Hi Everyone,
I haven't been around much lately as I have been living my life as a 5 year survivor (no I didn't restart the clock last year as I had no new deficits). The reason I am writing today is because I just finished a great book. I haven't read a stroke survivor story in a long time. I thought I was past that, but I really liked this one. I thought the message was positive and encouraging. The book is not new it came out in 2008, so you probably already read it, if not pick it up.
Good Morning Everyone.
I haven't blogged in a long time so I thought I owed everyone an update since I still check in on you.
Today is my four year anniversary or birthday if you will. Yesterday I celebrated by going to my new neurologist. I like him so far everything is just fine, It was a check-up because about a month ago I woke up with a droopy face. I trundled off to the ER with my husband. The ER Dr. thought it was Bell's palsey, but the neuro said stroke. He said he couldn't see it
My new topic is "100 things I learned after stroke". I hope others of you will follow so that we may all learn some new things, or know who to ask for help.
1) I learned to crack an egg with one hand, like a chef.
2) I learned to flip or toss ingredients in a saute pan like theTV chefs do.
3) I learned I must use spell check every time, proof reading is not enough anymore.
4) Multitasking is over-rated.
5) Driving is not.
6) You won't get as much help as you thought you would.
Hi everyone!
I promised myself that I would start blogging again at the New Year. Well here it is the middle of February and I just now forced myself to do this. Its just so hard to motivate myself. I even have a hard time doing things I like. Well, I don't like to blog when I have nothing to say. That's how I feel on my "quiet" days.
I am home alone from 7am until at least 5pm because my dear husband and dear son are off to work. My dear daughters are off to college. Barbara is doing r
I'm going to try to finish up this list. I guess I was a bit long winded at first, if I had been more concise I would probably be finished.
41) When Iwas 13 I figured out that I had lived in 13 different places.
42) The longest I have lived in one place is 9 years.
43) I have always had cats as pets. We had 1 dog when the kids were little.
44) She was a mutt that the kids named Lady.
45) We currently have a tankful of freshwater fish.
46) I grew up in Southern California and I too
21) My cat, Tiger Lily likes to help me type. She isn't very good either.
22) I like computer games. I started playing them after McDonalds had their Monopoly game this year. I won some free game downloads from Real Arcade and I really like them. Maybe they are reorganizing my brain.
23) I also like my Nintendo DS. My kids gave it to me for Xmas last year. I can use it with the stylus.
24) My favorite games are Animal Crossing Wild World; Zelda, Phantom Hourglass (really hard for an old
I have meaning to start blogging again. Its just so hard, most days are so quiet there is nothing to say. I know many of you deal with this too and look to the blogs for entertainment and companionship as I do, so I try not to be boring. This topc has piqued my interest , so here goes some of these things you may already know but I'll try not to repeat myself.
1) My name is Marden, yes it's my real name. It took me years to grow into it.
2) I am married for 29 years. My dear husband (DH)
Hi everyone, first let me say that I am not trying to brag about my experiences but meerly trying to encourage all of you to experience all that life has to offer you. Don't hold yourself back because of your handicaps. (most of it is in your mind anyway.)
As you may remember I have told you that I am very stubborn and I won't be held back from living my life and you shouldn't either. Life is too short!
Now to my report. My DH ( dear husband) was invited to a business meeting at a resort
Sorry everyone that it has been so long since I blogged. I have been keeping up with all of your adventures. I was busy settling my DD into college. I have also been going with my DH to some of his business events.
My DD decided to go to a nearby state university. Austin is about 11/2 hours by car. She is really enjoying being away from home. ( of course the cats and I miss her terribly) She loves going to football games and says her classes are going well too. DH and I are going ou
Some of you requested the details on my daughter's prom so here goes. Sorry no pictures, We have them but I don't know how to post them.
My daughter is a very beautiful 18 year old. She has brown hair and a very fair peaches and cream complexion. Last year we were wandering through a large department store and noticed that all of the prom dresses were on sale, so we decided to look at them. She found several she liked so she tried them on. We found two we liked, a short one for homeco
The nurse from the Northstar trial called yesterday to tell me that the trial was full and they wouldn't need me anymore. I guess that is good news and bad. My kids were scared about the surgery part, so now no worries also no therapy.
On other fronts, My third year anniversary of survival just passed. My daughter found out that she will be awarded a scholarship for college. We are thrilled to say the least. This will be a busy month. Prom is this weekend, graduation in three weeks.
