HostAsha

hi sheryl: great news. you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Asha

Anne: glad Dave is home, there is no place like home. hopefully in due time everything will work out between Dave's children & you all. Asha

justice: you are not alone, reading your blog remindded me how I felt in my initial year just after stroking. I stroked at age 34. My husband would not allow me to drive for almost 2 years and his concern was that what if I get inti accident and hurt someone or hurt myself. I listened to him at the time, but together with him I took driving lessons, modified our car and now driving local, for freeways he is my designated driver if we want to go anywhere. So life is still good. for me my son was huge motivation to reclaim my life as mom and wife though I had to work on my self esteem for loosing of my software engineer title. & blogging my good, bad & ugly days came in handy to deal with my self esteem issues. Today after 6 years at age 40 I am loving newme. Asha

Sue: glad you had wonderful break with your family and created more memories with grandma Sue. Though I am sure Ray is happy to be together with you again. ASha

hey bunny43: welcome to wonderful online stroke support group. I wasn't as fortunate as you were, I suffered major stroke at age 34 which left me paralysed on my left side and retired me from my job at 34. Though fortunately I found this support group & blogging turned out to be very therupetic for me. we also have daily chat on weekdays at 3-4 EST and 8-9 EST. I did find after stroke you realize what is most important in your life. Even though I was putting long hours at work I realized my own family means world to me and nobody is indispensable at work. Thoufg after 6 years I love and enjoy my newnormal, its just different than what I would have envisioned. hope to know more about you though your blogs and in chats. Asha (40 year old survivor)

Ruth: this is great, socializing with other people is good thing, that means you are not sitting home and pitying yourself. I am glad you are taking william ot everywhere & he is having fun. Asha

Fred: amazing blog. I do realize due to generosity of lot of soldiers America is still powerful country in the world. thanks for your service Asha

Fred: thanks for sharing wonderful article. one can learn life's valuable lessons in it. Asha

hey jeaiebean: ouch take care of yourself. I don't like bathtub since I find them too slippery & I love shower anyways. though I am glad you had presence of mind to turn off stove. hope you feel better soon. Asha

kelli: I know how you feel, I have been there but I know what has helped me deal with my aftermath of stroke is taking few steps together. 1. antidepressant pills helped big time in the begining allowed me to look at the bright side of my life 2. blogging on this site every day though in my blog I wrote what was still working positively in my life and at that time my young son's sense of humor love of my hubby helped me big time. 3.writing in my gratitude journal every day helped too. 4. reading good spiritual books helped too(when bad things happen to good people, ripple effect, embraced by light) 5. chatting with other survivors helped too Asha

hey Sheryl: you will be in my thoughts and prayers, please update us about your tests after they are done. I am so happy blogging has helped you too. I know everytime I am upset or happy blogging always helped me. that's why I am blog junkie, I find it very therupetic. Asha

Katrina: I enjoy reading your blogs and your achievements are big bragging rights of mine. you are inspiration to many people and I know you will do well in your life even with disability. we are always here for you if you need to vent. Asha

hi LSL: I am sorry you are going through down period right now. though I will share you secret of my success to reclaim my life back after going through serious depression and feeling of worthlessness. There was no one easy pill but I believe series of steps taken together helped me reclaim my life back. first thing are you taking any antidepressant pills. those pills allowed me to look at the some bright side of my life still left, though I am sure just that itself wasn't enough. for me personally blogging on this site and chatting with other survivors helped me immensely & I am proud to say that I no longer need anti-depression pills. also writing in my gratitude journal every day also helps. So here is my secret. I hope you look into those tips, since I know if it helped me, it can help anyone. I also believe I survived stroke for a reason, and I am going to make my second chance worthwhile to my family and friends. Asha

Jan: amazing story. thanks for sharing. Asha

Ruth: when I was in rehab therapist there were saying more you put weight on weak leg, better it gets & they were upset that I didn't walk on four or else my left hand would have returned faster too. you are doing great thing, keep on pushing william to walk independently inside house Asha

