AZ Leah

Stroke Survivor - female
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Blog Entries posted by AZ Leah

  2. AZ Leah

    Epidural Injection

    By AZ Leah,

    I thought I was scheduled for April 9 but I had the epidural injection last Friday April 2. I can feel a difference already, although I'm still on pain meds. Before the injection the pain meds didn't cover the pain in my legs. Now they do. So progress, progress. I slept A LOT since Friday and Jerry said it was probably because my anxiety was gone now. I have to watch out for patience, high expectations and expecting too much too soon (as usual). Now I feel like I have gone over another hurdle. Sessie and Jan, I hope you two are doing okay, as well as everyone else I don't know about.
     
    I have busy week but hope to make chat at least once. Love you all...I think all your prayers have helped me. I pray every night for everyone on the website. Another example for me of working through the pain. Hugs, Leah :friends:
  3. AZ Leah

    HOPE...NO HOPE...HOPE

    By AZ Leah,

    Hi All: We aren't called survivors just for fun. The last blog about our Z3 car accident was lite-weight compared to my recent troubles. The hope-no-hope has been the merry-go-round I have been on lately. I recently had a MRI due to increasing pain in my legs much more severe than neuropathy. The MRI showed spinal stenosis which I knew absolutely nothing about. The short definition is there is a canal which houses the nerves which runs down your spinal cord. The canal splits in two at the base of the spinal cord with a group of nerves, each running down each leg. The canal can become narrow in places. This squeezes (compresses) the nerves which run from the spinal cord down to each leg thus causing the pain I have been suffering. Some days have been so bad I couldn
  4. AZ Leah

    My Blog Part 3 of 3

    By AZ Leah,

    In my last blog I left off talking about going to my first appt. with my new neuropsychologist, Dr. Marion Seltz. :blah_blah: She is fantastic and better yet wants me as a client too YIPEE! What a difference talking to a therapist who knows neurology. She says she wants to see me 1x/week for 6 months unless one of us is sick or away from home. That
  5. AZ Leah

    Part 2 of 3

    By AZ Leah,

    I forgot to include these pictures in my last blog (already overwhelmed). The biggest gift to all of us is baby Peter who was only 3 weeks old on Christmas. We went out of dinner Christmas Eve and nobody even knew he was there; he was so quiet. I guess he is saving noise for his 2nd year birthday!! Leah
  6. AZ Leah
    First off I want to thank Asha, Maria, Bonnie, Sarah and all others who found a way to fool the system and let us post blogs. I had tried twice yesterday before I found the secret so here goes!
     
    First of all, I
  7. AZ Leah

    Update

    By AZ Leah,

    Thanks friends for all your comments. First of all I am VERY grateful to have the use of both hands and all fingers. When I came out of my coma I couldn't lift my hands. Things gradually got better and I had a lot of occupational therapy and played with putty a lot. I hadn't knit in years so taught myself all over again. (PS: you can do it Vi)
     
    The knitting has been therapy for me both physically and emotionally. My ribs are better and I'm hoping to start exercise later this week. I did 10 min on the recumbent bike yesterday and did a few arm free weights (2#) ... so it's a start. I have to remember to rest every 10 min or so ; when I am energized I can get on a roll and forget to rest!
     
    So much for being a type A personality which doesn't exist any more but is still trying. A really good book is "Strong at the Broken Places" by Richard M Cohen about 5 people with different chronic illnesses and how they all cope. Richard himself has MS. A sentence I read about Denise who has ALS which hit me is "Test the illusion of normalcy and Watch Out if you do. Anything can happen, anytime, any place. More to the point, Denise had been trying to do too much at one time and without backup". That is exactly what I have experienced and I know I need to look at my condition realistically and deep-six the illusion.
     
    It's cold in Tucson - 40 degrees - snowed in the mountains - who would have thunk!!
     
