• A  blog is a personal journal of your daily life as a stroke survivor or stroke caregiver.  Surprisingly, countless members have called it therapeautic to write down their thoughts and to vent their frustrations.  You can make it private, just for your eyes or public and share your personal thoughts with your friends.  Why not try it, create your blog and start writing and see if it helps you.  

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  • swilkinson

    Living on angel time.

    By swilkinson

    I went to see the neurosurgeon on Tuesday. I was interviewed by a young Asian associate doctor and sent for a 3D MRI and angiogram, a brand new way of showing  the blood supply within the brain. The results were given to me by the associate and then I saw the specialist. It appears the aneurysm is larger and deeper than previously thought but at my age they are not going to operate as it would mean a full brain surgery. Coiling, one method of dealing with an aneurysm, is not an option. I think I
    • 12 comments
    • 2,134 views
Ksmith's Blog

I am reminded of taking it slow

I had my surgery December 14 and yes my mom was able to come into the waiting room and she was able to come back into the pre op room for a moment. She waited in the waiting room and my father sat in the car( his choice) and read . I think my surgery took roughly 2 1/2 hours. I think I saw her after my surgery . I think I messaged a friend, I was very medicated. I then was taken to a room for the night. Reason being I got out of surgery to late to fill my pain medicine. My pharmacy closed at 5p
ksmith

ksmith in slow and steady

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Kevin Rider

MRA

Little report on the recovery side this week. I had to go down to Phoenix for an MRA, an extended type of MRI. The magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) scan takes very clear, detailed pictures of the blood vessels, including arteries and veins, using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.  3.5 hr drive down, an hour in the tube, and a 3.5 hr drive back. We needed to set off at 6:30am and got up very early with a planed hour just to kick back and not be rushed, Then Deb opened her
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Sue's Sentiments

How can it be Christmas??

How can it be Christmas??? There are no carols because singing in church is banned. There are no greetings, no cheeks kissed, no hugs, not the usual shoulders presses that our shyer members use by way of greeting. That applies to the churches,  the shopping centre or wherever friends meet. No contact and social distancing has an impact on all of us do more people are depressed and seeking medical help for it now. There are fewer decorative Christmas lights, only two houses in my street have done
swilkinson

swilkinson in General

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Kevin Rider

Mince Pies

Single digit temperature have restricted project I was attempting to get to but been driven inside changed the focus to a traditional activity which has been neglected for a few years: the making of xmas mince pies!   Stroke wise there's not much to tell  measuring progress to date as short falls from normal. Which is itself a progress as this time last year i was still wearing an ankle brace for any extended walking and sleeping a great deal to recover from even moderate effort. Still
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Gizmo, Gadget Guy

Christmas video’s

Just a short entry today. As I mentioned some time back I am trying to learn to play the mountain dulcimer. I started practicing a year ago and have made a bit of progress. I am self taught so not perfect by any means, but thoroughly enjoying myself. I just finished two Christmas videos and I wanted to share them here. They can be easily seen by going to youtube.com and just typing in my name, George Gradek. There will be three videos show up. “Christmas medley 1”, “Christmas medley 2”, and “ode
GeorgeLesley

GeorgeLesley in Music

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Kevin Rider

A Normal Hour

My early morning walk to the barn to feed our horses has always been a kind of datum line for my recovery. When I first got home this was a challenging limp which I was not allowed to take other than under the direct supervision of my wife and with the aid of hiking sticks. The other day it dropped to 9F (-13C) and I was moving at a slightly elevated rate of work to shorten the time and get back to the warmth of the house. It suddenly struck me as I went thru that regular routine that I was feel
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Gizmo, Gadget Guy

Musings and random thoughts.....

