HostAsha

john : thats great news. remind mom more she walks it will be easier on every one including herself & you. More she walks its easier to take her outside of home. keep that as goal Asha

Julie : My prayers are for you & your family. those testings are painful till they find out actual cause. I hope and pray they find underline cause sooner. good to have his friend there with him with him, less srtress for you. Asha

John : good luck I know at first it feels overwhelming to be able to take care of so many things. BTW make sure you have routine once she is home, that will make life easier for both of you, it reduces anxiety, and once you do same thing over ad over again. It becomes easier. Also once she is home just go with flow not everything will go according to plan, but by relaxing & going with flow it will be easier for both of you Asha

Nancy : I am sending you lot of virtual hugs, I know its not easy being sole caregiver of a person & its harder when person is non cooperative & bent on making life miserable for himself & all loved ones involve in their life. Sometime I feel for sanity of caregive its okay to let survivor go, it will be easier on every one involved. I know when my mom single handely took care of my dad who had alzeimer it was hardest job she ever did & after our dad passed away my, it took my mom few monthsto get her bearings back. hugs, Asha

Sue : its okay to miss Ray & good times you shared with him, but Ray will be so happy for you when you find Sue again & start enjoying life and Sue again. Asha

I was just thinking how come I don't blog bad things which happen from time to time in my life. But I have also noticed that I tend to not dwell on things which when don't go my way, instead of getting aggravated I just go oh well whatever. Well it does drive some of perfectionists in my extended family crazy. luckily hubby is glass half full type of guy & he will straighten me out if any time I am feeling down about some things. I like hubby's philosophy prepare for worst, but then let the chips fall the way they will be. Lot of time in life you don't have control over everything, you just have to go with flow without resisting. Post stroke I am learning to try to do my best to best of my ability then learn to let go & have no attachment to results. its hard lesson to learn, but slowly I am learning. Asha

Debbie : I am glad you are setting & enjoying your new retirement routine. For me getting up on time & s tarting my day after shower & then exercise works well for me Asha

hi Judy : welcome to best online stroke support group. blogging is jewel of this site, I have found blogging & chatting with others highly therapeutic for one's soul. Stroke affects the whole family. I stroked at age 34 which left me paralyzed on my left side & retired me from the job I loved. I never thought I would find joy in living again, but thanks to support of my family & friends & this site I found my joy again. Today after 10 years on this post stroke I view my stroke as just speed bump in my life's journey, it slowed me down to enjoy scenery along the way. Though I learnt valuable lessons on this journey, which is nothing lasts forever good times or bad times things will change, and please don't look too far in future that creates anxiety, don't look back that creates depression, just try to stay in present moment, & when it gets tough just remind yourself this too shall pass. Asha(43 old survivor)

Cagin : we have survivors chats every day ening from 8-9 pm EST. caregiver chat is only on tuesdays from 8-9 PM, but I feel u learn great deal from every chats. So hope to see you tonight. BTW I feel in world there are all kind of people some good, some bad, you have to take what works for you & firget rest. Asha

John : dry run of going home for few hours will make reality sink in for you for your mom your mom will realize what is still lacking and will realize right now she has few nurses & therapists to take care of her, when she goes home its all on you & her so she might realize it is in her best interest to get stronger before she goes home, though I feel real recovery begins when you start living in your home, and lern to adapt & compensate & start living life. BTW once she comes home, allow her to do her own ADL. more she does for herself, better it will be for both of you. Asha

Tina : congratulations on your first stroke anniversary, first year is the hardest, start celebrating those anniversaries now. once you start celebrating those anniversary, you start looking forward to it. Having young kids makes huge difference in one's lives, and you can get used your new normal & start enjoying too. I am so glad you also found therapeutic joy of blogging. hugs, Asha

Cagin : I love reading your daily updates on your grandmother it shows me how family & friends together can make huge difference in person's life. your grandmother is lucky to have you all in her life. I am sure soon everything will fall into routine Asha

