KevRider

Stroke Survivor - male
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Everything posted by KevRider

  1. KevRider

    Balance

    Kind of a chilly week here, not as bad a s Texas though! It has kept me in a bit , but i did manage to get out to the green house aa couple of times. I managed to finish the wiring of the right side of that starts shelving i showed in the blog last week. It required a lot of up and down movement and some time down on my knees reaching under the lowest shelf. Normally that kind of motion would have triggered some major dizziness and it didn't 🙂 However it did tire me quickly. my movement is quite good these days but the stamina is still low. also I seem to recover from such tiredness quicker though. I'm generally get ting more done around the house and garden. I did have a balance issue when I tripped against a raised bed and toppled over. It was not exactly a fall as it was kind of in slow motion and i managed to to get a hand out and lower my self to the surface of the bed. That did challenge my balance enough to trigger some of the old dizziness. Any new balance requirement or challenge and the dizziness reappears. Still no big deal, just an observation. Yesterday the weather finally cracked and cold morning 8F was up to 55F by the afternoon, So we got in a nice log ride. We stayed at the walk for most of that so hopefully we wont be sore today. It was very pleasant out there and we saw a herd of deer, the first of the season. Kev
  2. KevRider

    Re-pot

    Continuing my e-entry into a more normal life, i have spent every day bar Sunday in the green house transplanting tomatoes into small individual plots. The effort has now filed 16 trays each of 18 pots. That's 288 plants in all. My stamina is still a little low and a couple of hours work in the green house has me wobbly and heading for my sofa! Still I seem to recover faster and after a little rest I'm ready to go again. My other project which is not demanding on my muscles, is improving my French and I now take my lap top into the greenhouse to play French audible books, so I can listen to the language as I re-pot the tomatoes. I had my first vaccine shot last Thursday, followed by 24 hour of flu like symptoms but then all was back to normal. Cheers Kev
  3. KevRider

    Anniversary

    Well this weeks 'big event' was our 20th anniversary. Usually we would go somewhere a bit special , like last year we took a road trip to Roswell and Carlsbad caverns but this year we had to make the best of it at home in isolation. As many here know we are vegan but we still managed to indulge in a couple of meals that were out of the usual. Deb made me a British breakfast with faux meat sausages. This was a repeat of my birthday breakfast. For dinner we indulged in cheese burger which is no big deal for normal persons but we imported a case of beyond burgers and a vegan cheddar which made for a delicious tasting meal but definitely beyond our usual low fat limit! A friend donated a vegan chocolate cake which was super rich so the day ended uo been dominated by food and a romantic comedy 'Love punch' Otherwise the weather has been limiting activity though I did get into the green house to transplant some tomatoes to bigger pots and start egg plant, peppers and cucumbers. Cheers Kev
  4. KevRider

    New Days

    This week was about changing focus onto stuff I can now do again or do new. I still caught myself indulging in my rehab mode, where i judge the quality of movement but less so than a year ago. So I have been creating a second , and bigger warm place to start seeds. Below your working on it. Just to the right out of view is my existing 'plant house' in which we already have stated tomatoes. These are due for transplanting to bigger pots this week. In addition to gardening we had a break in the weather and got more typical Arizona winter days, freezing at night and up in mid 50s by afternoon. Sunday was so nice we went for a long gallop. When we dismounted my legs felt a bit wobbly. Of course two days later I was paying for the ride with very sore upper inner thigh pain. Not unusual as often the first rides back to the saddle will result in stiffness. What was interesting is that neuroplasticity had learned to walk again, but it turns out i need to re-learn how to walk again with stiff muscles. I got on my treadmill which actually has helped slack those help reduce the stiffness but I only managed 10 mins before fatigue kicked in (normally I do 20 no problem) So my new attitude of working forward on reclaimed activity is going well, if a little painfully. 🙂 The top pic this week was from an indigenous friend up in Monument Valley. A sun rise and a good reminder that each new day is to grab the day ! Cheers Kev
  5. A recent snow blizzard created some extra work for me. The roof of a horse barn ah to be well ventilated but that means there is space for snow to enter when blown by strong winds. This resulted in stalls been filled with melting snow and making the horse bedding wet. So one evening we had to dig wet bedding out of two stalls and replace it. I decided to do the heavy digging work myself and let Deb drive the tractor to dump the stuff onto out compost piles. The situation made me realize two things. Firstly is how being a male the idea that i should do the heavier part of the work is hard wired. At least now I was doing that again, compared with the first year of recovery where Deb had to do it. Secondly I am at , or perhaps have passed the point of monitoring improvements. I used this blog for a while to keep track of improvements and it was useful to look back over and gauge progress. Recently, however improvements have been negligible. Perhaps I have levelled off. Not to say that I don't still maintain my exercise regimes to try and keep moving forward but little if any improvements have been identifiable over the last few weeks. Then it stuck me i'm looking in the wrong direction! Here I was taking on the heavier pert of the work, as I had prior to my stroke. The improvements in mobility which I used to track had accumulated to my doing substantial work. I need to start looking forward to what else I can now take on! Now I will admit that this new found enthusiasm tended to dissipate about half way thru the second stall when fatigue was was started to make me feel a bit wobbly and I almost swapped jobs with Deb but then I resolved to finish it and found i had a bit more energy to complete the task 🙂 so i need to look at what things I can now do as i move forward as even without measurable movement improvements there's a lot to get on with. Cheers Kev
  6. KevRider

