Mitch04

Stroke Survivor - male
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Blog Entries posted by Mitch04

  1. Mitch04

    Why oh why?

    By Mitch04,

    Why do we have children? Why can life be so screwed up? Why can't some men tell the truth?
     
    Our son-in-law has walked out on our daughter and her two children barely a month after moving into a new house. The reason? He wants to be happy. Never mind the unhappiness that his cowardly and greedy move has unleashed on her and the 5 and 8 year olds, on my wife and I, our son, our immediate family, his immediate family, and their many friends etc.
     
    He wants to find happiness. So long as he is happy, things will be all right.
     
    He is delusional.
     
    He says his departure will have no affect on the children. He says that his family is not broken. He says the break up of the marriage is no-one's business but his and our daughter's. God, can he not see the trail of devastation his actions have caused? And how this has caused a chain reaction of despair and great sadness among scores of people from immediate family through to friends?
     
    I have had my rant.
     
    I will return to blogging when I feel more settled. And I apologise.
  3. Mitch04

    Some photos....

    By Mitch04,

    Here are some photos..... I have no idea if I am permitted to post photos as part of a blog or if I have to post them elsewhere. But this is just to see if I have worked out the way to do it... Someone please tell me
     
    Front of cottage.
     

     
     
    Back of cottage before we began renovating.
     

     
    After the renovation.
     

     
    The garden before.
     

     
    The garden after partial renovation.
     

  4. Mitch04
    I have at last worked out how to do photos on this site, and tomorrow I will post some of our cute cottage, its before and after garden, and maybe some shots of the Men's Shed and the Campaspe river.
     
    I would have posted some today.....but Jules was getting grumpy about my computer work eating into my helping-in-the-garden time, and there is nothing quite like an enraged wife when she reckons her man is slacking!
     
    Our footy team was crushed by the opposition tonight, so that was a disappointment. But when you consider what the team went through midway through the season, they did very well to finish where they did.
     
    And next week it's school holidays, and we have daughter Mia and the two little boys coming to stay.
     
    Remember.....tomorrow I will have my first photos up on the blog.....
     
    Sorry if this blog entry is a trifle dull. Blame it on tonight's football match which our team lost....if "lost" is the right word. Actually, "slaughtered" would have been better :-(.
  5. Mitch04
    I again went to see my sleep man down in Melbourne, but we left early morning and didn't return to Kyneton until 6.30 pm, stopping off to see our son, going to Bunnings at Sunbury, having lunch, taking Jules to have a cut and trim (she's *beep* off with the Kyneton salons) and stopping to see our good friend Sheryl,
     
    All in all it was a good day, although we had to go through our son's despair over his car, as some *beep* threw a metal star dropper through the front window so that the vehicle is undrivable. The window has had it, and the car is hardly worth repairing. The passenger side front window has also been smashed, the clutch needs replacing, and several other key parts of the car are shot. It has all made Nick somewhat sour towards the world...,which is really not Nick at all. And there's little we can do to help. It's at moments like this I would like to be able to hand him $20K and tell him to trot out and buy another vehicle.
     
    Bunnings was OK, and we purchased 20 metres of wire mesh to nail along the back fence so that creepers can easily grow up it.
     
    And my sleep man was fine, although on several points we failed to see eye to eye. He tried dissecting every element of my wood carting in to the lounge room fire each day.....a chore that makes me somewhat fatigued. But it didn't matter how he examined this chore, there was no way it could be simplified! I think he was determined to find a better way, but after an hour of breaking the chore down,....chopping palings with a tomahawk to make kindling (chopping, stooping, carrying the kindling some 20 metres to the lounge room fire), carrying heavy logs 2-3 at a time the same distance into the fire, (stooping, lifting, carrying, putting the logs down again after walking the 20 metres).... .he gave up. Not that I minded.
     
    Carting wood indoors does fatigue and tire me, but as I said to this guy, "the activity is good for me, and while it causes fatigue, the more I do it the less fatigued I may eventually become."
     
    So he reluctantly agreed.
     
    Moochie the dog went crazy when we eventually returned home. And after dinner and a wine or three we watched "The Bachelor" which we both like. I know it's trashy TV, but sometimes a bit of trash goes well with the ABC which we tend to watch 85 percent of the time.
  6. Mitch04

    Damn electronic apparatus!

