Always Look Forwards

Well, at long last I seem to be on the road to recovery after the virus. I am sleeping a good and solid eight hours and although I awake refreshed I am still mindful not to overdo things.
The weather conditions are currently quite varied, but I have decided to try and walk when it is not raining. We are lucky to live in such a picturesque place with numerous coffee shops dotted around town.  I try and go a different route each day and the length of my walk will depend on my stamina levels and "which aches and pains" I am experiencing.
I was once given the valuable advice of never  finish a walk by having to go uphill. With this in mind I do try to plan my routes and if I walk alone I always have points of contacts with me in case of any difficulties. It is hard trying to regain stamina again and after the walks I just "chill", however, these days I am lucky that I can recover overnight or quicker on some days.
I have re-started to wear and exercise with the SaeboGlove and sometimes walk whilst wearing it. I have noticed that my fingers are starting to relax and be long once more and that my wrist is not as tight has it has been. Whilst wearing the glove I will put my hand flat on the dining table and see how far I can push it forwards and then turn the wrist over. I am currently working towards getting the palm uppermost. I can also build a small tower of blocks this tests my motor skills and at first was very tricky to achieve.
Two of my long term goals are to be to be able to put shampoo on my hair and wash it whilst in the shower and to be able to cut my own toe nails!!!

I am now beginning to hold a fork in my right hand and eat using this method and can now also drink from a small cup. A first these tasks felt hard work and high concentration was needed to place the fork which seemed to be heavy. I practiced with a fork and bubble wrap and by constant repetition found that I could place it where I wanted. - - You don't need expensive aids!!

Walking in the sunshine

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New

Here I am at the beginning of a New Year and just like the end of last year, this new one has come in like a lion.

In December we assisted one of our sons and his wife to prepare for their move to Australia. This entailed packing the contents of their house and getting the house ready to market. A busy time and on Christmas Eve the move cube arrived to collect their goods for shipping. Later, when we had been home for around 3 hours our other son and family arrived to spend Christmas with us and this proved to be a welcome diversion to all that had been going on. Both families met up a few days later for a farewell meal which proved to be both a happy and sad occasion.
Add to this, that around this time, my mother in law fell and broke her hip and has been in two hospitals and is now in residential care it has been pretty much "full on" and probably quite stressful.

It didn't take long before everything caught up with me and on New Year's Eve I succumbed to a flu type virus. This usually happen most years post Stroke, but this time it has been particularly aggressive.
I seem to lose a symptom and gain one but am hopeful that it has virtually "run out". I have experienced lower back pain, hot and cold sweats,tiredness and a cough so bad that it made my ribs hurt! One night I needed the bathroom, but was completely disorientated when I woke up and when I was helped out of bed could not get my legs to move. This was fairly distressing, but a trip to my G.P. reassured me that everything was ok.

It is now taking quite a while to fully recover and as usual it has meant that my progress and sadly the use of the Saeboglove has been put on hold. My hand, arm and fingers have tensed, my walking is currently limited and I'm very lethargic.

Whilst I am now wearing the glove to extend the joints, I cannot realistically undertake any of the set targets to any purposeful outcome. Practice and more practice is required and I currently do not have the stamina. With this in mind I have asked for my next appointment with the neurophysio to  be postponed, I am not concerned or "hung up" about this ,more frustrated that it is interfering with my progress. However, I know from previous occasions that once fully recovered it will be like nothing ever happened and I will just pick up the pieces and continue. These days I do accept that there will be blips, some more testing than others and as a Stroke survivor you have to work doubly hard to get over them.

One of the new targets was to hold a fork in my right hand and repeatedly "stab" PlayDoh or bubble wrap as a "target". This will be a pre-cursor to being able to use both my knife and fork, sometimes it is the simple ideas which can be most effective. You do not have to have lots of expensive aids.

I will fully restart as soon as possible and look forward to sharing my progress.

Saebo Glove updates & Exercises

21st December 2015

I have now had two further appointments with the Neurological Physio - to assess my progress in demonstrating what I can now achieve, discuss long term goals and to set new interim targets.
I find these sessions really beneficial and take on board the information and tasks which I am assigned.

