is like the monkey thing, it is not my problem, I can't fix it, move on...... Deigh

Thanks for that, I got the meaning, I was just asking how the expression began? Deigh

There are a few words which I have always had difficulty finding. For them I work out a word chain reaction. One word is Polarisation. This is a subject which often occurs in my life since I am (or was) a fly fisherman and polarised lenses are essential. I think of a big white fluffy polar bear wearing oversized sunglasses. The reaction is instant....polarised! Daft, isn't it? but it works without fail. This is not the answer to your problem but of what I have heard your shortcomings should ease with time although I can fully understand your frustration at this moment. Deigh