    By Mitch04,

    I've been exercising 3-4 times since last Monday with a regime that now has me walking at a fast pace for 30 minutes every other day. And I have been getting up each morning at 7.30....a new experience for me!!!!! So far I have survived two weeks.
     
    The pulse timer and watch thingy I was given to wear - and which I gave up on after five days - I am back to wearing following a visit to our local gym where (in desperation) I got one of the intructors to show me how to set it.
     
    Now it seems to be working fine.
     
    But I have given away the steep hill cl;imb and staiur climb for two freasons:
     
    (a) both were in reasonably isolated areas, and had I collapsed it could have been ages before anyone found me and
    (b) I was having difficulty in even doing them.
     
    I have now, on the advice of Monash Hospital, switched to 3 days (at least) of fast walking for 30-45 minutes day until I see my contact person on Wednesday of this week. The main problem with the exercise is not the heart rate...it's the knees, which start giving out on me after 30 minutes. My knees have always given me problems, even pre-pstroke.
     
    Apart from all this, life continues at the normal rate.
     
    Jules is getting very excited as our architect, Ian, has offered to build her a garden summer house at cost as a model for a new enterprise he is considering (building garden summer houses!!). He has arrived at preliminary drawings, and I reckon it will start very soon.
     
    Why?
     
    Because Ian's partner, Simion is a top frrelance photographer for a plush home-style and garden magazine, and he believes our cottage will be featured in an early summer edition. And the garden summer house would - in addition to our renovations - be a great advert for Ian's skills as a designer.
     
    I am painting fencing palings and fixing them just outside our solar powered garage roller door, and Jules, bless her heart, is planting yet more shrubs and greenery - and ripping out sticky weed and arum lillies.
     
    Today's weather is idyllic! A balmy and sunny spring day...
  7. Mitch04
    I've got my first appointment and assessment at Sunshine Hospital's Pain and OT Clinic in October 1 at 9.30 am. This follows a referral from my neurologist, Nick Crump. It's a 71 km drive, but I should be able to do it. Anyway, it sounds interesting, and I will be keen to see what they say and suggest.
     
    I don't reckon that medical people, despite their knowledge and experience, ever truly know how a stroke survivor feels. You have to have suffered stroke(s) and survived to really understand and know the pain and distress that accompanies stroke.... Doctors, cardiologists, neurologists and the like may say "I know how you feel", but they don't. Not unless they have suffered stroke.
     
    Anyhow, am down in Melbourne. Watched the grandchildren in their school concert tonight, and it was a real hoot. Very funny and so cute. Made me really appreciate both of them.
     
    In the morning we return to Kyneton. It's Ian's birthday, and we would like to see him during the day, as in the evening we want to watch the AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG. And we hope the Crows win!
     
    The match between the Perth Eagles and Hawthorn was a let down. The Eagles won easily......much to the distress of the Victorian commentators...
  8. Mitch04
    The heading says it all. Have been in Melbourne for four days, and only returned late yesterday.
     
    Friday was my birthday....I've hit the dreaded 69....and Sunday was Father's Day, and I wanted to spend both with the two children and grandchildren. And on Monday I saw my sleep man.
     
    The sleep went well during the past 8-10 days, and I had two nights of 8 hours sleep. Might not seem like much to many of you, but when you have tended to have 4-5.5 hours sleep for the past 8+ years a couple of decent nights of sleep are great. Can't put it down to anything in particular, but maybe it has been my tightened regime of going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, having a 30-45 minute nap in the late afternoon, and taking up my exercise again. If you recall, I overdid the exercise regime when I started it some 3 weeks ago, and after four days ended up spending the 5th day flat on my back lying on the bed.
     
    Sadly, however, the stiffness/spasticity has been getting progressively worse. All I can do to ease it is to continue with my stretching exercises, and walking every other day for between 30-45 minutes......plus gardening and carrying wood indoors for the fire.
     
    I had good news today, however. The funding submission I wrote for the Kyneton Men's Shed was successful, and we have scored a government grant of $60,000! Add this to our current funds, and we have a little over $90,000 ...... so a new shed is now well on the way to becoming a reality. Hopefully it will be ready by June 30, 2017!
     
    Mind you, the way in which this news was released was exceedingly amateurish and ham-fisted......and very surprising considering it came from a State government minister. I got the news when a local newspaper rang and asked for comment, and even as I write this d have yet to be advised by email, letter or media release!
     