M
Yesterday I went to the hospital for another screening in advance of the Northstar study. I met the nurse and she explained the procedure once again and had me sign the consent form. Then, She had an OT come in to do an evaluation of my arm/hand function. I missed the criteria for entry into the study by two points. They felt that I was very close and thought that I could probably do the required movements with a little practice. So they sent me home to practice straightening my arm in a si
This is an update about my joining the northstar study. I got a call from someone with the local hospital which is participating here yesterday and I passed another phone interview. She wanted to be sure that I understood about the study, it is only for hand/arm improvement and not leg. Also she wanted to be sure that I knew it could involve surgery , but that I was not guaranteed surgery, only therapy is promised. Then she wanted to know how much hand movement I had in my hand. Later she to
Well, last week I changed my mind and decided to volunteer for the "Northstar Everest " study. It's the one where they implant an electrode on your brain and then give you occupational therapy, the control group only gets therapy. I was called back this morning and I passed the first stage ( the phone interview). I still have mixed feelings but I'm sure even occupational therapy will continue to help my arm come back. I have been having improvement in my shoulder lately which gives me hope a
I just wanted to update everyone on our weekend. We really had a good time at the cheerleading banquet. It was the nicest one we have been to. It was held at a local country club and the food was typical buffet stuff, it was ok. The coaches put on a program about the graduating seniors of which my daughter is one. They showed some pictures of each one and said nice things about them. It was really nice because my daughter has only been with them one year. Not unusual I know , but it is hard t
Thanks to all of you out there just for being there and being the great people you are. I mean everyone posters, bloggers, mentors and guests who are just reading posts and blogs.
Yesterday my computer couldn't access the site and I came to realize just how much I missed you all. I have come to know you and depend on you for my morning pick me up or dose of daily reality. In any case a connection to the world. As my world is pretty small right now, you all make it bigger and better. THA
Good news I'm not as frustrated as I was when I last blogged. I haven't tried to sew lately either. I am still interested though. I found an easier project to work on when I resume.
Inspired by George I have been spending more time on my therapy in terms of structured exercise. I dug my saeboflex out and have been moving balls around. I also ordered some new (to me) equipment for exercising my shoulder as it has been showing more signs of loosening up.
The Cheerleading season is
I was writing a blog entry this morning on my lack of progress and frustration with resuming sewing and quilting. But due to the Internet Gods intervention you are all spared from my rant. (lately when my telephone rings it breaks my internet connection )
I was going to tell everyone about my previous experience with quilting and how frustrating it is now that I can't do what I used to do. Good news though, through full imersion in quilting I was able to find my muse and rekindle my desire
Here I am today, back in blogworld. I knew I hadn't been here for a long time, I just found out that I was about to fall off page two!
We are in the height of competition cheer season, so we're busy every weekend. Mondays are spent recovering and before you know it it is Friday and time to prepare for the next competition. My daughter's team is doing very well. Since I was last here we had a competition in our town where her team won a national title and grand champs. Then we were off to Dal
Before I launch into this topic let me remind everyone that I am almost 3 years post stroke, I was affected on my left side and I have done as much therapy as my insurance would allow. ( It always makes me sad when I have to quit.) I was lying in bed the other night just before falling asleep and I realized that my arm/hand and leg felt normal. No not "new normal", old normal! My arm and leg were straight and my fingers and toes were relaxed. Yea! This all changes as soon as I laugh, cry, s
Well, I survived my dear husband's business trip and we both agreed that it was too long. I haven't had full week of full time Mom duty in a long time. It was a tough week for my youngest as she turned 18 while my dh was out of town. She wants to have a big party and we looked at the calendar and couldn't find a free Saturday until the end of March (because it is competition season for cheerleading). My daughter also needed to finish her art piece for the rodeo auction. It was hard to keep he
Well there is nothing new here this week. Not much up with the kids either.( other than young love for the son)
Back to school and work after the holiday. Yesterday, my dear husband left for a week long business trip. So I don't have to fight for the remote or covers for a week. I guess there is peace to be found in the mundane. I'm trying not to be bored.
Marden
Hi everyone!
We returned from New Orleans late last night . It was a long grueling ride for me ,6+ hours each way in a small car, but I survived and I wouldn't have missed the competition for anything. I love to watch my daughter and her team cheer. They didn't win but the got what they went for. They wanted to win a bid (invitation) to the cheerleading"worlds" competition. You might have seen this on ESPN its held at Disneyworld each year. so "We're going to Disneyworld!"( Well maybe, w
Thanks Jean and Asha for the feedback.
In respone to Asha's inquiry I will introduce myself and tell my whole story.
Just remrmber, you asked!
It was early in the morning(3am?) on april 30, 2004 I woke up because I had to go to the bathroom. I couldn't get out of bed. We lived in New Jersey at the time, so it was still cold at night and we still had flannel sheets on the bed. I thought I was just tangled up in them. I finally fell out of bed on the floor. When my dear husband figured out t
Well yesterday I started my blog and today I found out that I didn't do it right. What else is new?
Thanks Asha, maybe everyone can see it today. I hope it's not too boring for you all. I surprised myself, when I sat down to write I wrote something completely different than what I had planned. Does this happen to you?
Other than starting my blog, yesterday was SOS. I read some though. Yes, I AM BORED! What do you all do to keep busy?
This weekend should be better. My daughter has a c
