Deigh

Since it is eight years since your stroke you are doing well to continue to improve. There are a lot of people who believe that improvements will only happen for the first year. You and I are proving them wrong. Deigh

You may be pussying around too much. It is not the occasion for horseplay or bull at a gate, but to be dogged is important. If things go wrong you must grin and bear it. Be like a mouse when the cat's away and play. Deigh

Brilliant....Sums up the situation extremely well. Deigh

That could be the answer, I'll have an experimental session sometime today. I've used spreadsheets but not for a long time .Thanks Deigh

Here is an interesting problem that needs solving....My wife and I are keen scrabble players and play a game most evenings. She beats me two games out of three and I consider myself a good player. She keeps the score. Her having to use some of her brain power to do this is an advantage to me because I need all my brain to play a good game. Suddenly she has a fracture in her right arm and it is in plaster. This means she cannot hold a pen. My writing since the stroke is barely legible, my greatest triumph is to put my signature on anything. Last night I had to keep the score, naturally I lost! i have a spare iPad and a laptop, my phone is smart but Valerie's isn't. Can anyone suggest how we can keep score without actually having to write it? Punching numbers on a keyboard is possible. Deigh

Congrats on your wedding anniversary. You must have been married on the first of January, which in many countries is a public holiday. Am I correct? I have avoided kitchen duties (apart from washing up) for quite a while so as to avoid the danger of clumsy knife handling. Just at this time a brick has been thrown in the works with my wife having a fractured right arm in plaster. Problems will have to be solved! Deigh

Just to let you know that we are all with you at this time, I cannot add anything to what has been said but ask you please to keep us informed of any more progress. This is a terrible time for you and all I can offer is my sympathy. Regards......Deigh

Christina, Welcome to the forum. That was a brilliant plan you devised to assist your husband with his reading. I've found that with stroke recovery there are many minor adaptations one has to devise to just exist. It is essential that one passes them on to other readers. Deigh

Darrel, As others have said, the first years of living after a stroke can be quite unbelievably low. Nothing seems to be right at all. Persistance with trying to overcome the problems is the only answer. That was a terrible thing for an expert to say to you both and it is also terribly incorrect as you will find as you read the background of most of the residents of this club. (and it is a club!). Deigh

George, read your blog and couldn't understand why you were talking about your 95 year old ma-in-law looking forward to telegram from Queen at 100. Surely you Americans would not get one....then remembered, she is a Kiwi from PAPAKURA. Give her our love and say that the weather here is just right for Xmas. Deigh

Just had a read of some of your blogs and am impressed! The desire to play a musical instrument must be inherent in everyone but not everyone perseveres with trying to learn one. I also read of your attempts to get to grips with amateur radio and your lack of success. I was an enthusiast for many years and had a station in Ceylon when I was there in the RAF. I'm guessing but I think you may have been mainly on RT where I was a morse enthusiast and just loved high speed challenging communication. Apart from that it was just swopping the same old chat with the same people. The other reason was that I was a lonely single lad of 20 (even though sharing a billet with 30 others) and that communication took me away from all their rather coarse values and activities.. I am progressing well with the uke even though I don't practice much, my 70 years of guitar playing has left me with a lot of musical skills which the other club members do not have and this gives me more than a head start. I have a Yamaha keyboard at home and I get a half an hour daily playing that as well as the guitar. There is no way I could consider playing out of home though, just the thought of the effort required to carry equipment and setting up elsewhere leaves me exhausted. Can you read music? Deigh

I cant contribute anything to this conversation but I must congratulate all those who have subscribed. It is a difficult subject to bring up in conversation and even more difficult to write about. Even if you don't get the answers you want, you should accept that others will gain information by just reading the conversations and perhaps help them with their own. Deigh

Climbing ladders was no problem to me. At one time of my life I was a TV aerial installer. Even as a senior citizen I would get up and work on the roof of my mobile home. My stroke (now 6 years ago) put a real stopper on this sort of activity. To just climb onto the first step of a stepstool made my feet work overtime tying to adjust for level. It was a weird sensation and made the job I'd climbed up to do twice as difficult. It was not till my fourth year that I was able to climb to the second step. Now I have on rare occasions actually got the third step, not very comfortable and I have to have secure handholds to do it, but it is possible. I could now get to our single storey roof level on a ladder but am on orders by my wife not to go any further. I'm pleased to obey! Deigh

Thanks everyone for all the information which I have forwarded on to her. As far as she know she did not have a stroke, the problem just seems to have come on its own. She will be delighted with the response. Deigh

Vertigo is a fairly common problem with stroke survivors. I have it occasionally but it soon goes if I'm careful. However I have a friend who is suffering from it very consistently. One of her hobbies is ballroom dancing and her present attack is really marring her activities. Has anyone any new treatments or techniques to recommend that can be passed on to her? Deigh