HostAsha

Debbie : Happy Anniversary to Bruce and you.I know looking back you realize wow how far you both have come from those initial days. Asha

Nancy : I an so happy you got to see new addition to family. I strongly feel if we survivors did not have amazing caregivers like you we survivors would not have been still here. Asha

hi faith : welcome to wonderful world of blogging, your test worked,now let us know more about you. Asha

Cathy : welcome to best online stroke support group, first few years are hardest for every one involved, but it does get easier. I stroked at age 34 which left me paralyzed on my left side & retired me from the job I loved.had it not been our young son & my husband's strength I would not have come out of that phase alive. I hanged dearly on my husbands strength till I found my own again. I know it has to be so hard being caregiver since you have to step out of your comfort zones & hold the fort till we survivor get our bearings together. I found blogging & chatting with other survivors very therapeutic for my soul. Today after 10 years on this post stroke journey I can view my stroke as just speed bump in our life's journey. It allowed me to slow down & enjoy scenery along the way. Asha

Fred : good luck & have great time Asha

tempii : I think as a parent you might be anxious of how meeting will go, I am glad other parent was compassionate & school was accomodating to your needs. hope your daughter learnt her lesson after her suspension to not do that again. violence is never answer to solve any problems in life. Asha

Nancy : Congratulations. BTW I think its not that Dan does not care about having more grandchildren, but it feels more like he is depressed and thats why not interested about grand kids, I am sure he will perk up once he will see the baby. Asha

Katrina : I am so glad you are realizing how much you have, thats why I love gratitude journal, it allows it to look at the positives in life otherwise we quickly take it for granted. one of the reason I love this site since it allows me to see I have so much to be thankful for. I will pray for you. I am glad you were able to diagnose your problem good luck with your job. Asha

hubby & I were just talking about how we both ended up together. There were lot of forks in our life's journey, had we took different road we would have been never ended together, and have our amazing son & this life together. So I was telling him you get this idea or inspiration in your head & you actively work on it which leads to that particular road when you are at crossroad. lot of time we were not even aware at that crossroad but think that''s what you want from your life. So I was wondering is that God guiding us or is it plain coincidence. what do you guys think when you look back in your life's journey. for example after I finished my high school education & I had option of getting into medical field or engineering field. first time in my young teenager life I refused to listen to my mom & chose engineering field against her wishes. luckily I got support of my siblings who sided with me & were able to make mom see why it was right thing to do for me. & that's what attracted hubby in choosing me when we first time met since he knew with my engineering background I can go to graduate school here & not waste my education. There are so many incidents in both of our life where we could have gone on other road & would not have ended up together. It feels like at every crossroad in our lifes journey we got Godwink to select some specific path. I see that phenomenon somehow I end up doing right research or thing for our son at the right time reinforcing again I am meant to be where I am today. Asha

Katrina : I was just thinking how God works mysteriously in our life & give us this ideas which comes in our head seems like out of nowhere, but I truly believe its God working in our life mysteriously its like Godwinks along our path. So follow your instincts, It might work. I will pray that things will work out for you. Asha

Lenny : I know you for long time now, and I know there is lot of improvement in you & me as well. So I strongly believe as long as we are alive & try to do things new pathways are being built. now this study is proving the point so doctors can give people hope about their recovery outcome. Asha

Rose : I used to buy my velcro shoes from walmart pretty cheap. Asha

Katrina : I am so sorry I like the idea of life alert bracelet too. hope you feel better soon. Asha

Katrina : Jamie said it to so perfectly. My husbands words used to calm me when I constantly asking why me question, his answer was God does not make you or anybody suffer, he is busy taking care of bigger problems. Things just happens bad or good, they just happen, we just pay attention when big rock falls on our head & ignore when he is throwing those blessings in form of coins, we pocket those change without even looking up to thank lol. but as soon as he throws trouble in form of rock on us we start complaining lol. Anyway I like to take whatever I like from every religion be it Hindu, Buddhism or Christianity. If something I don't like I choose to ignore it. For example I am hindu by birth & I don't believe that I am going to hell if I don't believe in Jesus. I believe in Karma theory of hinduisim. do my duties with right intention behind it & don't stay attached to results. let God take care of results whatever will be will be. I just know I am here for a reason & not as punishment, and will leave this body when my job here on earth is done, this is what works for me, every one is different. Asha