    I watched a documentary about US architect Frank Gehry tonight, and it has set me thinking...... I have always had a way with words and being cheekily optimistic (Australia and Adelaide in particular has me to partly thank for winning the World FormulaOne Grand Prix) and the new Shed will prolly be build from colour bond. But, I thought, why not write to top Australian architect Glenn Murcutt - renown for his galvanised/corrugated iron constructions - and invite him to design a shed for us free of charge, and which can be built for $100,000? It might look a damn sight better than an off the hook colour bond steel shed!
     
    I reckon it's worth a punt!
  9. Mitch04

    Another entry.....

    By Mitch04,

    I spent several hours today editing the blog that I maintained on Australia's National Stroke Foundation's website, and which runs to some 250,000 words. I plan on editing it into around 150,000 words and self publishing it for a modest fee of around $5.75. Maybe with the title of "A stroke survivor's blog....or how I handled a tree change and lived!"
     
    We'll see. Maybe that's too long a title!
     
    But, in editing it today, and I've only done the first four months (the full blog runs for more than 36 months), I have been fascinated in what I have been able to recall. It is interesting going back some four years and seeing what you were feeling then compared to whatt you are feeling now. Well...it's not always a good feeling, as in some ways I have gone backwards. Maybe others have the same feeling.....
     
    Do some of you feel you are going backwards instead of making improvements and going forwards? This is despite your best efforts to improve?
     
    I also spent about 1.5 hours painting bare wood that had been installed where we have had our new roller door erected, so now it at least looks finished. The door has a rounded canopy protecting it from the weather rather than a garage, and looks very good from the road.
  10. Mitch04
    Not a lot has happened since my last blog. But I have been to Melbourne to see my sleep therapist, and he has devised a program for me based on what I have told him, this is based on my current appalling sleep habits that see me get around 4-6 hours a night with most nights being interrupted by a toilet stop that results in around 30-45 minutes of lost sleep. Now, this does not mean that I spend up to 45 minutes standing in front of the toilet! Only 2-3 minutes actually, but it takes me ages to get back to sleep again.
     
    Here is what the therapist advises:
     
    1) I have a siesta each day, lying down for 30-45 minutes sometime between 2-3 pm.
    2). I no longer wear a watch to bed. This is based on my current thought process whereby when I go to the toilet or wake at, say, 2.30 am, I look at my watch and think: "Damn....I have to spend another 4-5 hours in bed!" He says that the time I wake in the middle of the night no longer matters. So no more watch at night.
    3). Because I read a lot in bed, both before sleeping and after waking, my brain is starting to think that bed is related more to reading, and less to sleeping. So less reading in bed (I can read elsewhere).
    4). Setting my alarm for 7.30 and getting up at that time. Doesn't matter that I wake between 5-6 am currently, and stay in bed reading until 8.00. This is meant to break my current sleep/waking habit.
    6). Reducing my "real" exercise sessions to 3 a week and starting slowly and building up the intensity. (I tried to do too much 7-8 days ago when I started my new exercise regime, trying to run before I could walk. So now I do it on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and slowly build up the intensity. But still do my regular walk Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
    7). Still not use my radio ear plugs. These stimulate my mind and keep me awake....well mostly they do. I love news, so I try to stay awake to listen to the ABC 24-hour news station instead of sleeping (no wonder my sleep habits are all screwed up LOL!!!)
     
    And as for my active mind? Not much he can suggest, but he almost died laughing when I jocularly told him I could start taking sleeping tablets. :-)
     
    Now most of you are prolly yawning by now and wondering what sort of sleep deprived idiot I am. And you are prolly correct. But I am trying to sleep better, and have as my goal 6-7 hours a night as opposed to my current 4-6 hours.
  11. Mitch04
    It's been several days since my last blog, but there have been reasons:
     
    1) my daughter, Mia, has moved into a new home, and Jules and I helped her.
    2) our son, Nick, arrived at our place unexpectedly yesterday to stay for 48 hours.
     
    There have been other minor reasons also,, but after blogging here and on the Nationsl Stroke Foundation (Australia) for some four years almost daily, I reckon I deserve the break!
     
    Tomorrow Jules, Nick and I are driving to. Daylesford to the Sunday market, and then having lunch at Hepburn Springs before we are taking Nick home and continuing on to Mia's.
     