    Leah
  8. AZ Leah

    This and That

    By AZ Leah,

    :Hi: As positive as I try to be, I have been somewhat depressed lately. The time these ribs are taking to heal has really gotten to me. On top of that, I
  10. AZ Leah

    Lessons I've Learned

    By AZ Leah,

    When I was in rehab for my stroke I was determined to give it my all to exercise in order to come back from the disabilities as much as possible. How did I know that over 3 years later I would develop other problems which have taken away from the time I devoted to exercise? I have had to add 2 doctors and a dentist to my schedule to deal with anxiety issues and TMJ (short definition is a jaw joint disorder which has caused me a lot of jaw pain, like a bad toothache which won
  14. AZ Leah

    Off on Vacation

    By AZ Leah,

    I don't have time to blog or blwag :yadayada: 'cause the car is packed. One week of complete R&R which I need after an icky week. Reaction to muscle relaxer - drowsy, out of balance, week, slurred speaking...took me 5 days to recoup and I still am not as strong. But things are looking up and up and up. Like Jan says...SOAR. So off we go to Rocky Pt, the serenity of the ocean and beach and lots of God moments. Only thing I'm missing is a laptop so I could read everyone's blogs and all the forums but... no dice, not yet...and anyway it would just be another item for my husband to carry. He needs a break too!! Adios amigos til later, Leah :cloud9:
  16. AZ Leah
    Time for another update. I am finally healed from my injured rib (it took a month!) and will have my first work-out in a month with my trainer on Monday :Clap-Hands: . If all goes well, I will head for the pool class on Thursday but will probably not do much more than move around in the water a so as to not overdue. I feel I have taken a step backwards but like they say with horses, if you fall off, get back on. So that is what I intend to do. It would be easier to just say forget it and stay home everyday but my guilt won
  18. AZ Leah
    Things have gone pretty well except for one big snafu. Wed. night I was watching TV and I heard a commotion and a crash on our screened porch (which adjoins our fam room with a solid door). So of course I had to see what it was or I should say which kitties created the noise and ensuing problem. I went out on the screen porch and one cat had chased another into a round table, tipped it over and took with it a vase and plant --KOBOOM .:yikes: In peeking over to see how much mess there was, I lost my balance and (yep) fell, hitting another smaller round table on my way down. :oops: Luckily no cuts or brakes but I have a bruised rib which will take a while to heal. I have learned YET another lesson the hart way - never go out on the porch without my cane. I am sore and tired due to pain but have til tomorrow til Jerry comes back. He arrives in Atlanta tonight and spends the night there with his sister. I figure he'll call. I am not goint to tell him what happened til he gets home. I figure he can do with another night with no problems. I almost feel like a schoolgirl ready to get a scoulding than a 65 yr old woman (although immature) who didn't do anything on purpose. A friend of mine came up on Wed and cleaned the littler for me and picked up the broken vase mess. Bless her - She is actually going to glue to back together!! My neighbor is picking up my mail til Jer gets home and I was able to clean the litter today. It's hard finding a comfortable position to sleep but I guess I did okay. I took an early nap yesterday so I could watch U OF A WILDCATS (#12) BEAT UTAH (#5) YEH YEH. His highness :horse: gets home tomorrow around noon so I may miss chat. But all is well and I have taken care of things myself -- thank you very muchy!! :happydance: This is a great venue to vent. I've talked to someone every day so I am not alone ! Leah
  20. AZ Leah

    Finding Balance

    By AZ Leah,

    This blog entry ended up being "too" long but I'm posting it anyway so bare with me. This last Monday, January 26, I had an appointment with a psychologist. From talking with her on the phone I thought she would be a
  22. AZ Leah
    Today, December 31, I feel inspired to write down some feelings for the last time this year. Considering my earlier hesitations, Christmas came together pretty well. The house was festive even without outside lights or a tree. The dinner was good even though my brother and sister-in-law were an hour late. I had thought we could have an hour before dinner to chat but that was not to be. Plans are meant to be changed
  24. AZ Leah

    Happy Thanksgiving

    By AZ Leah,

    Hi All: Well my emotional roller coaster is coasting along a lot better right now. Most of what has changed is I found my positive attitude again. I still have my friggin' cold (it's not contagious any more) but I am "well" enough to drive with Jerry 50 min from home to take his 96 year old mom out to an old fashioned Thanksgiving buffet at her country club. I don't know if I want to live to be 96 but, if it happens, she is what I'd like to be like. She still lives in her own house, drives, does everything herself and doesn't call for help unless she needs to go to the dr. and have her eyes dilated! She dresses well, walks straight, takes no pills except vitamins and still can do cross word puzzles and give us sound advice!!
     
    I am alive and a lot better than I was 2-1/2 years ago and can honestly say I am thankful for a lot of things, one of which is the strokeboard. Thanks everyone for being here for me.
    Eat whatever you want as long as it doesn't create more medical problems! :Starvin:
    and HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Leah