heathber

I've only recently got back into cooking Jay. It's a great feeling isn't it. I made a lamb saag curry last weekend with all the spices. I may not chop things as finely as I used to but it doesn't seem to matter that much. It the cleaning up afterwards that's hardest. I make such a mess.

I love the idea of invisible cats. I think they must follow me around too. I have a non invisible cat at home, who has been part of my walking therapy since I left rehab, but I still trip over things that aren't there.

Sounds great Jay

Thanks Elizabeth. Life gets boring if you just do what you've always done. Give it a go it feels so nice when you win.

I have a great team of trainers and therapists who don't panic when I do something silly. My physio encourages risk taking within reason, such a nice change from hospital therapists who are so risk averse that they don't let you try anything new. He's all for finding out what your current limits are and he stresses "current" when he says this. My trainers are similar and while they like to be there to catch me when something goes wrong, they also understand that the only way to improve is to keep pushing limits. So I push and they pick up the pieces afterwards. Sue Sorry but I always overdo it eventually. I am however always aware of the consequences and have a planB ready for that.

Best of luck Jay. It helps to stay positive. Remember if it doesn't work out it's their loss.

I did my big test walk yesterday. I promised myself that I would get to the top of Hanging Rock before I left for my holiday. It's a good test of my capabilities and a way to asses the impact of this sort of activity. This is where we went https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Rock,_Victoria I had 4 support crew in the end, several other friends had to cancel at the last minute. We got to the Summit in just under 1.5 hours via the "stairs" route. We came back down via the "ramp" path, which is very steep in some sections, I doubt I could have done the ascent via that path. To get to the top you have to go over some pretty rough rock "stairs" including a few tall ones, thank goodness I took my pole with me. Coming down only took about 45 minutes. At one point on the decent down the big steps I misjudged the footing and ended up sitting on the step, I scared the support crew more than myself. Owen stayed pretty close after that one. I have had almost no fatigue reaction, so that means the training over the last few months has had an effect. The stiffness in the legs however started to be felt by dinner time yesterday. And I'm pretty stiff today but otherwise It's not been a problem. Whether I can do something like this more than 1 day in a row I don't know, it probably would not be wise, but I bet I'll do it at least once on this holiday.

I second that "Thanks Sue for finding the words for me. -Heather

That is such a sad situation to find yourself in. As Debbie said, if you can't do anything for her physically, sitting with her and holding her hand will help you both. -Heather

Yep you have to connect well with all your therapists. Some apprehension is fine so long as you don't let it stop you from doing what you need to do. Recognising that there are some risks in life, means you are human. Taking risks is fine and necessary for your recovery, so long as you know when you are doing it and take the necessary steps to mitigate risk where it's sensible too. But life with no risks is not living. Good on you. -Heather

Sounds good, Hang in there. Life is full of positive things. There is no reason to be ashamed of having a stroke. Stroke can happen to anyone at any time. Don't let them convince you it was your fault and and therefore something you did wrong. Even if you didn't get all the risks out of your life. Life is for living and sometimes crap just happens. Love and hugs -Heather

H Pam, I hope you find a less stressful balance with your living arrangement soon. As Sue said you need to learn to pick your battles. You don't want to be a push over, there's as much stress in feeling bullied as there is in fighting the wrong battles. Fighting a loosing battle saps you energy, so try to save it for the ones you have a chance of winning. Unfortunately in these situations common sense is so uncommon, and some people enjoy the power trip. They love their petty rules, but there's a reason for some of them, so try to be reasonable and compromise occasionally. But you are a person not a machine and your emotional needs should be as important as your physical needs, although they seem to get lost when the bureaucracy takes over. Hugs -Heather

It sounds very like the food at the rehab clinic I was in after my stroke. Lots of us would get together in groups and order home delivery to get something more edible. On my first day leave my friends took me to the supermarket and I went nuts at the deli. Cheese, olives, stuffed peppers, salami. Anything with taste and texture. We had a great picnic but I couldn't take stuff back with me as it would have needed to be refrigerated. My life saver then was that I had been loosing weight so the nutritionists was trying to build me up so they added mixed nuts to my lunch order each day. No wonder you loose weight when they feed you crap!

Hey Pam, Hang in there and don't let them bully you because you make them work for their money. Every so often they need to be reminded that you are a human being and should be treated as one. I'm a network engineer and we often say (only half joking) that the network would run a lot better without all those pesky users. I'm sure the same applies to nursing homes. Keep being the squeaky wheel, and live your own life as much as you are able. Hugs -Heather

You make me really appreciate that my Dad is wiling and able to keep the wood box near the house at Spring Hill supplied for me. Especially as he moved out of that house and into town because the wood chopping was getting too hard. I guess it's a price he's willing to pay to have me come visit them relatively often. And 1 person a couple of nights a month is different to 2 people full time.

Sounds like you are on the right path. Congratulations on making the mental adjustment. I hope you can reduce your meds, just be careful about making changes without discussing with the doctor.

Hi Mitch I'm doing the hanging rock climb on Sunday 20th with a couple of friends, it's my last test before I leave. We won't be going fast. You are welcome to come with us if you think your knees are up to it. No pressure it's just a chance to try it with others around so we can send for the cavalry if needed. Your garden should be looking fabulous now that spring has finally hit. -Heather

Hi Debbie, I'm sure the early pool work was one of the main reasons I'm walking as well now as I am. I was a water baby before the stroke, and my pool instructors had me swimming again in a few weeks( at the rehab hostpital). I could swim (one handed) long before I was walking again. Although the pool walking and pool step work was vital for the leg strength and control. I haven't been in the water this year. The effort required to get out of wet bathers and shower puts me off. There's a pool in the complex I live in so there's no reason not to swim or continue with the pool work on my own, but somehow it just doesn't happen. I hope Bruce can keep it up. -Heather

yep I was at the Melbourne Campus. It was on the day we had both a tram and taxi driver's strike. So there were 3 of us that missed the start time and they had to give the students extra time because of the late start. On the plus side. It meant I chose to walk home (easier than trying to find a taxi) so that made it easy to meet the walking goal for the day.