    For my part, life has not been great, and the aches and pains continue. But I persevere and hope for the best. I had a letter from the Sunshine Rehab and Pain Clinic advising me that they will contact me when they have a vacancy, so I have my fingers crossed. This is the group that my neurologist is sending me to see in the hope of helping to rearrange my brain so that it stops organising itself in a bad way, and starts organising itself in a good way.
     
    I have my fingers crossed.
     
    PS: I hate predictive text......it always stuffs up. "have" becomes "gave", "in" becomes "on", etc etc
  12. Mitch04
    That's the score. My neurologist has talked to my neurophysio and they have both arrived at the conclusion that I am suffering from bad recovery.
     
    Apparently my brain, after almost 6 years has started to reorganise itself, but instead of doing it in a "good" or "right" way, it is doing so in a "bad" way. So I asked him how we could re-organise the brain. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said, in a kind way, that he was uncertain. Now, he is a top guy, and assisted Alistair Clarkson, coach of the Hawthorn football club when he had a brain problem. Those who know about the AFL will understand.
     
    The neurologist's name is Nick Crump, and I trust him implicitly.
     
    He has determined that I should undergo more rehab, and because I no longer have private health cover he is trying to arrange for me to go to the nearest big hospital....in a town called Sunshine about 75 km from Kyneton.
     
    So there's my challenge..... To try to turn my "bad recovery" around and make it "good recovery". Who knew? Curse my damned brain! Why, after just over five years, has it decided to reorganise itself in a "bad" way?
     
    Has anyone else had this problem? Did any of you know about good recovery and bad recovery? And if so, how did you solve the "bad" recovery?
  13. Mitch04
    I don't admit defeat, but I believe that during the last five days I have so increased my exercise regime that I have done what my new "Explain Pain" book describes as "boom and bust"..... I have so far overdone it that my body has screamed at me: "You've exercised me far too much, you stupid *beep*! Slow down!"
     
    I can hardly move without my body aching unimaginably painfully. The end result has been that I have spent the entire day either lying on my bed, or sitting in the warm sun (yup...warm sun!!!).
     
    I reckon it will take me several days to get back to anywhere near normal.
     
    Heather, if you read this, you might tell me how long it has taken you to get back to normal after you have overdone it....
  14. Mitch04
    As the heading says, this was the way it was. Yesterday the bloody long steep hill......today it was the 15 minute walk before spending a horrendous 15 minutes pounding up and down steps of the race course grandstand. The calf muscles felt it first, then the knees. And then it was the lungs and heart.
     
    But.....I feel better for it.....or so I like to think. And today I remembered the chest/heart monitor and the wrist gizmo. Sadly, I forgot I was wearing them until late afternoon! ;-(
     
    Tomorrow I do the brisk 30 minute walk. And then it's back to the bloody hill again. And I am doing all this torture in the named of medical research. Though I admit that I am also doing it for the betterment of my health.
     
    I also went to the library today and borrowed a book called "Pain" which initially looked like a kids cartoon type of publication.....but as they say: Never judge a book by its cover. It's damn good. Can't remember which ppl wrote it, but as it's in the study some distance away, and as it's after 11.00pm, and as it's bloody cold....you will all have to wait until tomorrow when I get myself out of bed and blog again. Then I can give you all the details.
     
    G'night zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  15. Mitch04
    Felt better during this morning's walk, and that put a spring in my stride. But as the day progressed I got worse. Have been drinking plenty of water, as Ethyl suggested, but the pain around the torso and waist - at times - can become almost unbearable. But it is only momentary as I try to stand. But during those 5-6 seconds I feel as though I might not be able to overcome the pain and stand.
     
    I'm hoping that it is all the result of my exercises and that it will go away as I try to fight my way through it. But as I said yesterday, I'm seeing my neurologist in Monday and hopefully he may have some answers for me,
     
    We are entertaining tonight, so maybe the wine and conversation will make the pain fade..,..
  16. Mitch04

    A pretty lousy day

    By Mitch04,

    Today has not been one of my best, and I don't know why.
     
    Went for my hill climb walk this morning, and completed it OK. Then did some computing for an hour or so before going to the Men's Shed for lunch. It was while I was there that I felt unsteady on my feet, and a tad light-headed. Chatted with the blokes for about 90 minutes, then drove home, where I still felt a tad light-headed.
     
