Hi Barron, welcome to our blogworld. Here we are a mix of survivors and caregivers so by reading the blogs you get a glimpse of many worlds.

I hope you feel glad to be alive most of the time. As a third of those who suffer strokes die and a third are seriously affected after a stroke, those who are on the computer here are the lucky ones. Lucky is a relative term of course..so work your way towards what you want to be, exercise, practice, think positive and work at recovery as you would work at a job.

My husband Ray had had five strokes - 1990, 1999(x2) 2001, 2005 so he has spent a lot of time battling the deficits. Now he is tired and mainly sits and reads, does word puzzles etc. It is sad that at 67 he lives more like he was 87.

Hope you start getting those positive vibes back that made you a success at real estate.

Sue.

Thank you for your reply Sue as I have much admoration for people like you and my husband that have stuck by us. Do you know if you get over the guilt of recking your plans of retirement (growing old ) together?

Barron:

welcome to wonderful & therupetic world of blogging. I stroked at age 34 which left me paralysed on my left side & retired me prematurely from my job. I thought my life as Asha I knew ended in an instant. Stroke feels like wildfire it burns the life you knew it completely. but with help of my family and friends here and in virtual world, I have rebuilt my life. Now stroke just feels bump in our life's journey. Hope to learn more about you from your blogs.So don't feel that you wercked your future. God has better things still stored for you.

Asha (now 40 year old survivor)

Barron: Welcome. You will find much support,compassion and advice here. Please do read through the posts and blogs and try to get through the required reading. It is all immensly helpful. Do the best you can day to day. Push for a bit more and rest, rest, rest. The brain heals with sleep and rest. Please consider an antidepressant. Talk with your doc. You can not dwell on what was lost, only with what the future holds. With your business background I am surprised you are not consulting or teaching. Even a course in Adult Ed would get you out and about, use your experience and guide others. Come often,read and share. Best, Debbie

Hi Barron,

You are not alone! I had the flu, had gotten better, went back to my usual high speed type A routine. I then thought I was relapsing and ended up with an aneurysm and a craniotomy.

It took a very long time to accept that I could no longer function at the level that I once had. What make it easier was learning to stop comparing myself to what I was once able to do and instead learn to applaude myself for what I could accomplish now.

As time went on and I began to see although I may never be my former self I don't do so badly living up to the new expectations I've set for myself now.

It may just take a little letting go and redefining, but there is hope, you'll be okay!

Maria :friends:

Welcome to your new home on the Net! Fred!

Thanks Fred, I hope to use it offen. Things seem to take so much longer now and i am always running out of time.

Hi Barron,

You are not alone! I had the flu, had gotten better, went back to my usual high speed type A routine. I then thought I was relapsing and ended up with an aneurysm and a craniotomy.

It took a very long time to accept that I could no longer function at the level that I once had. What make it easier was learning to stop comparing myself to what I was once able to do and instead learn to applaude myself for what I could accomplish now.

As time went on and I began to see although I may never be my former self I don't do so badly living up to the new expectations I've set for myself now.

It may just take a little letting go and redefining, but there is hope, you'll be okay!

 

Maria

Wow, sounds like our situations are pretty close. May I ask a question? I have put on alot of weight, never having had a problem. My drs. told me when my brain was recovering it went in to over drive - now i have never worked so hard to lose and it is taking forever. They took part of my cerebellum, you? Any how thanks for the words - I will think on the message and take it to heart.

Barron: the body lives on fat, the brain lives on sugar. The brain, being the boss, asks for more, more, more and the rest of your body says, OK boss, we'll do our best. Now multiply that by a healing brain. Try to stick with portion control. When Bruce was in the rehab he actually lost weight and I know it was their portion-control diet. I took all his diet slips home and adjusted everything to the weights listed on his diet slip: healthier diet and he is maintaining 200 lbs. Keep up your exercises daily-when sitting you can march in place, stretch, kick, bend at your waist to your knees, lift weights (we used soup cans). Walk as much as you can. Make a goal: today I will walk to the bathroom every time I have to go. After 10 days or so, walk to the kitchen. If you have gripper bars in your bathroom, several times a day go to the bathroom and practice standing with the gripper bars. Eating raw fruits and veggies for those craves will reduce the urge to look for sweets. Good luck, it is tough. When Bruce stopped walking as much because of the spasticity he started to gain back. Now until the Baclofen trial he must swim almost every day. I explained to him that I weigh 90 lbs and with him and the WC weight he is looking at a very long winter in the house if I can't move him. Debbie

Baron,

Debbie is giving you some good ideas. I am the caregiver to my husband, William. stroke 12-13-08. I is just starting to walk with assistance. You are not lazy, I am sure. The stroke just takes all of you energy. But, do not gain alot weight. It is hard to lose because of inactivity. I try to have lots of melon around for William to snack on. He only eats one or 2 meals a day. But, that is the norm for us. If I am at home we are lucky to eat one meal. Yes, we need one meal. But, we are starved by the time I get us to eat.

Keep up the good work. Recovery is slow and takes lots of hard work.

Ruth

Hello, Barron. It is nice to meet you. I'm you found this site. I found this site almost 3 months ago. I had a brain lesion 12/20/2005 less than a month before my 34th birthday. It too many months for the lesion to shrink. As it shrank, two tiny strokes were found where the lesion had been.

I understand how hard it is to lose weight. Even though I have regained all of my bodily functions in a few months, I still fight fatigue and exercise issues. For almost 3 years, I have been gaining weight. All that time, I had thought it was my Neurontin that I was taking for my vertigo attacks that began in Sept. 2007. It turned out that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which actually caused me to gain weight. I had been exercising a lot and kept gaining.

You will find a lot of support here. I know how it feels to have something like this happening to you. Please know that there is still life after stroke. It will become a different kind of "normal."