Nancy : I am so sorry that Dan is back into his depressed mood. I feel sometimes you need finding something bigger than yourself to come out of your funk mood. for me it was our young son, I could not think of ruining his life because of my depression. hope Dan sees how is depressed mood affects the people around him who love him. you & Dan will be in my prayers. Can Dan use this support group? Asha

Cagin : this is such a great news, your mom & your family are implementing great tricks to get life organized & easier for you all. I love your mom's idea of print out sheet it will be beneficial to whole family & even when you hire outside help you will get detailed report & nothing is forgotton or pushed under the rug. having flash cards are also great idea. things are falling into place hugs Asha

I am so saddened by robin williams death. after dealing with my own depression I thought I know what will help in treating depression. His death showed me every mental illness is different & so will be the treatment plan. No family, friends, support group or money can help every one. I guess chemical imbalance that causes depression is different than depression you go through after encountering loss in your life. I guess sadness you go through after loss is completely different ball game. I just had to write this blog to get off the sadness of loosing such a great guy. I loved the friendship he shared with chris reeves. from all his charity work one can see he was such a great guy so I feel so sad for his death. I hope & pray his soul will rest in peace now & his family wiill get stregth & courage to get through this difficult period in their life. Asha

Katrina : I send you my comment in PM but want to see whether it is fixed yet or not so just testing Asha

hi cagin : welcome to wonderful and therapeutic world of blogging, first few years are hardest after stroke & ofcourse first few weeks are worst one when you are dealing with so many changes & uncertainities. Though from my own personal experience worst is over now its time to regain & reclaiming her life back. I feel when stroke happens its like wildfire in jungle, it destroys lot of trees in the fire, but once everything settles down & smoke clears, you start getting clear picture of destruction and start building your new life.I feel stroke affects whole family. caregiver plays very important role in the beginning. they are not only survivor's medical advocate, caretaker but also cheerleader. though with stroke good thing is that once damage is done its done & every new day brings in small step towards great recovery, don't discount those small steps al those small steps add up to create your beautiful new life & new normal. Asha

Jamie : this is so precious, I am so happy for you. you got to create wonderful memories with kids. Asha

Katrina : you will be in my prayers for more good days than bad. BTW I know not knowing reasons is more troubling. but I feel when you accept things the way it is life becomes easy & you can be happy for every new day given to you. believing God has your best interest in his heart & best is yet to come makes life exciting. Asha

We just returned from our marvelous Hawaiian cruise. we visited 4 islands out of 8 islands & had fun spending time together. This cruise it was just three of us & it was our early 25th wedding anniversary vacation. Weather was perfect whole week & we loved visiting lovely beaches. Kido took surfing lessons & then off surfing whenever he got chance. I love cruises. It is always stress free vacation. you do excursions if you want to or just stay in ship & enjoy lot of activities offered in the ship & every evening there were amazing shows which you attend with your family. After doing few adventures together I decided to stay in ship & read my book on ocean side while kido & hubby went for their zipline adventure. water is so calming & clean that you can see fishes swim by. I saw first time black sand & white sand beaches in my whole life. I felt so greatful & thankful to be still able to enjoy life with my lovely family. I will upload our vacation picture once I figure out how. Asha

George : thanks for quick update. glad Lesley is doing well. I am sure you guys are going to have great time in wilderness. Asha

oh wow sandy : I am jealous missed crashing in such a wonderful party Asha

Tina : glad you had great summer with your girls. I think going back to therapy either at facility or at home is must so that your situation don't worsen.atleast it will only improve & you can enjoy many more summers with your daughters. Asha

Jamie : congratulations in out patient therapy they can do so much more with you than in home health care setting, they will have all tools & equipments to help you strengthen you leg more now Asha

Nancy : I agree with all the commentators above, he should be shipped to nursing home with that attitude. Asha