I went to see my neurologist last week. Her name is Dr. Zoey. I had a list of questions for her.

Me: Can I stop taking Plavix? Dr. Zoey: Not yet.

Me: Can a go snowboarding this winter? Dr. Zoey: No.

Me: I’m going on aDisneyworld vacation in a couple of months. Can I go on any rides? Dr. Zoey:As long as the ride does not jerk your head back, you can ride.

Me: Can I increase myweight I lift in my BodyPump class? Dr.Zoey: You can increase from 20 lbs. to 30 lbs.

During our discussion she told me that she only sees one ortwo cases like mine in a year. Hearingthis, everything started to make sense. When I left the hospital after my stoke four months earlier I was givenorders for my first follow-up appointment, occupational therapy and physicaltherapy.

All three of theseappointments were about three weeks post stroke:

At the first follow-up, the doctor came in, looked at me,and looked back at her notes. She askedmy name. It was like she was expectingsomeone else. She explained that mostpeople who had a stroke like mine are in a wheel chair at this point. She asked me a few questions and asked me towalk across the floor and back. She calledDr. Zoey and both of them agreed that there was no reason I couldn’t go back towork part time.

Next was physical theory. The therapist gave me the same look as the doctor at my follow-up. Then we went through checking my range ofmovement and strength of my muscles. Hewas running out of stuff for me to do. We went for a walk around the hospital. It became apparent that he could not easily keep up with my pace. When we returned, he had me runningsteps. He ran out of stuff for me to tryand we finished early.

Next was occupational theory. When I arrived, they told me we’d get thoughtpart of the therapy that day and need to schedule a follow-up appointment tofinish up. They gave me a few tests onpaper. I don’t remember much about thetest other than they seemed easy. Theysaid I finished these so fast that they could give me the tests I’d need topass to be cleared to drive. These wereactually kind of fun. They said I scoredoff the chart. I was cleared to drive!

Looking back at these three appointments, I now know thatthe doctors and therapists were not expecting much of me. I worked hard to get to where I amtoday. I have much work still ahead ofme. I look forward to the challengeevery day brings. I’m no longer askingmyself why this happened to me, both the stroke and the amazing recovery.

Dr. Zoey scheduled a follow up MRI for January 2012. I’m hopeful that after that MRI I’ll be ableto stop taking Plavix. Dr. Zoey calledmy recovery “remarkable”.