    Maybe it has been four days of harder physical work than I have done in a while (my normal 30 minute walks have been at a steady pace, but not a fast pace) because my new regime is significantly harder. Anyway, I lay down mid afternoon for about an hour, and while the rest helped, even now I feel less steady in my feet than I have in a long while.
     
    I am seeing my neurologist on Monday, an appointment I had totally forgotten about, so perhaps he will have some answers for me.
  17. Mitch04

    A quiet day

    By Mitch04,

    I had most of today to myself, as Jules went tol Melbourne to spend the day browsing the fashion shops with daughter Mia. So just as I decided to cook Moroccan meatballs, architect Ian dropped by for coffee, and stayed for an hour or so. Then I managed to get into cooking after he left.
     
    It takes me an age to cook these days, as having only one effective hand means I have to be careful with everything, specially the super sharp knives. I'm not much good at finely chopped onion, for example, unless I want to include some finger....which I don't! And while measuring out spices is easy, cracking an egg is still hard...without getting some shell into the pot as well!
     
    I guess most of we survivors who enjoy cooking have to adopt different ways of doing things to people who are not in the slightest disabled. But someow we manage.
     
    The meatballs are now cooked and sitting in the 'fridge until we have them for dinner tomorrow night (with salad and cous cous), as this evening we have been invited out to a wonderful couple, Ian and Simon, who live just down the street. Ian, who is an outstanding cook, still loves simple food so we are having corned beef, mashed potatoes and greens.
     
    Anyhow, I digress.
     
    After finishing the cooking I went for my half hour fast paced walk, and really felt it in my calfs, which are obviously still feeling yesterday's stair walking! But if I dont walk, the body starts to seize up, and Moochie the dog loves it. I wish I had her boundless energy!.
     
    When I got home I jumped in the car and did a quick tour of the food shops and bakeries as Jules' best friend is training it up from Melbourne tomorrow to spend the day with her, and she is a vegetarian. So Jules wanted me to check on which were the best looking vegetarian pasties and savoury tarts.
     
    So I have had an interesting day, and Jules arrives back at the Kyneton station at 4.30, where I will pick her up.
  18. Mitch04

    My program......

    By Mitch04,

    My fitness program would make most of you blanch....including me.
     
    I have made it so hard for myself by nominating tough roads and grandstands.....and had I realised what I was doing, I would have nominated different streets and grandstands!!!!
     
    Firstly, I have to wear a heart monitor around my chest, and this "talks" to a gizmo on my wrist....and records my heart rate, distances I have gone and time it has taken.
     
    I have, during the first month, three programs, and they all alternate daily 6 days a week (Yes, I get to rest on Sunday's!!!).
     
    1) walking at a fast pace for 30 minutes and getting my heart rate up to 140 and not allowing it to drop below 98.
     
    2) walking for 15 minutes and then climbing the stairs at the racecourse grandstand for 15 minutes before doing another fast paced 15 minute walk.
     
    3) walking up Brocklebank drive (very steep and long) and back along Wedge street to Jeffrey street Kyneton, and taking 45 minutes or less. Once again, getting the heart rate up to the levels I have already mentioned.
     
    I started backwards today by doing number (3) first, and forgot to wear the bloody heart rate monitor. Hell, it was hard work. I was starting to weave a little as I entered the home stretch.
     
    The second month is more of the above, but faster....
     
    And the third month is.....you guessed it.....more of the above but faster.
  19. Mitch04
    I have seen my fitness physio and my sleep guy. And I wonder what I have left myself in for. It's too late tonight to go into my new regime, but I will try to fill you all in tomorrow.
     
    But my sleep person.....
     
    1Canesfan, he is meant to be helping with improving my sleep. I have had, in the past, a notoriously poor sleep record, often recording just between 3-5 hours a night instead of the traditional 8 hours. A lot of this has been because I have an active and creative mind (I used to sleep with a pen and pad next to my bed to write down ideas during the night); I used to go to sleep with the radio on (ear plugs in each ear); I used to read each night, often until 12.30-1.30 am; and at my age I used to take my meds before hitting the sack, wash them down with water, and then wonder why I used to wake 1-2 times each night to go to the toilet for a leak!
     