    A Little Snow

    so this week was rather windy and cold so we hid in the house and indulged in several movies. I'm ready for a bit better weather so I can get to work in the garden. I think I may be levelled off on my recovery, or at least its hard to detect any improvements. I am trying to increase my stamina and have increase my treadmill walk 1% of incline to 6%.I still get just a touch of headiness in new balancing situations. We awoke yesterday to a covering of snow about 2" or 5 cm. Any precipitation is very welcome in this dessert! The snow on the concrete base of the barn was super slippery, so it gave me another challenge to my balance. I have reduced my snacking in between meals but my weight stays steady. At least my other project; to improve my French is going well and is great fun. I'm ready for this winter to be over !!
  7. KevRider

    Freezing

    Little noticeable progress on the recovery front. Of course i'm 99% mobile now. The weather has been freezing here like 6F when I feed the horses and staying below 0 during the day. Just maintaining my 20 min treadmill but am ready to increase gradient. I think I need to introduce some sit-ups to strengthen core muscles. I have reduced my snacking but weight is steady at 185 lb. Our height here in NE Arizona combined with clear skies makes for low temperatures but yesterday a warm font gave cloud cover. warm been relative at 27F, but resulting in some spectacular sun rises. Like this one
  8. just love the colors 🙂
  9. KevRider

    Cold but Dry

    This week has been pretty cold we were at 6F yesterday (-15C) and we stayed below freezing all day. Other that wrapping up well to feed the horse at dawn & dusk we have been hiding way in the house all day. Not good for the diet as I'm working off less and tending to snack more! Still stable at 186lbs. With the weather shutting down my activity I can't say that I have noticed any particular improvement in motion, but I still do my 20mins at 3mph on a 5.5% grade and it certainly does not tire me as much as 6 months ago so it seems my stamina is building 🙂 An aspect I have not thought of so much until Deb reminded me is cognitive functions. A few days after my stroke I could not write. Well I could move my hand in a way that I thought was writing but the results looked more like ancient hieroglyphics! I had trouble talking and my reactions were such that I would not drive. When I did start driving it was with the tractor and still hit the barn a couple of times. I had some computer coding that Deb wanted me to do and resisted as I feared my logic might not be up for it. Deb's comments this morning showed me I have been so obsessed with physical recovery that I was taking the cognitive recovery for granted. She pointed out 18 months ago I was in speech therapy for English and today I sent an hour talking on Skype in French! So that's in for my weekly blog this week! A bien tot! 🙂
  10. Now movement is almost back to normal and is more a matter of fatigue, in that as I get more tired i will get a little more wobbly but only slightly and an increase in concentration will often improve the motion. Still waiting on results of MRA. So a new year , and hopefully a better one than the last. Though its become apparent that this pandemic will take more effort to beat! Personally i used to avoid new year resolutions as a set up for failure. I had attempted earlier in me recovery to reduce weight I was at 191 lbs and wanted to be back to 175. When we went into isolation I found my self snacking a lot, probably form boredom. I had got to 181 but gave up the project. So I'm setting that as a new years resolution. Fortunately it turns out I haven't put on as much as I feared as I start the year at 186. A plan to be in Paris on June 12th will probably not happen a scheduled but we intend to go as soon as its deemed safe. So my other resolution is to improve my french. I have been indulging in an on-line course since November, which has been great fun but not as effective as speaking with a native speaker. We have done so much zoom in the last 9 month, so I thought hey you can zoom to France. A google search soon found a tutor in Lyon and I have my first session later today. 🙂 So I think 2 resolutions is enough Happy New Year to all.
  11. KevRider