Recently this blog has become mostly historical reporting on what we have been doing and what we hope to do in the future. This entry will be a bit different, musings and thoughts that just come along, so lets get on with it. Most of us have had lots of extra time as of late to just think about things, read books, catch up with old friends which is easy because you are sure they will be home, eat into the “honey do” list, etc, etc. well, I am no different so while I have been stroking my beard c
GeorgeLesley

GeorgeLesley in Kindness

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This Blessed Life

Wayne is 50

My amazing husband is now 50!   My next blog entry will tell you more about the market day.   Back to Wayne.   We went out for tea to our favourite pub with my parents and Wayne's mum and our kids. It was a really good night.   A few days later, we went to Perth for four days.  We did a few things, like shopping and appointments.  We also caught up with our Perth friends for Wayne's birthday.  There were 14 of us for lunch. It was really great, except walk
GreenQueen

GreenQueen in 50

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Sue's Sentiments

Time flows

In December the TV presenters start to review the year that was. 2020 was a crazy year and unique in my life time. The presenters say this happened and that happened but it makes no sense to me and probably wouldn't to you because this was a year where we each made our own history. This was the year when I spent a lot of time alone. Time of lock down or isolation, whatever you want to call it. It was a time that went slow some days and yet at the same time seemed to go so fast with no landmarks
swilkinson

swilkinson in General

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Ksmith's Blog

I really do care.. honest

'I really do care honest' is what I say to my friends and family I do not talk to on a regular basis. I often feel that I am the one who is distancing myself from others because I can't make plans nor care to do what I once did ( i.e. dancing, going out to eat) for I get sensory overload quite easy. Now, I know that my family and my dearest friends understand I am not the same me after all of these years.    Ok now I got that out of the way.   " I really do care honest" is wh
ksmith

ksmith in Random thoughts

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SueC

The Butterfly Effect - The day I had my stroke and what happened next...

It's the Butterfly Effect, one magical moment at the right place and right time can change everything.   It was August 29, 2018. I was home alone. At 11 am, I woke up feeling really tired.  I was about to roll over and go back to sleep, but then decided not to. I have fibromyalgia, and fatigue and lack of energy are a big part of it. Although I didn't really understand it at the time, this fatigue was different.  I also had a weird headache in my sinus area beside my nose on the right
HostSueC

HostSueC in My stroke experience

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Kevin Rider

Thanksgiving

So I clear improvement form last year. I use thanksgiving as an excuse to put up the Christmas decorations and last year i could just manage to climb the step ladder and then my balance was precarious and i had to use a free hand to steady myself. This year was pretty easy tho I did need a nap after I finished. So while I decorate Deb cooks  a big vegan meal this time with a roasted faux beef joint.  Mental attitude has shifted also.. after my stroke i was thinking I'd be happy to make anot
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Kevin Rider

Getting Organized

Most weeks during Covid are isolation are very uninteresting, so by Tuesday I'm wondering what to write about. My self commitment to the weekly writing of this blog make me review what progress if any I have been making, which is in itself a good thing! So in this weeks contemplations I realized I still tend to watch and grade most motion I make starting with the walk to the barn every day to fed the horses, however it appears my datum has shifted.  A year ago I gauged progress from my paralysis
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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achandra's Blog

feel so grateful this thanksgiving

I feel so grateful to be still around in 2020 after going through some dark curve-ball of stroke in 2004, and still be around to enjoy the life with complete new outlook on life. In 2020 I feel grateful to see all my friends and family safe and sound even though my sister & brother in law got covid but they recovered fully grateful on my birthday hubby & I took day off & visited green lake state park in NY , which turned out to be fun & beautiful day trip grateful 
HostAsha

HostAsha in my personal thoughts

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Kevin Rider

Starts

"He puts his pants on like anyone else, one leg at a time" This phrase popped into my head yesterday as I put my pants on. A year a ago putting my pants on was quite an effort as my left leg was virtually incontrollable. A few moths back I actually managed to pull my pants on while standing, although i needed to hold onto the door jam for support. Yesterday I did it free standing! 🙂 Of course this mean i had to balance standing on one leg at a time for a couple of seconds. So it things like this
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Sue's Sentiments

