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

Babu, In the first few months after a stroke a certain amount of repair work on one's muscles does happen slowly but automatically. After that it seems as though you are on your own and are expected to do the rest yourself. I am in my sixth year of recovery with right side failure and am still working on recovery. I'll admit that if one is right handed the situation is a little easier because all the tools and props for recovery are all there where you left them! Trying to get back to normality when your left side has been weakened would have to be a bit tougher but it is important that you persist. Don't give up! Deigh

Hi Patti, Sorry, can't help with the problem,.....Just here to welcome you to the club, but there will be many other members with simiiar experiences who can assist you. Deigh

not having these problems it is very difficult for me to understand, but you have my sympathy dealing with officialdom. We have similiar problems here so it means that official stupidity is universal! Deigh

Kev, welcome to the site proper. hope to catch you again on chat site. Times don't always suit me but I try not to miss contact. Deigh

Welcome to the site John, yes I remember that my taste buds went through a re-calibration stage in the early days of stroke. My love of whisky didn't alter and my son smuggled a sampler bottle of in for me. Diluted with Sprite from the hospital tuck shop it made the second day in hospital a lot more tolerable. My wife, being a goody-goody wouldn't even consider disobeying the rules of the authorities but fortunately I'd brought my son up with good values. Deigh

Yesterday was an incredible day. At breakfast my wife Valerie said that there was something she wanted to do and she wanted me to come along as a treat, no questions asked. I guessed that she planned to take me to an afternoon performance of “Dad's Army”, being put on by the local theatre club. I was wrong! After my afternoon nap she drove us a circuitous route around the local township and we ended up at the local jetty. To my suprise our entire family was there plus some long term friends and it was to be a 90th birthday party for me. She had hired the local cruiseship and we were all taken on a two hour trip round the harbour. The weather was ideal, overcast with a slight wind which was a tail wind on our return journey and no rain. This was followed with a finger food meal at the local pub. All this was done by a woman who hates making decisions and is not very good at being cunning. She had jacked up all this with some help from our three sons and even had to allow for some Grandies who had become Vegans. Our oldest grandaughter had made me a birthday cake with green vegetable icing! It was an unbelievable day and I had trouble sleeping afterwards, but I'll catch up in a few days! Deigh S

Last December we bought a REVITIVE device, It sends mild shocks up your legs or can be used via gloves to do the same to your fingers. It is claimed to improve circulation. I thought I'd already put a message about it in this forum but cant find it! .......anyhow, I use this every morning for 30minutes while sitting at my computer catching up with chat or E-mail. (Now, who says that men cant multi-task) It annoys me because there does not seem to be any obvious benefits but I have nothing else to do that time of day so I persist. This morning while completing my daily walk I found that my leg muscles were exceptionally tight and a bit uncomfortable. Then I remembered that rather unusually, my zapping had been abbreviated because Valerie was early in making breakfast and my treatment cut short. It is rather satisfactory to at last have proof that the gadget is working and my money and time are not wasted. That is probably a local name, you will have similar devices under different names, now I can recommend them. Deigh

Will. Oh to have a decent memory again....I started that last message to tell you that the walking frame with seat is very common over here, At least five of my neighbours have them and they are plentiful in all small townships in NZ and I wonder if you live in a bigger community where they are not so plentiful. Thanks to my short attention span I lost the thread somewhere and ended up talking about other stuff! Deigh

Will, Interesting being able to compare other people's lives with my own. My wife is also a hoarder and does the same as yours by creating a piling system. When I get annoyed by the height of it she merely moves it to another room. Last week she stunned me by showing a friend some baby clothes knitted by her mother for the new baby when she was pregnant. We had a boy, followed by two other boys and the clothes meant for a girl were never used. She has been hoarding this stuff when at times space was at a premium in our life when it could have been passed to other needy people.........the son had his 59th birthday last week! and I never knew she ever had the stuff!.....amazing! The spoon theory is very useful, I plan to do jobs over a long period rather than the dash in and do it routine. It can be quite infuriating leaving a job till tomorrow when you are a 'do it now' adherent, but it does make living a lot more comfortable. In haste I must add that my wife as a carer is second to none and I really don't know how I could possibly cope without her. Regards Deigh

Having a spare computer I frequently leave one connected to chat room. I cant supervise it all the time and it is surprising how many would-be needy members drop in, leave a message and pull out. It would be great if we could leave a permanent message there for these visitors directing them to the main site and also saying when the chat rooms are active. I'm leaving an unofficial message there at the moment. Deigh

I'm right handed and this is the hand most affected by the stroke. I say most because the left hand lost about 15% of its strength at the same time! However, I think I got the better deal than a person who lost everything in their spare hand because there was no real option for me, the right hand had to regain its dominance. Since every tool and gadget I own fitted that hand nicely finding an exercise routine was easy, I just built it around the jobs I was familiar with, like casting a fishing fly, knocking nails into wood and handling a screwdriver. The left hand did very well initially, it had to learn how to write, dial a phone, send a text, do up shirt buttons and most difficult of all find out how to use toilet paper. It performed all this admirably. I improved speedily my ability to walk. Primarily in hospital with a frame and on release with using a walking stick. After a few months I abandoned this too. This has led to the odd stumble and tripping scare but I've had no serious falls. The most difficult thing to do again was to play guitar and keyboards. I have achieved some success with these but will never be anywhere near my previous ability. One thing has beaten me completely, that is to handle a screwdriver and retain the gained position while twisting the hand back for another bite! I have overcome this problem by using battery powered screwdrivers readily available on the market. The sudden loss of strength while carrying something important like a cup of tea or a plate still happens occasionally but have had no disasters for the last year or so, since luck has always been on my side. I'm in my fifth year of recovery and am still setting new targets. One thing I so not seem to improve despite regular practice is my ability to talk. I never ask anyone for their opinion because the answer would have to be affirmative, instead I wait for an unsolicited approval of my progress. This is pretty rare! Deigh