CayCay

Don't you worry for a minute about posting anything on a rough day. You are not a pity pot. Stroke is hard! I encourage you to let it out...it's not about being negative or a downer. The good news is that we are all here with you, here to support you, here to listen, here to understand, here to answer questions, here to reassure you that the way you feel and the way you struggle is valid...don't go through all the hard times alone...please. 🙂 We want you to share and know how important it is to be accepted and especially not alone. I have the bad days still after 3 years...when I am in the middle of one this is my go to for support. Now, I can step off my soapbox lol. How is the botox going? helping? I hate to hear about your RA my step mom also has this, thankfully it is behaving really well right now. Man, I know what it is like to be bombarded by visits to the Dr. all the time. I also get not seeing your old friends around...fatigue for me has been a big factor as well as my own intolerance of people now lol. It's true, I pretty much stay to myself. I don't like it but I know for me we don't relate too much anymore. Oh the fatigue!! It's real!! Today is a full out rainy, gloomy day...all my mind and body want to do is sleep. Anyways, thank you for the update and I hope you feel better soon. Don't hesitate to mingle in and share, we are pretty nice for a group. 🙂 Talk to you soon.

Hey Tracy, Thanks so much for the pep talk and being so nice. I’m like you,as you know, with the fatigue. I also have gotten very intolerant with so called friends and even some family. My so called best friend for 26 years, wasn’t understanding why when, after we had lunch, I didn’t want to go antiquing. We are talking about walking down a street with back to back stores. I just looked at her and told her to take me home. End of friendship. Well let me get off my soap box. About the Botox. On me it works well, because I have so much spasicity in my hand, to the point of not only were my nails digging into my palm, but my thumb stayed stuck under my fingers. I was considering having my tendon lengthened but my neurologist didn’t think that it was a good idea to go under anesthesia. Didn’t wanted to take the chance. You know how you get this gut feeling? I chickened out. It’s nice to finally have a conversation with someone who’s been there. Got to go. Need Coffee lol! Talk later. Cay

Hi Stephanie,  I also have no use of my left hand/arm my fingers generally curl in and my thumb gets trapped too. One handed cooking is not as impossible as you might think. the slow/pressure cooker is my lifeline these days. it lives on the kitchen bench and is heavy enough that you don't need to hold it while you stir. A small capacity food processor that also sticks to the bench is very useful. I tend to cook once a week and freeze extra portions. my go to's are curries and risotto. pressure cooked risotto is really easy. if I'm cooking with meat I get it cut by the butcher rather than trying to do it myself, then all I need to do is take it out of the bag. there are fancy chopping boards that will hold vegies still so you can chop them, although I've found them more of a nuisance than a help so far, and I accept that sometimes stuff gets away and will need to be washed again before going in the pot. Tenura non slip matting is my saviour in the kitchen, anything smoothish and dry will stick to it so you can open jars and bottles by putting them on it and pressing down while turning with the good hand.  it also holds paper still while writing and holds bread still while you butter it. it's food safe, heatproof and washable, but sharp knives will cut it so some common sense is required.

You can do this

-Heather