Family matters

I have been busy with family the past three weeks. I went up to Armidale for a little break and while I was there my daughter misstepped and ruptured the meniscus behind her right knee. Luckily the injury required rest not an operation, that meant no work, no driving, no more than  a few minutes on her feet. Her husband took care of her the first week then I came home and was asked to go  for a week to drive her daughter to school, take Shirley to doctors appointments, physio etc and do the shop
swilkinson

swilkinson in Family

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Kevin Rider

Winter is here

So live is pretty good and motion is back for the most part and moving without the concentration it used to take 6 months ago. I still get a little light headed when I enter a balancing challenge from a position that I may not have tried since the stroke. I find I work more naturally and actively but then run out of energy. I find after a certain amount of work I will suddenly get fatigued and muscles are harder to control. Or as I tell Deb, I have gone wobbly. I can return to better control wit
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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SassyBetsy's Blog

I Had Lacunar Stroke Not aTIA

I took paperwork to my dr office as usual from nursing home I live in....I was horrified they changed diagnosis to TIA WITHOUT RESIDUAL DEFICITS.   Do they think time here on a vacation? I can't believe that somebody would make this change when what happened to my medical records would happen to my neurological reports from  My doctor? So I was furious and I brought it to the attention of the nurse gave me the paperwork and she said oh talk to The supervisor. And of course nothing was done
SassyBetsy

SassyBetsy in Blog

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Kevin Rider

British Breakfast

So I'm so close to normal movement that identifying improvement is a challenge.  I am moving normally unless fatigued but the easier movement leads me to imbalances quite often. However such are recovered quickly and instinctively. I'm steadily taking on more project work and my stamina is slowly increasing. I tend to work mostly in the mornings and still have a nap in the afternoons but not every day, which is a major improvement from 6 months ago when any exertion would need a nap after to rec
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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achandra's Blog

you got to be whole when you are in any relationship- sage wisdom

Some of you who know me, I am heavy into uplifting books, inspiring biographies & oprah's Super soul sunday where she gets accomplished leaders, thinkers  which I have realized based on where I am in my own journey find great AHA moments to cliche lines.  Anyway enough of background  recently Oprah had Michelle Obama on her show talking about her "becoming" book great book, if any one wants to read & get inspired by how to be great mom or wife this book is quite inspiring.  One of intere
HostAsha

HostAsha in my personal thoughts

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Kevin Rider

Winter is here!

Well another week where I thought i'd have no specific improvement to report. Then yesterday i was caught with my hands full in the tack room of the barn, Feed in one hand and a kitty in the other. I had managed to pen the door and go in but now needed to close it .( The cat is closed in the tack room at night due to coyote and owls) With out thinking I flipped my leg back and kicked it close. I then realised what I had done! I had transferred weight onto one leg, a balancing that I would have n
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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Sue's Sentiments

Now what? Will we be celebrating Christmas this year?

Just been talking to our assistant minister, she is my "boss" for pastoral care. We have a talk from time to time. We are both anxious to resume some of our church activities like our Playtime for Mums and kids, our Welfare programs and our night services but the current Covid regulations are preventing all of  that from happening. It is very frustrating. We discussed what we thought the future of our activities on behalf of the church might look like in the new year, with Covid or after Covid b
swilkinson

swilkinson in Thoughts on Covid

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Kevin Rider

Broccoli

So another week with nothing specific to report. Moving pretty well with jus the odd minor wobbly. Fells a little like driving a car with a worn steering rack, just need a lot of minor corrections along a trip.  These days it seems I have more to report from the garden. Of course a year ago I was writing gardening off. So we have a big cold front coming in on Monday supposedly down to 22F according to forecast and high probability of snow. So all veg in the out side bed have to be harvested
KevRider

KevRider in projects

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