ITS BEEN ALMOST 1 YEAR SINCE I VE BLOGGED. ITS BEEN 3 YEARS SINCE MY STROKE AND HAVE AND WILL HAVE MANY CHANGES IN MY LIFE. ME, IM ABOUT THE SAME. I SEE SLOW, MILD IMPROVEMENTS WITH MY BODY. IM STILL LEARNING WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO YET AND IM STILL LEARNING ABOUT ACCEPTING MY STROKE. ITS STILL VERY HARD TO ACCEPT BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP ME FROM GETTING MORE STRENGTH, CONFIDANT AND TO KEEP ON GOING I HAVE BEGAN MENOPAUSE THIS PAST YEAR IT WAS HARD TO ACCEPT MY SLEEP AND EMOTION PATTERNS WITH MY STROKE. NOW I FEEL THAT I HAVE A DOUBLE WHAMMY.. SLEEP, EMOTIONS, MY STOMACH GETTING SOME THICKER , AND THE THE NITE SWEATS ARE NOT DESIRABLE! YUK!! MY HUSBAND JOB, 15 MONTHS AGO, MOVED FURTHER UP NORTH. ONE WAY IS 125 MILES. SO HE LIVES UP NORTH , AT OUR CABIN, WHICH IS 50 MILES FROM WORK, AND COMES HOME ON THE WEEKENDS, IF IT SNOWS UP THERE, HE LIKES TO SNOWMOBILE, SO THEN HE STAY UP THERE FOR THE WEEKEND AND I SEE HIM 12 DAYS LATER. IT GETS VERY BORING AND LONELY HERE. SO I HAVE LEARNED TO BE VERY INDEPENDENT I DON T LIKE IT BUT I CAN T EXPECT HIM TO QUIT HIS JOB, AND LOSE OUR HEALTH CARE. THEN MY SON IS GOING TO CENTRAL UNIVERSITY THIS AUG, SO HE WILL BE MOVING UP THERE TO GET HIS DEGREE IN GAME DESIGN. IT 20 MILES FROM OUR PLACE UP NORTH. THAT LEAVES ME. WELL I GET MY SSDI BUT I WAS ABLE TO WORK 12 HOURS A WEEK, TOO. I HAVE 34 YEARS WITH ST JOHN MACOMB HOSPITAL . BUT WHEN MY SON LEAVES THIS AUG, WELL I DON T WANT TO BE LEFT HERE BY MYSELF.SO I WILL QUIT MY JOB IN SEPT/OCT, BEFORE THE SNOW COMES, AND MOVE UP NORTH WITH MY HUSBAND. I HAVE MANY, MANY MIXED EMOTIONS REGARDING THIS. FIRST YES I MISS MY HUSBAND AND I WANT TO BE WITH HIM. BUT THERE IS REALLY NOTHING UP NORTH, THE HOUSE IS A TOTAL MANCAVE, THE HOUSE IS 900 SQ FEET, 3 STEPS TO GET UP IN THE HOUSE AND A SMALL 90 FOOT DRIVEWAY. NO SIDEWALK AND THE STREETS ARE GRAVEL. HERE... THE HOUSE IS 1500 SQ FEET,1 STEP INTO THE HOUSE, THERES SIDEWALKS AND CEMENT STREETS TO WALK!!!MY JOB, THEY WORKED WITH ME, I GET THE SAME PAY, MY HOURS ARE VERY FLEXIBLE.I HAVE COME SO FAR, BECOME PRETTY INDEPENDENT IN MY HOUSE, CAN WALK ME AND MY DOG AROUND THE BLOCK , I CAN GO IN AND OUT OF THE HOUSE HERE BY MYSELF. UP NORTH , I FEEL ILL LOSE MY INDEPENDENCE, I CAN T GET INTO THE HOUSE BY MYSELF, ILL HAVE TO QUIT MY JOB.THERES NO WALKING AROUND IN THE HOUSE OR OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE.THESE ARE THINGS I THINK ABOUT AS THE DAYS GO BYTIL BY NEXT BLOG......