HostAsha

hi strokewife : welcome to best online stroke support group, & blogging is best therapeutic hidden jewel of this site. reading your blog brought so many of memories of my initial stroke years when hubby & family spent time on that recliner chair & watching herd of nurses & doctors coming & going from our room. I agree with Sue I won't call stroke survivor victim yes I felt like victim when I was sitting & crying in sidelines. I think real journey begins of stroke survivor when they come home & reclaim their life back with best of their ability. life after stroke is just different not good or bad its just different. I know in the begining months I depended heavily on my husband's & family strength & support till I found my footing back. I found blogging & chatting with other survivors very therapeutic for y soul. would love to meet you more in those venues. Asha (now 46 year old & 12 year old stroke survivor who ofcourse on some days feel like warrior)

Sarah : My condolences & prayers for you & your family. loosing parent is hard but we all know she is at better place now. hope that will give you some comfort. Asha

As you all by now know I m struggling with our upcoming move & change in our life while I am so well settled in our current home. I am so blessed that my negative ying is balanced by hubby's positive yang. I also like to start my day every day with sufi spiritual message. recently read this beautiful quote which ring so true so here I quote " when we look with a positive vision, we can embrace new scenes with sense of openness and adventure". I know this for fact when I look at our upcoming move with positive vision, I am able to look it as adventure of our life where I can decorate & upgrade in our home new things to my liking. that alone makes me dread it less. Asha

Fred : you are so right, stroke just changed direction in our life & who knows maybe this is best road God chose for us survivors. I know thats for sure for my life. The way I was going so fast in my prestroke life I was heading for major disaster in my life. So Stroke was biggest blessing in our life it slowed me down to enjoy scenery along the way. Asha

Pam : I am glad you found great friend in your roomie even though some of your tastes r different you are both bringing joy in each others lives. I pray you find right medications for your pain then life will be on even keel again keeping you in my prayers. Asha

Jay : you will be in my prayers. I know it feels scary at first but once done few times, you feel confident again. Its nice to have loving family close by. Asha

I know I am big proponent of going with flow though I still struggle & resist the change at first. we had great stroke anniversary & valentine date together. enjoyed broadway show together. decided to go in public transportation instead of driving into city which relaxes hubby from driving in city which he is unfamiliar & easy access to bathrooms for me. So it was another successful adventure for us. Now I am back to moving part. I understand I should be excited about move, but in my mind its just lateral move & we have accumulated so much over the years so packing & all those logistics to worry about. I am just venting here & trying to tell myself advice I give to others that trust in God's plans for your life & something better will come out of this. I have to be thankful that at our home atleast hubby is excited about this move so he is always working inside &outside. Ofcourse I am always by his side & helping however I can since I understand he needs support if he goes down we all will be in big trouble kido is too young & busy to help in any ways. hubby feels as long as every one is happy we can do everything together. right now we are getting few things in our new house to b done to my taste once all that is done we will b ready for move. Asha

Jay : Happy Monthly anniversary. life is going to get better every day. So keep on having that great attitude of yours & life will b blessings to every one in & around your life. Asha

Fred : Happy Valentines day to you too. Its fortunate that we have found right love in our life who decided to stick by us in all our up & down journey of life. I already celebrated my valentine Day with hubby on my stroke anniversary date. & we both had great time together. Asha

hey Kelli : don't try to attach your happiness to your outside look & material things, all those things don't matter unless you are going to earn your living by showing off your body in magazines & movies. I find weight & outer look is such a superficial things what really matters is how the person is in the inside. as long as you are healthy weight & not obese weight is the last thing in my mind. our happiness should be attached to other things which matter how good mom daughter or all roles we are playing in life. we in east believe god has made someone out there for every one. & you never know when & how u will meet the person. but eventually we all do & have to make best out of person we end up with. will pray for you. Asha

Audra : stroke affects whole family. It definitely put lot of stress on caregiver too, & it put every one out of their comfort zone. I feel we survivors atleast have it easy compared to our caregivers where suddenly they r burdened with so much more. Sometimes I m glad I am survivor & not a caregiver cause I don't think I could have been able to hold fort till he got his footing back. But I will tell you one thing which my hubby constantly told me keep head out of water for now when you feel like you are drowning in despair. tide will change. remember nothing lasts same forever good time or bad times nothing will last forever. Try to make your survivor as independent as possible more he can do things for himself easier it will be for you in long run. I am so grateful my hubby is patient man & I was impatient. so I could never wait till help arrives for me to do things for me. So naturally became more independent. Also give him house chores whatever he can do safely laundry bill payments cooking, cleaning. Anything he can do you should allow him to do.you both will benefit from it. his self confidence will improve & you will have breathing room for yourself to do other things around house. Asha

Sue : Enjoy your time with your friend. we will be still here when you return & update us all your doings with friend. Asha

