All about Stroke Recovery
We here have all said at one time or another that recovering from a stroke is slow, very slow at best in my own opinion! Here lately with me I seem to have slowed down in my recovery but I think and feel there are other elements in the way of my recovery.
The first two are my age and my arthritis! I turned the corner in age in July, I made it to 72 years old! I have had arthritis what seem like all my life and it runs deep in my family history. I mean my mother, father, and all the children before me suffer from it and they all had or have trouble walking for the ones still living. Of course I'm the last child born to a mother who was 43 years and I learned long ago she had arthritis at that time too!
As I think about that now it would seem to me as much walking they had to do in those days their joints would be exercised enough not to have arthritis. However it being a medical thing I guess anyone can have it as they get up in age. For me it sure can't come from sitting down doing nothing. I ran track in high school played sports and in the Army it was all physical conditioning daily as a routine which still goes on in today's Army with all the troops participating each morning before their work day starts.
At this point in my recovery process since the stroke I'm finding it harder for me to walk and even harder to stand up from a chair of regular height. Case in point I had to give up my regular computer chair with wheels and start using a straight back taller chair so I can stand up from it a little easier. Same way with the commode, I had to buy a raised 5 inch seat to use in order for me to be able to get up. I had to raise my scooter seat as well.
Then when the stair lift chair went out it was extremely hard for me to walk up/down the 16 steps of my stairway at home. The chair was repaired fully yesterday so today is my doctor's appointment to get the second injection in my left knee then one more for the series next week. Medicare will only let doctors do one knee at a time at one injection a week. It is controlled but no known cure to stop the pains for good.
While I'm home alone I have to insure where I sit down I can get up myself. We even got a bed that is about 4 inches taller so when I sit and put my socks and shoes on I can stand up but that is not too easy either lately. The doctors have no clue what I should do to be able to stand up from a sitting position like I have in the past. The little dog makes sure she is right by my side all day long while her little owner is in school.
She acts more like my dog now and I'm glad our Governor passed a law where all PTSD persons can take the dog in any business in Texas with no questions asked. In fact they face a 300 dollar fine should they ask about the animal but can request to see the papers of the person with PTSD. I GOT THAT AT A 100 Percent since 2010. It should have been awarded to me when I returned from Vietnam but they didn't know what it was at that time and had no name for it either!!
One key factor I had was not able to remain married to a spouse and had been married four time by the time I was awarded the compensation. Not until after the Iraq war did the military discover what military men and women had suffered and got the name for it. It was commonly known as "Shelled Shocked" in the previous wars when the soldiers returned home and no one knew what was wrong with them!!
I feel blessed to get the award after what I went through in Vietnam and made it back alive to a hospital on the west coast in San Francisco. My first wife departed shortly after stating something was really wrong with me but I seemed normal as anyone else when she stated I must be on dope or something!! I never smoked a regular cigarette in my life. My mom would have killed me plus I couldn't afford a pack of cigarettes in those days!
That brings me to my subject title of this Blog, "Stroke recovery is never ending"! I just want to tell all survivors that things will go wrong more often than right in many cases of recovering and being able to do things on your own but the time will come when you can do more and be proud of it.
However by the same token your recovery can seem like it has stopped or slowed down and we know to never give up!!! Well in my case I thought recovery was way ahead of time but I see now it can slow down and make you think it just takes more time!! I looked at being able to bathe, drive, go places, and even worked for three years at walmart. Now I'm struggling to get my feet under me to stand up from sitting and I don't know yet if my driving will be affected as well.
The pains in my weak side, arms, legs, hand has increased while my meds are the same and work real good for the past nearly ten years! I don't think or feel it was the release from the VA in home care program I had but it could be I guess!! I figure long as I can drive myself I can go the 25 miles to the VA hospital to be seen any day of the week. Well, at this point in my recovery I will take it as it comes and hope for the better part of life.
There is nothing to compare with being with your spouse at home whether she works or not! Just knowing this is my fourth try at married life and all the love shows every day is my blessing to continue living and trying to get better health all the time!!!!! I won't let this little down time get the best of me no way!!
Thanks for letting me vent, I think my first time!!!!!
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