    Now, if you are anything like as smart as my wife, you would have said, "Whoa, Johnno!!! Can't you see all of these things are destroying whatever pathetic sleep pattern you have?????"
     
    And you would have been correct! But me being me, I required a sleep therapist to tell me. So.....
     
    ..Taking my meds just after tea instead of shortly before I go to bed (3 hours earlier, at least) and only a small sip of water to wash them down.
    ..No more radio ear plugs in the ears when I turn off the light.
    ..Reading just for 15 minutes before turning off the light.
    ..No more pen and pad next to the bed.
     
    I also have a nasty habit of nodding off to sleep in front of TV most nights, and dozing for 30-60 minutes. Now I take an afternoon nap (30 minutes, and no more); my wife has my approval to poke me in the ribs when I nod off; and if I do nod off, after being poked in the ribs I have to go for a walk around the house/room several times.
     
    All this sounds sooooo simple, doesn't it? But I could never see it until the sleep therapist explained it to me. Now my wife is laughing, and I am in a deep state of great embarrassment!
     
    The end result of all this is that my nightly sleep has risen from 3-5 hours to 5-7 hours.
     
    I hope this helps answer your question. :-)
  20. Mitch04

    Tomorrow I start......

    By Mitch04,

    Never write your blog when it is past 11 pm. I have just read my previous blog and found a litany of errors caused mainly by predictive text and my up attention. I'm surprised people didn't leave rude comments aimed fairly and squarely at me. I deserved it.
     
    Tomorrow I go to Melbourne to meet with my fitness physio for the first time, and to have my second meeting with my sleep therapist.
     
    I understand the fitness physio is putting me through a stress test to determine how fit - or unfit - I am and based on the results will formulate a daily fitness regime for me. It involves riding a bicycle with the instructor increasing the load factor regularly as I pedal like a demented person! This will be interesting. I am not one normally given to regimes of any kind ! But I am willing to try it.
     
    Then I see my sleep therapist to determine how my sleeping has been going. Actually it has improved a little, particularly since I stopped using my earphones radio. I have my sleep diary to show him.
     
    All this has to do with a research program being run by a couple of large universities/hospitals over here - Monash and Epworth and is aimed at seeing how exercise and sleep affect those with brain injuries. And I'm looking forward to my involvement.
     
    I'll report on the outcomes of tomorrow's two sessions...... tomorrow.
     
    We went for a walk around 9.30 this morning, and then had a mighty big breakfast of the bacon I had purchased yesterday, and eggs, fried tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms.
     
    Then we worked in the garden again, although Jules did the vast bulk of work, as I was wandering between the great outdoors and my office where I had computer work to do. Oh, and I once again fetched wood and lit the fire. Plus going to the supermarket.
     
    So all in all, it was a typical Sunday.
  21. Mitch04
    Jules is continuing to get over her fainting dramas and 8 hour hospitalisation.....by working like a Trojan in the garden, and demanding that I do the same. So I did.
     
    It's now after 11 pm, so it's late to be doing my blog. But from the outset I wanted to point out that I hate predictive text and apologise for the way it might alter the meaning of this entry.....
     
    This morning we made a trip to the manure dump (yes, we live near a race course which has numerous stables nearby) and collected two large plastic bins of horse dung and returning home to empty it on the new section of garden. Then it was in the car again and I drove into the race course proper and around to a large section of fabulously good soil and loaded the plastic bins again. Then it was home to spread the soil and the manure.
     
    I drove to the men's shed for lunch and to meet with the blokes again for about 90 minutes and then returned home to help Jules dig three large holes for Tilia trees that she wanted to plant. And that took a lot out of me, I can tell you.
     
    After, I made coffee while Jules dug a series of smaller holes in which she planted 10 hydrangea plants.
     
    Then we both tidied up the gardening tools, and while Jules showered I did a quick pass by the local supermarket and purchased milk (Jules and I spoil ourselves each Saturday morning at least with a large glass of iced coffee that I make in the blender) and some bacon as a special treat for breakfast in Sunday.
     
    Finally, while I enjoyed the day, I know it makes dreary reading and former at I apologise.
     