Audra : welcome to best online stroke support group. Bruce is fortunate to have you by his side. with your support he will be thriving. I stroked at age 34 which left me paralyzed on my left side, & retired me from the job I loved. for me I never knew so much of my self worth was attached to how much money I made prestroke. I felt hugely lost even when I was surrounded by great friends & family support. I found blogging & chatting with other survivors hugely therapeutic for my soul. & today after 12 years on this post stroke journey I find my stroke just as speed bump on our life's journey it allowed me to slow down so that I enjoy scenery along the way. hope Bruce joins our chat & blog world. belated happy birthday Asha (now 46 year old survivor)

Fred : I have no interest in superbowl but just for fun I will predict Bronocos since pigs on live with Kelli & Micheal show picked Bronoco as their winner. So thats my research & I m picking bronco too lol. oh no carolina just scored touch down so its 6 to 10 after 1st quarter Asha

My 12th year stroke anniversary is coming up in two days. My nightmare of delivering premature baby & loosing her day later & then suffering stroke day later of that will be tomorrow. I have come so far from my those initial years when I thought I would never find joy in living again, & will never be happy again. Who would have imagined after being on this post stroke journey I strongly feel there are no accidents in life. I was meant to go through so much darkness so that today I enjoy & appreciate light all around me. My life is so much more meaningful today. Today I thank that our little angel who came in our life for a day & made sure to get her brother & dad their mom & wife back. For last few years we have started celebrating my stroke anniversary as our valentine date so I have stopped dreading over it, instead I started looking forward to it. Last year we had gone for broadway show in NYC which was all planned by me. this year hubby took over & we are going for another broadway show. I can see how far I have come so far in my recovery physically & emotionally. Now I am feeling more confident about my financial decisions I make for our family. I m so happy that taking those financial courses were key in making me feel confident about that aspect of our life. I feel less dependent on hubby or any one for making those financial decisions. We have plans of going to temple with my whole family & do prayer service for birth of our daughter this weekend. Asha

Pam : reading your blogs makes me so happy for you. I am so glad you are content & happy to be around other people. I also feel being organized makes life so much easier. I am work in progress in that department. Asha

Julie : Happy Anniversary to Larry. having understanding & loving caregiver makes huge difference in survivors life. I am so glad you are by Larry's side. Sometimes it feels so scary to change the doctors who we feel like are god & has our best interest at heart. will have to remember they are human & we have to do what is right for us. Asha

Fred : we both stroked around same time frame. I am also coming up on my 12th stroke anniversary. I thought suffering stroke at young age was injustice to me & our family. but thanks to amazing family & spouse it feels perfect timing by god lol. this life is earth school & our experiences & choices we make in life creates our destiny. Some choices are good some are bad but as long as we learn from those experience & grow no experience is wasted in life. maybe you had to go through difficult marriages to finally meet your soulmate & be great husband. celebrate every day. Asha

Jay : beautiful poem, sometimes I thank my stroke which changed course of my life for better. Met wonderful people otherwise I would have never met in million years. My stroke made me believer in the line there are no accidents in life. thanks for being here. your positive attitude & uplifting blogs I look forward to reading every day. It starts my day on positive note. Asha

Lydia : thank you so much for updating your blog. you are such a dynamic person doing so much after stroke, it just tires me out reading your blog, I m amazed you have energy to babysit after full day of work. please update us after your doctor visit what is his opinion about your recent fatigue. oh & you have to update us more about your new love interest . I want details lol. Asha

Jay : Happy Anniversary. first year is the hardest of all physically & emotionally. But I know you will do better and better as years go on. Enjoy your up ride on life's ferris wheel. you are blessing to many. hope you are celebrating your stroke anniversary in style. Asha

Scott : I m glad atleast one doctor has courage to tell you the truth instead of giving you false hope which makes you think oh I will be happy when my left hand start working, I think once you accept & start living life to your fullest. stroke just becomes speed bump in our life's journey. I know acceptance is most serene place in your life's journey. Asha

Jay : I am so happy for you. I think with positive attitude towards life everything is possible I am glad you both found your old activity & love for it together & adapt to make it new activity to do it together which you both enjoyed. I am sure this thing is going to make you guys even closer & your marriage stronger. Enjoy. Asha

hey Kelli : I was so upset reading your blog didn't know what to say but I agree with yvonne & pam both nailed it. I agree with both you need to step back from going to his place so often though in a way I think you are going there for your son & not him. but I agree time for you to move on. you are great person inside out & will find great guy. Asha

hi sweetmom : reading your blog reminded me of my initial similar struggle I hated what I became post stroke & I wasn't happy about that. I didn't ask for this new stupid stroke which brought all the changes I didn't volunteer for or asked for it. but once I accepted & making best lemonade possible for our life. It felt liked I kicked ass of stroke which interrupted my joyful prestroke life. So I am sure you wil different once you reach your acceptance stage & start enjoying your new normal .Asha