heathber

Nice to hear that you are starting to come out the other end of this. I do hope a trip to NZ can be arranged soonish. Hugs to Tippy and I hope she continues to bring you joy for a long time. Good luck and congrats on Chording on the Dulcimer.

There's a Red Hats Convention in Perth that I'm booked into, 5 days of refusing to grow up with other people who are like minded 🙂  The plan is to hire a car afterwards and head down to Margaret River for a week or so (I've never been there). I might be able to make a "side visit" up to your neck of the woods, and certainly will if I get stuck by a closed border or similar. I need to talk to my Support Coordinator about maybe getting a worker to come with me and do the driving and bag carrying etc.

Yes on the when you can't stop it it's better to roll with it, literally if possible. It was one of the ways I knew my propriaception was improving.  Early on I would not know I was falling, I would just suddenly be on the ground going "what the H happened?"  Over time I have learned to notice when a fall is happening, sometimes I can recover it, but often it's a case of going "too late, here we go, curl".

Nice to know you are all getting along, and Bella got to stay. Welcome to the crazy cat lady society

That makes sense. It wasn't that the rug moved it was that you couldn't/didn't get the weight transfer onto the front of the foot in time with the rest of your body. Don't you hate that feeling of "oh crap here we go" where you know you've lost it and you are going down no matter what you do.  Sounds like you managed to be relatively dignified with it though.

time to get the non slip stuff under that rug!

my OT has just ordered me a "toe washer" from the Ability store. It's a washer/sponge on a long stick, designed for cleaning between the toes while sitting or standing. will let you know how it goes once it arrives.  But dirty feet is easier to deal with than shoes a lot of the time 🙂

That is a tomato marathon! Fingers crossed for a harvest that matches your efforts once the weather allows.  Having your French audio books in the greenhouse while you work is a great idea.

Congrats on the vaccine, roll out of vaccine here is just starting, I'm in third wave, so will be a few months off. Global news on the effects is looking good.

Happy to provide moral support whenever needed Tracy, and yes Sanity needs (craft supplies) are needs although you do need to remember they are also treats and be sparing.

((HUGS))

Heather

Wonderful news Sue and I do hope you manage to plan a holiday soon. Although all these snap closures suck, hopefully once they get the quarantine workers vaccinated the frequency of escaping virus is going to reduce and we'll be able to move around more. I want to go to WA in November so I'm watching all this with baited breath, will need to have a plan B ready for if I get caught out.

But I'm trying not to let the uncertainty stop me.

-Heather

An occasional indulgence needs to be enjoyed, don't feel guilty about it that defeats the purpose. It's when the occasion is too often that you run into problems, especially in lockdown/isolation where bad habits are too easy to form. (yes this is the voice of experience but I also refuse to hate on myself)

Looks great Kev.  My physio had me doing "jockey" squats yesterday. was interesting. I had to sit astride a large foam roll and do squeeze and release of the knees and then tuck my feet back behind my knees and do partial lifts.  I hadn't ridden a horse for years before my stroke and I'm not likely to again any time soon. But I have greater respect for those that do now I've been reminded what is needed.

fingers crossed for new med to continue to bring relief. Also note I don't have Raynauds, but post stroke the circulation in my left (affected side) foot is really funny, it now mimics mild Raynauds, My foot turns blue or purple if I don't wear socks or don't walk around enough. I also have constant problems with my toes. They are badly affected by spacticity and curling under, and often hurt a lot like they are bruised.

Anyway what I'm saying is that If something like what I get is happening to you on top of real Raynauds its going to be extra nasty.  Sending Hugs. I do hope your HOA eventually decides that Solar is worth the effort. If there are enough of you it should also be economic to have solar fed battery for after hours use too.

Heather

yes it's about finding the balance point. enough that it feels like you did something, but not too much so you are stuffed afterward.