Ehyl: it's great that Bruce has good boss who is ready to help out Bruce. going back to work even for few hours will help Bruce mentally lot. so you should continue it. Asha

Ruth: you are doing right thing, just ignore William's complaining. by getting stronger & independent it will b blessing to both of you. he is fortunate to have you in his life even when he complains I am sure he appreciates you but just giving you hard time

Sue: I read your blog and feel guilty that I put cleaning in very back burner, as long as I don't bump into dirt, I guess not able to see dirl helps too. Asha

hi sheryl: I am sorry you are having bad day today and people around you don't seem to get it. BTW for me writing in my gratitude journal every day does keep my spirits up, since atleast in my journal I am focusing on what is still right in my life. hope you have better day tomorrow. hugs & kisses Asha

it's been long time that I have updated my blog. I finally feel good enough to talk about our 1 week India trip. our 1 week trip to India was fantastic we covered all our grounds, met hubby'swhole family, travelled to hubby's village(my favorite thing to do), visited my sister in other part of India. so did lot of travelling also in 1 short week and I managed to fall sick too in that short period of time & also handle jetlag. so it wasn't as much fun for me. So now I have decided, I can't handle India trip just for a week. though meeting family part you can achieve in 1 week, but enjoying trip is another part. I feel you can not catch up on everybody's life in one short week, you can get snapshot of it, and fortunately everybody is doing great. real estate market is booming in India and you see lot of prosperity, which is good thing. If you have money then life in India is quite good you can have maid,drivers just like millionares here, though I still need to work on my management skills. right now I am sharpening those skills on hubby & kido. though I know I still need to work hard on it since kido is becoming teenager, I have to keep on working at that skill. life is slowly returning to normalcy here, the routine I am so used to it. school will be closing in a month. I can't believe in one year kido will go to high school. So far he is doing good in everything. he is honor roll student, and makes me happy and proud most of the time.

hey Leina: welcome to wonderful world of blogging. I joined this site also at age 34 & was very angry, sad & upset with life's this curve ball. but for me blogging here on this site and chatting with other survivors helped me deal with my disability. BTW we have every day scheduled chat in the afternoon from 3-4 & 8-9 EST M-F. BTW in the begining of my blgging days we all did few of fun things like 100 things about me blog & also gratitude list blogs & things like those. good thing about blogging s you can write anything you want in it. In my initial blogs I used to write my daily fun things of raising my son. I was so greatful for still having that job in the begining years & I still am when he he is behaving nice I look forward to know you through your blogs more. hugs, Asha(now 40 year old survivor, who is here to tell you life does get better after stroke, you are still here)

hey Wes: that's great news on all front. I know onw of the old member was suffering from A-fib I will ask her to check on your blog Asha

hi tammy: sorry I saw your comment to my blog today, so I am late giving answers to all your questions, I thought only I ask lot of questions, but you beat me hahaha. I am doing pretty well considering its now6 years, though I won't lie first 2 years were the hardest, but with my loving hubby & wonderful then 7 year old child I was able to move on in my life & making beautiful lemonade & lemon pies most of the days. I think bad things happen to everybody but how would you react to it later in life will define you as victim or survivor. & I like to be known as a survivor and set good example for my son. I was victim first 2 years when I spent my time in crying for my losses, not anymore. I tried going back to work but it was too demanding, and I had lost that fire within me to spend long hours at work by ignoring my family, and at that point in my life I was not ready to do that, cause I learnt hardway that at job I can be replaced but as a wife & mom I have my duties. So I chose motherhood over my job. Asha

hey Stu: thanks for updating your blog after ages. I love to kow what's going on with my friends. volunteering at your rehab sounds like great idea. BTW Stu you are big boy now so get that colonoscopy and update us with results. Asha

fred: u r funny. I m sure we will get used new days as soon as the introduces it o us. Asha