Pok : going on disability feels like admitting defeat to stroke, but think of it as you are retreating to reload your guns. & going to make best out of this second chance given to you by God since your job here on earth is not done yet. I know change is difficult but view it as different not good or bad just different. Don't rush into work & then risk chance of burning out or getting laid off. So I will advise you to start slow at work & if you think you can do it then you can increase your hours. Debbie gave you great advice follow it. Asha

Sue : I so enjoy your blogs you write from your heart. with your feelings in the blogs are so universal it feels like as if I am doing the work you are doing. I know its so hard to part away with your old life which you shared with Ray. But unless you part with old there is no room for new things to enter in life. I know first hand change is very difficult to get used to. but once we understand change is not good or bad just different life can be so less stressful. trust in higher power that whatever is happening in your life is for your good even though it seems so difficult right now, but something better is going to come out of this trial. Sharing what worked for me. Asha

Tina : thats so amazing you have video of your earlier days. It will be great to see how far you have come in your post stroke journey when some days we don't seem to notice any minor improvements, these videos can remind you how far you have come. I am glad you are enjoying this site. your husband staying with her mom will give him great confidence & peace of mind too, he will know you can handle things on your own. Asha

Lenny : enjoy your redsox & baseball. Asha

Rose : lol tell your hubby you r just itchy & twitchy, bitchy part he is taking care of lol & give him your rights to bitchy at any time lol Asha

Fred : I am so happy you are feeling better. I am so happy that thanks to stroke I met amazing people like you Asha

Katrina : hope you feel better soon.BTW do you take metamucil? for me taking metamucil every day keeps me regular. Asha

Tina : welcome to best online stroke support group & hidden gem of this site which is blogging. first year or two is hardest for sure. but finding this site & blogging you will find very therapeutic for your soul. I stroked at age 34 in 2004 which left me paralyzed on my left side. Even though I had amazing support of friends & family, I still felt very alone & was so thankful when I found this site after 9 months. It was Godsend for me. I felt people on this site understood what I was going through in my life. Having young children & supporting husband will be great catalyst in your recovery. Our son was 7 at the time of my stroke & now he will be turning 17 in few days. Ifound blogging & chatting with other survivors very therapeutic for my soul. We do have chats every day afternoon from 3-4 EST & evening 8-9 EST. hope to bump into them soon. I feel more active you stay on this site it will help you more in your emotional state. BTW make sure to have routine in life that helped me big time getting out of my funk mood. Asha(Now 43 year old survivor)

recently I talked with friend of mine we used to always see each other at our kids recreational basketball games. Now as kids have all grown up & teenagers. I see all of us parents are suddenly getting wisdom to back off & let kids make their own mistakes & learn from it. Before I used to feel oh I m so hands off parent compared to some others parents & I used to equate myself as not as good parent as they were. I guess my son started rebelling before theirs did lol. But I do see he is learning from his own mistakes. luckily so far his mistakes are not catastrophic, its more like missing deadline to some fun events lol. So this year he has been correcting it himself lol. So I guess finally we all parents learn to let go & realize we don't have control on everything, & allow them to fly on their own instead of trying to be helicopter parent lol. My hubby thinks I have tendency to worry & he is completely hands off. I feel that balances out since I make sure by worrying & nagging things get done & if it gets done I am happy & if he still misses it then we get hubby's positive outlook to get me out of angry mood, though atleast I don't suffer from guilt of not doing my duty. So I thank god we as parent unit are very strong Asha

mc : thanks for update I miss chatting with you on yahoo. hope you get that resolve soon. Sorry to hear about your older son, its his loss though I am glad you have Dan & Andre in your life. Oh my moving again good luck. Asha

Katrina : I love joyce meyers books & messages. I strongly believe in power of positivity. I think once you follow it through, it becomes your second nature & life becomes so much easier. you are on right path katrina follow it through & you will find solution soon. Asha