    Christmas

    So Christmas has just gone by, my second since stroke. I can't claim any noticeable improvements this week but considering I'm running pretty close to normal unless fatigued , I'm not complaining. As many of you know, I eat vegan due to plaque and trying to keep my cholesterol down. So Deb out did her self this year with help of some products from Plant Based Meats | The Very Good Butchers – The Very Good Butchers US It was a very good xmas day, starting with a call from my mum in the UK followed by bacon butties, which are an old tradition in our house ( faux bacon of course). Present opening followed before sitting down to a 3 course meal; vegan caviar; roast stuffed joint ( again faux meat) Brussel sprouts, carrots from our garden and mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. And plenty left for seconds. Then the piece de resistance, a home made vegan 'cheese cake'. (sorry cant get this pic to rotate.) Then a couple of zoom meetings with friends & family. Followed by the compulsory watching of 'Love Actually'. A really cool day 🙂 As of Xmas day we had raised over $13,000 for the Navajo toys for kids 🙂 So merry Christmas and a happy New Year
  12. We exchanges some presents with 2 close friend yesterday. Yes no hugs! Deb set up 2 tables % chairs 15 ft apart and masks were worn as we chatted.
  13. KevRider

    MRA

    Little report on the recovery side this week. I had to go down to Phoenix for an MRA, an extended type of MRI. The magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) scan takes very clear, detailed pictures of the blood vessels, including arteries and veins, using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. 3.5 hr drive down, an hour in the tube, and a 3.5 hr drive back. We needed to set off at 6:30am and got up very early with a planed hour just to kick back and not be rushed, Then Deb opened her e-mail to 250 'Toys for Navajo' responses. We have been trying to help a Navajo friend get donations for children's Christmas presents, and a video he had posted on Facebook made it to the ABC 15 news! Deb started hitting replies as fast as she could while I worked on an auto-reply to give donation info back while we were away. We've been getting help Oregon across to the UK. Lots of donations typically $25 and one for as much as $1,000 the project is powering ahead and presents are already been dispersed:) The last couple of days have been hectic dealing with enquiries to help. We even have football players from the AZ Cardinals driving up to give out presents! It suddenly feels a lot like Christmas and it has been very uplifting to be a part of the effort. Merry Christmas to all!
  14. KevRider

    Mince Pies

    We had to hunt around for vegan acceptable ingredients. Roberstson's Classic mincemeat is actually butter free, it does use vegetable suet. There has been a growing market in the UK for vegetarian/vegan produce which is where we had the mincemeat imported from. All American product had something unacceptable to Deb. While Heather is right that some mincemeats are traditionally fed with Brandy this is not. But the sugar content is so high it would surprise me if it self ferments:) As far as I can tell the crust and mince have nothing that would trigger lactose intolerance. They taste as god as the ones mother used to make, but do have an after taste of coconut.
  15. KevRider

    Mince Pies

    Single digit temperature have restricted project I was attempting to get to but been driven inside changed the focus to a traditional activity which has been neglected for a few years: the making of xmas mince pies! Stroke wise there's not much to tell measuring progress to date as short falls from normal. Which is itself a progress as this time last year i was still wearing an ankle brace for any extended walking and sleeping a great deal to recover from even moderate effort. Still no significant progress this week but I do seem to be sleeping less during the day. Meanwhile, mince pies! These things seem to be a British thing as my US friends don't usually understand what they are. For me they go back to childhood when mother would make then typically on Christmas Eve. Later in life I took over the habit and would make and eat them of the days approaching Christmas. For health reasons we dropped then from the diet a few years back but Deb has discovered a pastry recipe which is based of coconut oil rather than butter so we reinstated the tradition. The return of dexterity to my left hand meant I could help in cutting and mounting the pastry (top left) Baked and fresh out the oven ( top right) Dusted with powdered sugar (bottom left) Ready to eat during the days approaching Christmas ( bottom right) I think the near death experience fo a stoke has definitely made me appreciate the little things more.
  16. KevRider

    A Normal Hour

    My early morning walk to the barn to feed our horses has always been a kind of datum line for my recovery. When I first got home this was a challenging limp which I was not allowed to take other than under the direct supervision of my wife and with the aid of hiking sticks. The other day it dropped to 9F (-13C) and I was moving at a slightly elevated rate of work to shorten the time and get back to the warmth of the house. It suddenly struck me as I went thru that regular routine that I was feeling completely normal. Sine then , once I have booted the system with sufficient caffeine , that the first hour or so of motion is perfectly normal! Now the morning routine has been repeated so often that my body seems to know exactly what to do. Other less routine tasks during the day may result in my doing a new move, which challenged my balance. These still result in a light headedness but it passes very fast. As I get into the day I get more fatigued and my motion goes back to what I describe as feeling like driving a car with worn and slack steering. If I get really tired than it gets definitely wobbly. Although very cold, when the sun has been up a couple of hours the hoop house is warm enough that we can get a little work done preparing for the coming year. I work till I feel my energy dropping and usually a couple of muscles feeling the strain = then stop. I have got better at pacing myself, pulling out rather than burning out! So now the challenge is to extend that fist hour to two.
  17. KevRider