    PS: I had a telephone call early evening from the physio in Melbourne who is giving me the stress test on Monday, so that's all fixed. I see her at 1.00 pm and my sleep specialist at 2.00 pm. Ohhh....and Sydney beat Collingwood in the Australian Rules footy match this evening.
  22. Mitch04
    As stroke survivors, some things are sent to test us. This morning at 5.55 I awoke to hear my wife vomiting in the ensuite bathroom. I called was she OK, and received a "yes". As she walked back to bed she said she felt dreadful, and before even managing to get between the sheets, she had to return to the bathroom.
     
    The next I hear is a loud crashing sound, and leapt out of as best I could, opened the bathroom door and found Jules unconscious on the floor. She had landed on her head, her left eyebrow had split, and she was bleeding. As I dragged her into a sitting position she came to, and I managed to get her to her feet and dragged her back to bed. As I checked her eyebrow, she fell forward, eyes rolling in their sockets and passed out again. As she came to for the second time, I told her I was calling an ambulance, at which she started wailing not to.
     
    But I did anyway.
     
    The long and the short of it was that we finished with three ambulances outside the front door and 7 paramedics in the house.
     
    Jules was taken by ambulance to Bendigo (about 80km) and I followed in the Subaru about 45 minutes later.
     
    The reason for the passing out? Jules had vomited so much she had become dehydrated. And she was taken to Bendigo because of the egg sized lump on her head where she had fallen, and Kyneton did not have the right Xray equipment.
     
    Jules stayed in hospital all day, but now she is home again. She has one hell of a black left eye, a bruised right rear leg and a headache....but apparently not any bad concussion.
     
    But it can come as a shock when the carer becomes the patient, and the patient becomes the carer.....specially when paramedics, hospitals, split eyebrows, and fainting is involved....not to mention blood.
     
    When we returned home, I lit the fire (another cold Kyneton night) and made soup and toasted muffins...a simple meal but sufficient after such an eventful day. But my experience just shows how a stroke survivor can become a carer if he or she bewlieves in himself or herself, and can maintain an ordered mind. It would have been easy to panic and to have gone to water. Living on a corner does not help....all of our immediate neighbours go to work very early, have small children or are geriatrics. So I knew it was up to me and no-one else.
     
    And Jules today? She looks like she has gone 10 rounds with George Foreman, as she has a wonderful "shiner"! But it hasn't stopped her from working in the garden.
  23. Mitch04
    It's been 2-3 days since I last blogged, so better late than never.
     
    Friday Jules and I drove from home to Melbourne (1 hr 15 min and about 90km) so I could hav my first real mtg with a bloke from the Monash Epworth Research division which is doing a study into ppl with brain injury like yours truly, and it revolves around two areas: sleep and fatigue.
     
    I saw the bloke concerned with sleep, and as I have a dreadful sleep pattern (most nights I get 3-5 hours of interrupted zeds) I was a natural. We discussed the whys and my goals, and arrived at possible reasons for my poor sleep:
     
    ..Active mind.
    ..I go to sleep with my radio on (ear plugs).
    ..I have on average one wee trip.
    ..Maybe a lack of proper exercise.
    ..The unknown effect of my 3 strokes.
    ..My habit of generally falling asleep in front of TV most nights for 30-60 minutes, and this recharging my batteries so that I remain awake or Ng after Jules has gone to sleep.
     
    So.....can't do much about the active mind and the effect of strokes. But I can play a role in the others, so I have resolved:
     
    ..Not to use my radio ear plugs when I go to bed.
    ..To have my medication earlier at night, and not to drink too much water when I take them (currently I have the medication around 11 pm followed by a full glass of water). Hopefully this will prevent the toilet trips.
    ..To examine my exercise regime and to formulate a more effective one following my appointment with the Monash-Epworth phys ed examiner.
    ..To instruct Jules to poke me in the ribs each time I nod off in front of TV, and maybe try afternoon naps to see if they help stop my habit each night.
     
    It all sounds so simple. But when Adam, the researcher, drew an image/diagram showing my poor sleep habits as a central circle, with each of the 6 potential reasons as to why my sleep habits are so poor as smaller circles radiating from the central circle I wondered why it was that I had been so stupid as to not see the "WHY" myself!!!!!!!
     
    Anyhow, I am seeing Adam in about a fortnight, and between now and then I am keeping a sleep diary to track whether my sleeping is getting better, remaining the same, or getting worse.
     
    I have set several goals:
     
    ..To try to achieve 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
    ..To stop falling asleep in front of TV each night.
    ..To no longer use the radio and ear plugs.
     
