well, i'm thinking that the place to start a stroke recovery story is with the stroke itself.... it was an ordinary september day in northern california, bright,sunny, and warm... i met my friend amou for lunch (oriental chicken salad at the country gourmet), and exchanged bags of books (did i mention she is also my reading source, since we've the same taste in books) - had a great time, normal day, felt fine.... decided to go see a movie before heading home - about half way through "second hand lions" i felt a kind if twinge in the lower part of the back of my head and i remember thinking that i must've twisted it and that id likely have a stiff neck in the morning, lol, understatement of the century.... so, i sat and watched the rest of the movie, got up and walked out... in the lobby i bumped into my friend cyd, so we sat on the wall outside and chatted for awhile, them separated and i got in my car to drive home.... about 10 min later my left hand went all tingly like it had fallen asleep, so i start the whole open/close the fist thing trying to wake it up, wasn't working, so gave up trying and continued driving home - a few minutes later i noticed that i was having a harder time than usual keeping the car straight and then that my hand had fallen off the wheel... tried to put it back on;but couldn't, still felt fine, just puzzled, so i kept driving home (i know, i know, lol) made a right turn, which is tricky with only a right hand and decided id stop for a soda (have i mentioned how stubborn i am ?) made another right turn into a convenience store parking lot, when i couldn't open my door with my still tingling hand i figured maybe i was in a tad bit of trouble, lol, so i pulled out my cell and called the friend id just left at the theater, left a message on her answering machine, then sat and wondered what to do.... cyd called me back in a few minutes, way more panicked than i was, as far as i was concerned i was just fine, i just couldn't move my hand... she told me not to move, she'd be right over... lol, like i could go anywhere - she gets there about 20 min later, opens the door and takes one look at my then useless arm and says "get out of the car, i'm taking you to the hospital" i reply "why ? i'm fine, i just cant move my arm" lol, ok, so i wasn't quite seeing the big picture... but then i tried getting out of the car and couldn't, hadn't realized my leg was involved, too, until that point, so i handed her my cell and she called 911... thats enough (probably more than enough) for a first entry - next time: ambulance and er.....