    Thanksgiving

    So I clear improvement form last year. I use thanksgiving as an excuse to put up the Christmas decorations and last year i could just manage to climb the step ladder and then my balance was precarious and i had to use a free hand to steady myself. This year was pretty easy tho I did need a nap after I finished. So while I decorate Deb cooks a big vegan meal this time with a roasted faux beef joint. Mental attitude has shifted also.. after my stroke i was thinking I'd be happy to make another Christmas and I had made a bucket list to see Monument valley and Carlsbad Caverns. ( which I did) so now here I am a year and half later! So perhaps a bit corny but I thought I do a stoke gratitude list:- 1. still being alive1 2. thanks to the surgeon who got my clot removed against a 90% mortality rate. 3. My inpatient therapists who got me walking and riding again. ( even tho with no style) 4. Friends and family who supported me in both emotional and logistics. 6. my out patient therapists who got me running again. 7. My wife who was at my side through the stroke % the recovery.
  18. Most weeks during Covid are isolation are very uninteresting, so by Tuesday I'm wondering what to write about. My self commitment to the weekly writing of this blog make me review what progress if any I have been making, which is in itself a good thing! So in this weeks contemplations I realized I still tend to watch and grade most motion I make starting with the walk to the barn every day to fed the horses, however it appears my datum has shifted. A year ago I gauged progress from my paralysis and how much return of function I was getting. In the review yesterday I realized I had changed and now gauged improvement by how close to normal I move. This week a couple of rough days slowed me down and so not that much activity. I did however find time to start organizing my tools in the garage. I splurged on a new tool cabinet as the old (red) one was falling apart. It required some assembly so some mobility. I then emptied my tools and other hardware on to a mat in the garage and restored the tools in a more orderly fashion. This required a lot of bending over and turning around, which I was doing at a moderate speed. The result was a lot of light headiness. Now when I was in rehab just after my stroke I this headiness all the time and would just push trough. These days I pass most of the day free of it . I am now realizing that it appears to be associated with my brain re-learning balance. If I make a motion which is not part of my regular motion then the headiness comes for a short period. Furthermore it seems when this happens it also tends to drain my stamina, so a hour or so of this re-stroing of tools an I was ready for a break and a cupa. It took me 3 days to do what would have taken 1 before , but I got it done anyhow 🙂 I have come to accept the the headiness now indicates motion and associated balance are been relearned which is a good thig!!
  19. KevRider

    Starts

    "He puts his pants on like anyone else, one leg at a time" This phrase popped into my head yesterday as I put my pants on. A year a ago putting my pants on was quite an effort as my left leg was virtually incontrollable. A few moths back I actually managed to pull my pants on while standing, although i needed to hold onto the door jam for support. Yesterday I did it free standing! 🙂 Of course this mean i had to balance standing on one leg at a time for a couple of seconds. So it things like this which I now note as part of my recovery. Core muscles , especially my back muscles are now coming under more strain as I move towards my old normal. Gardening strain my back some what more than it did pre-stroke and they are apparently working in conjunction with my legs!? Yesterday I was aware that I was pushing my back and as i left the hoop-house my legs were affected and I was somewhat wobbly. like I had walked a few miles. The back had to work leaning over stating trays for plants. I planted some 384 in total Chinese greens, kale, spinach and lettuce. These go in a plant house in side the hoop-house and should be ready to plant in a couple of months. 384 plants is more than we need but the excess will go to the Navajo reservation where they are presently building hoop-houses to help with their food supply. This weeks pics:- top left; me mixing soils for the starts. top right planting trays. bottom left; plant house with trays on heating pads and the house has a heater to ensure no freezing. bottom right; Deb's greens bed that supplies our present greens.
  20. KevRider