    Now I have to also have to undergo a stress test with the phys ed researcher and try to end (well, at least lower) the degree to which fatigue affects my every day life. The physical fatigue is a whole lot worse than the mental fatigue, which doesn't affect me anywhere near as much.
     
    Apart from all the above, life continues as per usual. The Kyneton Farmers' Market was today, so Jules and I went, with Jules buying three trees and some grasses. We subsequently went to the supermarket and purchased food as Jules wants tandoori lamb cutlets for dinner.
     
    I've lit the fire as it is again cold, and our next door neighbour has been in as she returned from Bali this morning. She was lucky, as Australian operators Virgin and Jetstar cancelled their flights due to volcanic material in the atmosphere....but the operator she chose - Garuda, the Indonesian airline, flies through anything no matter the danger!!!!
     
    And last night our football team, the Adelaide Crows, won its match against higher rated Richmond....so the team is back in the top eight again.
  24. Mitch04
    The freezing weather continues. It's getting Jules and I down. The summer was mild, so why inflict us with a severe winter???? Everyone is complaining about it. And I really feel it, both in my stiffness and in the way in hampers my style in being able to go outdoors and walk. I need the exercise. Without the exercise the body starts to shut down.
     
    Had a good meeting at the Men's Shed today, followed by a better than usual sausage sizzle on the BBQ. But apart from that there is again little to report.
     
    I made dinner this evening, however, and it was delicious....Moroccan meatballs in a spicey sauce....and there is enough left over for dinner tomorrow night.
     
    The only downer was going to sleep in front of TV yet again, although only for 15-20 minutes. Maybe it is because of my pathetic sleeping habits. I woke this morning at 4 am after going to sleep about 12.30 am. And I didn't get back to sleep again until about 6.00 am only to wake again about 7.30 am. That makes it a total of about 5 hours sleep - which for me is a little better than usual but still not great.
     
    I have never been a good sleeper, but since my three strokes the sleep has decreased even further. On Friday morning I have an appointment in Melbourne with a researcher from Monash, one of the big hospitals, which is undertaking a study into sleep and stroke, and exercise and stroke. I put my name down to become a "guinea pig" and was selected. Hopefully I may be able to help the study, and the study might be able to help me.
  25. Mitch04
    Some days are like diamonds......while others make me feel as though I am digging up fool's gold. And just occasionally I find it's both. Today was such a day.
     
    The morning was fine. While Jules went to the gym, I went for a 30-minute walk with Moochie. On my return I discovered workmen installing the garage roller door we had been waiting for for weeks. It's almost finished...just have to wait for the battery and solar panel to be installed tomorrow.
     
    The middle part of the day was miserable, with the normal old aches and pains taking hold of my body, although maybe I was at fault in terms of the hand and arm pain. I used my new mirror box a little too enthusiastically....but, hey, at least the arm was exercised.
     
    During the afternoon Jules and I loaded up the car with stuff we no longer use and drove it too the local op' shop where we unIoaded it. While there I discovered a book called "Felicia" - The Late Don Dunstan's autobiography - and upon checking the index at the back discovered three references to myself. The major one related to me discovering the body of one of Don's mates, Gerry Crease, in bed while arriving at his home early one morning to assist him in writing a speech for Don, who at that stage was the South Australian Leader of the Opposition. Anyhow, I purchased the book for $4 just for old time's sake.
     
    The late afternoon I prepared the night's meal....my peculiar version of shepherd's pie, which Jules and I both love. And it was one of the few times I have managed to chop the onion myself. Amazing how a bloody stroke can hamper one with cooking. But it was delicious, and I spiced it up a little with cumin, paprika, turmeric and a can of chopped tomatoes....not to mention the topping of mashed potatoes and grated cheese.
     
    But the hand and arm are still troubling me, and I don't really know why. I used to put it down to nerve pain caused by the nerves not knitting after my lung draining operation. But with the passage of time (5 1/2 years) I reckon it is really yet another byproduct of the three strokes. My latest MRI failed to show any significant change over the previous on undertaken in mid to late 2011.
     
    I just wish someone could tell me why, after the expiation of around 4 years and no apparent subsequent stroke, the stiffness and spasticity has started to haunt me. And it is much worse than the loss of movement I experienced several months after the stroke in early to mid 2010.