Janelle the point of having the bike at home is that you can do a couple of minutes at a time without having to make a special trip. I'm trying to add pool time to my exercise schedule at the moment and even with the pool just downstairs I hate to get in for less than 30 minutes, the work required to change, shower, wash bathers and towel etc. is the same for 2 minutes as it is for 2 hours, so knowing that I can't manage more than 20 minutes at the moment without consequences makes it very hard to keep my commitment to myself.

try using the bike for 2 minutes at a time, or even only 30 seconds if that's all you can manage, start with that once a day and then once it doesn't wipe you out try twice a day, you will find that what you can do increases and it'll make you feel less guilty. 

hugs and stat safe from fires

-Heather

Fingers and toes crossed WA gets proper rain soon! 💜💗💜

Hi Asha, Glad to hear that the Dec 2020 event has been resolved and was not another stroke. Fingers crossed no more seizures, that is scary. If people don't respect your boundaries on Facebook or anywhere else, blocking them is the right thing to do.

take care and hugs

-Heather

The measure my physio uses with me in this stage of recovery is "did the extra push through affect you for more than the day you did it?"  i.e. if it stopped you sleeping that night or meant your daily activities the next day were effected then you pushed too far.  I do find I sometimes get so tired I can't sleep which sounds weird but is what happens. This doesn't mean I don't do things it just means I need to allow myself a little slack occasionally and be prepared for consequences when I increase loads or push limits.

Great news and hugs for having to manage full PPE, hopefully not for too long

Oh Nancy OUCH, and phooey, glad the team will be around to help you through the surgery and recovery period. Hope all goes well and you get back to work ASAP, I so understand the importance of it, other than the paycheck which I must admit also helps a lot.

Sue at the moment my world is greens blues and a splash of yellows. I need to get back to the paints. They live at the holiday house and I wasn't allowed to go there for most of last year. And then when I did go I was so busy the paints didn't come out of storage. I did start on a new small piecework project in red and green and cream. Looking forward to finishing that on my next visit.

Green and blue are my happy calm colours, yellow is that splash of sunshine that makes the other colours pop.

Life down here is slowly opening up again, this week has been back to hospital out patients and face to face gym. Of course as you say that could go backward at any moment if the virus gets loose again.

So one day at a time, put your happy face on (fake it 'til you make it if necessary) and before we know it another year will pass. Hugs from a distance and best wishes for  your world to get back to normal as soon as possible.

-Heather

So true Janelle, and having to justify to my mother the things I had put in the need column that she saw as a desire, was actually a useful exercise, although also emotionally difficult.

yep jigsaw puzzles are also a great cognitive workout too, and if you do real ones they also work on fine motor skills that tend to get forgotten when you've been working on gross motor skills.  Another good one for winter is the adult colouring books.  Recovery never stops so long as you are challenging yourself

Oh yes the fun of working out what is a want and what is a need. That was one of the hardest parts of setting up the budget.  And yes Sue some indulgences are "needs" it about making a decision with your eyes open and the long term in mind. A meal out or takeaway may be a need sometimes, especially at the end of a working week.  But if you know how much "space" there is you can balance how often you do something like that.  This applies to diets as much as it does to financial budgets

And Kelli we are all masters of "do as I say not as I do!" 

Hi Kellie, I get it!  I've always made a decent salary and had plenty of funds for holidays etc. when I wanted. But within 2 years of my stroke I discovered I was living outside my means for the first time in my life. It was a shock. During that time I was getting 75% of my pre stroke income via disability insurance. It wasn't really that much less but it was enough less that I couldn't do it in my head any more (or was that the stroke 🙂)

My Mum bailed me out with a lump sum payment, after she got me to do a written budget and an assessment of all the things I was spending money on and deciding what I was willing/able to compromise on. Like you I was living at home at the time and the house bills were being paid by my parents.  Since then I haven't had to ask her for help financially, I even managed the cut in salary I had to take a couple of years later because I could no longer do my technical job  I have also moved out on my own again.

Enough about me but yes I feel you and especially the not wanting to lean on your parents any more than absolutely necessary.  We know they will give us what we need regardless of what it means for their own quality of life, and we don't want them making sacrifices for us now we are grown up and supposed to be independent. I do recommend doing a formal budget of what your incoming and outgoings are and what of your spending is realistically changeable on a long term basis. Only make decisions about selling your place, accessing your savings, and/or moving once you know where you stand.  Write your backup plans down with their pros and cons and then make a decision and get on with doing it. I find the act of writing it all down gets it out of your head and stops you worrying at it.

Good luck and hugs

-Heather

Hi Sue, so nice to hear that there is a special relationship in your life again.  All fingers and toes crossed for a good year for everyone this year.