    Winter is here

    So live is pretty good and motion is back for the most part and moving without the concentration it used to take 6 months ago. I still get a little light headed when I enter a balancing challenge from a position that I may not have tried since the stroke. I find I work more naturally and actively but then run out of energy. I find after a certain amount of work I will suddenly get fatigued and muscles are harder to control. Or as I tell Deb, I have gone wobbly. I can return to better control with concentration but that's only good for about as much time as it takes to get settled down for a cup a tea. The latest example was when the weather report shoed a hard freeze coming of 17F. At that temperature it will freeze in side the hoop house so we needed to cover our green crops. We have little heating pads that go under the insulation to help. if we get it right we can grow greens through the winter. So after pulling all the required stuff out of the shed and covering the plants i was suddenly wobbly and it was time for a morning cup a and a break. We develop little routines over time. As an escape from all the noise of all the political news and covid we had developed the habit of feeding the horses and then sitting out to watch the sun set. With the cold we were reluctant to give up the routine so we decided to try a fire pit. It was quite cozy at 44F but we realized we need cushions to insulate us from the metal seats. We also followed it with hot chocolate! I have a card for the Mary Jane, but I caan let it expire now as Arizona just legalized recreational use 🙂
  21. So I'm so close to normal movement that identifying improvement is a challenge. I am moving normally unless fatigued but the easier movement leads me to imbalances quite often. However such are recovered quickly and instinctively. I'm steadily taking on more project work and my stamina is slowly increasing. I tend to work mostly in the mornings and still have a nap in the afternoons but not every day, which is a major improvement from 6 months ago when any exertion would need a nap after to recover. So Monday was my 69th birthday, which I have to admit 18 months ago i was wondering if I'd make it to 68! Covid has made is more meal oriented and when asked by Deb what I wanted to do I said Id like to start the year with a British Breakfast Those who are more familiar with me and my diet will know we eat a low fat, vegan diet. So the British Banger & the bacon are all fax-meat. We have also developed a habit during the last month of feeding horses a little earlier and sitting out on the back patio to watch the sun set. I must admit its been getting a little chilly lately so we are ordering a fire pit to try and continue the habit. It can get quite spectacular at times but its also a nice time to chat and reflect. Well the election has finish bar the counting so I'll probably have the time to rejoin the chat room. 🙂
  22. KevRider

    Winter is here!

    Well another week where I thought i'd have no specific improvement to report. Then yesterday i was caught with my hands full in the tack room of the barn, Feed in one hand and a kitty in the other. I had managed to pen the door and go in but now needed to close it .( The cat is closed in the tack room at night due to coyote and owls) With out thinking I flipped my leg back and kicked it close. I then realised what I had done! I had transferred weight onto one leg, a balancing that I would have not been able to pull off back in March. Then standing one leg i moved the other up in the air and moved it laterally behind me. The force of the push then had to be balanced against the weight of the door. Although I had not thought a second before the maneuverer, immediately after I was aware of the complexity of the move. So rather than observing quality of movement as I have been, like evenness of pace etc, it seems I have entered a new phase of complexity of the movement. Quarantine while... Winter came sudden and hard. There nights down to 22F and snow also. We had to get out the day before and blow out the irrigation and harvest the tomatoes, even the large green ones, as a touch of frost and the become a black mush. Of curse we can still fry green tomatoes, although we don't fry as we are low fat. we grill with garlic and onions 🙂 And like peppers they will ripen for a few days on the counter. So in conclusion it seems I will now have to look at the kind of movements I'm making rather that how well i do simple movements. So I realize in some ways my recovery is in progress and moving to old normal 🙂
  23. KevRider

    Broccoli

    So another week with nothing specific to report. Moving pretty well with jus the odd minor wobbly. Fells a little like driving a car with a worn steering rack, just need a lot of minor corrections along a trip. These days it seems I have more to report from the garden. Of course a year ago I was writing gardening off. So we have a big cold front coming in on Monday supposedly down to 22F according to forecast and high probability of snow. So all veg in the out side bed have to be harvested. Part of that harvest was my first broccoli head 🙂 I like broccoli and have tried to grow a couple of plants every year but never get the timing right. lots of plant and no heads! This year we had 2 good heads and a few small ones. Who knows next week perhaps snow shots?
  24. KevRider

    Peppers

    We ue to sell at a local organic health food store but it went out of business 😞 Deb roasts and freezes them and so they dont last all year as we eat a lot 🙂
  25. KevRider

    Peppers

    Here we are on the weekly blog, but little to tell. No identifiable improvements but I am to be getting to do more work than at the beginning of the year so I'm hoping that's a sign of increasing stamina. So we are down in the 30s some mornings lately though still 80S afternoon. That kind of highj dessert swing can let an early frost sneak in so we have been harvesting crops that would get damaged. This weeks main target the peppers. The various wok loads make it hard to gauge but I assume my stamina is increasing.