New Year & Fresh Start

We are now three and a half weeks into the New Year, and what once again will be a fresh start with the whole year ahead.

I have been "off air" for a few months, but it hasn't been without incident. I fell in September and, to my dismay, fell in exactly the same place at home a couple of months later. I shook myself up again, but thankfully did not hurt my bad arm the second time. I spent much of the time sitting around, reading and preparing for Christmas, but now feel that it is time to put effort into my recovery particularly my stamina levels which have significantly dropped. A hard lesson to learn - no matter what - you must keep up with exercising and doing as much walking as you can manage.
It is the old adage: Use it, or Lose it.
I am back on track and managing to walk a bit further each day, thankfully the weather has been mainly dry and not too cold.

Sitting, gave me time to reflect on what a different way of life I now have. I have never been angry about what has happened, just extremely thankful for all the support that has been given to me, unconditionally. If I do lay awake at night in bed, I sometimes think about some simple arm exercises that I can be doing and Yes, I do them!! I owe such a lot to the professionals set got me on the road to recovery and I owe it to them not to give up.

I still:
Can be forgetful,  get muddled,  soon tire easily,  still type certain letter groups the wrong way round eg: ht instead of th. and thte for the
Cannot get in or out of the bath.
Cannot blow my nose!
Can be full of intention one day and have no intentions the next.     The list goes on . .

However, I can:
Walk,  how far depends on how I am on any one day
Get dressed and washed,  have only some anxieties about going to new places,
Have no anxieties about ordering food which I want to eat and not what I know that I can manage.
Eat left handed
Write, (of a fashion), left handed
Put clothes on the washing line - using my teeth to hold the pegs!!
Fasten zips and tie shoe laces - these needed hours of practice.

I miss:
Driving the car & being able to go where and when I want.

Reading this back has re-inforced my determination to conquer my Stroke and for this I have two role models: one a cousin of mine and the other the amazing
Jill Bolte aylor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU

A new year, a new set of challenges to be set and overcome.

Snap! Shut the Box . . .

The following was taken from BBC News/Health 28th June 2016:

Playing simple card games, such as snap, can help stroke patients with their recovery, say Canadian researchers.

The scientists found it improved patients' motor skills.

Playing Jenga, bingo or a games consol like Wii worked equally well.

They told the Lancet Neurology that the type of task used for motor rehabilitation might be less relevant, as long as it is intensive, repetitive and gets the hands and arms moving.

The researchers designed their study to test whether virtual reality gaming, which is increasingly being employed as a rehab therapy for stroke patients, is any better than more traditional games for honing upper limb motor skills.

The Canadian team recruited 141 patients who had recently suffered a stroke, and now had some impaired movement in one or both of their hands and arms.

Approximately half of the patients, at random, were then allocated to the Wii rehab, while the rest were asked to do other recreational activities, such as playing cards.

All of the patients continued to receive usual stroke rehabilitation care and support on top of the 10, one-hour sessions of gaming or card playing for a fortnight.

Both groups showed significant improvement in their motor skills at the end of the two weeks and four weeks later.

Importantly, both groups fared equally well, say the researchers.

While it's not clear from this study how much of the improvement was from the regular stroke care the participants received, other research suggests adding in more therapy is beneficial.

Investigator Dr Gustavo Saposnik, from St Michael's Hospital in Toronto, said: "We all like technology and have the tendency to think that new technology is better than old-fashioned strategies, but sometimes that's not the case. In this study, we found that simple recreational activities that can be implemented anywhere may be as effective as technology."

Alexis Wieroniey of the UK's Stroke Association said the findings were particularly encouraging because they suggest that inexpensive, easily accessible activities can help some stroke survivors in their recovery.

"Thousands of stroke survivors are left with mobility problems, and this can lead to a devastating loss of independence," she added.

** When I was an in-patient and as soon as was able to after my Stroke, I took delivery of a daily newspaper and tried to complete the crossword. This was always done prior to me reading the news.
I played "Shut The Box" and simple card games with friends and family to stimulate my brain.
Early participation, I strongly believe helped me to "kick start" my brain and motor skills. These days I use a Colouring Book - start with simple and progress. There are also Apps  to download.

It is a challenge, but that is what recovery is all about -
KEEP CHALLENGING.