The middle band has been removed on the index finger and I have noticed that the band on the middle finger has become slack and before too long will require a shorter length to make the finger work harder. The long term goal is that eventually bands will not be required.

I now walk with a long straight arm and can grasp a soft ball and put it in a cup. The unit comes with four small shapes to test manual dexterity - I was thrilled to be able to grab each one in turn and place it on top of the other.(Photo taken from web-site) One useless task that I can do quite easily is to put my index finger in my right ear!! Useless, I know, but there has to be a fun element. Cleaning my teeth has also become easier as I now no longer have to virtually keep my arm still and move my head, but can do this in the usual manner. I can put shampoo on my right hand but do still require the aid of my left and to lift it to my head. All in all things are going in the right direction, but it is now a case of building on these things and keep testing out things that I always took for granted. General light housework I have been doing for some time, but we've invested in a lightweight vacuum cleaner which enables me to do more chores and has the feeling of achievement as I can push it with the hand that was affected.

As each target is achieved and can be done "second nature" new ones are worked on. If aids or equipment is not readily available in the house I try and improvise with the materials that are around me.

ULTIMATE GOALS: Ideally I would like to be able to use both hands to:

Eat, Wash/Shower, Drink and Use Hair Drier (these are subject to change)

Exercises set at 2nd visit:

   Raise arms and counter balance but keep arm straight

   Pick up ball

   Move and lift both arms to side and then open fingers (splay) - - keeping elbow straight

   Drink from cup

   Hand flip

BEFORE EXERCISES: KEEP TAIL BONE IN AND PULL IN CORE as in PILATES

Exercises set at 3rd visit:

To loosen the arm before exercising - put the right hand  on the top of the bathroom tower radiator and do a knee bob.

Make the hand lead - even if it means flexing wrist upwards and then giving the appearance of pushing off..

I have tried to eat by "stabbing" food with a fork, not always successfully - so I am now trying to "stab" bubble wrap or plasticine/Play Doh doing this up to 30 times a day until I get confident, then I will try a plate of food!

I next have an appointment at the end of January, it will soon be Christmas and the New Year and on top of this family time there are a lot of extra events taking place. I have been advised not to "get hung up" about being 100% diligent. I have previously  noticed that if I don't or cannot succeed due to tiredness or too many commitments my hand is still affected and will not cooperate! 

1st Saebo Glove fitting

 

On the 12th November I had the first fitting of my newly purchased Saebo Glove with the Neurological Physio at my local hospital. It is very important to learn how to ensure that it is fitted correctly, otherwise it may be pressing/resting on incorrect joints which could do harm.
Once confident with this, I was taken through a series of controlled exercises that must be undertaken once a day. As I progress updated exercises will be given, but always under the expertise of professionals.

I have found it useful to take initial photographs so that I can see where to place the tension bands. As the tone improves the bands will need to be changed.

Updates on progress will be published.

Prioritising Household Jobs

As you will know, if you have been reading this blog, I do intermittently suffer with neck problems.

Just recently I have had another two sessions with my practitioner and it would appear that I had a trapped nerve in my neck. I had one treatment and then monitored my progress for any ill-effects for three days and then after a telephone discussion returned for a second treatment. Again I monitored my progress and thankfully, all came good.  

Once I had got completely over my neck problems I re-started a second Saeboglove trial: http://www.saebo.com/saeboglove/
Once again has increased my hand functionality to the extent that I am considering purchasing one. I am hopeful that in time, with continued use of this product, that I will regain more meaningful use of my right hand which was affected when I had the stroke some six years go.

When I went to have the glove fitted I had a discussion with my Neuro-physio about my neck problems and I was given the advice to start prioritising household jobs.

The idea is to grade all the chores into two categories:
A-C (or D)  for how they affect the body
1-3 (or 4) to grade their priority
This will enable me to work out which I can do easily and without any ill-effects to the ones which will affect the  neck, which seems to be my weakspot.

For example:
Washing the dishes - A1
Ironing - B2
Vacuum - A2
Clean windows - C3
Dusting and polishing B1
Clean Bathroom - A1 & 2
Making a simple meal incl peeling vegetables - A1

I have found this advice to be really useful and makes me think about the household jobs - all of which I would like to do, but I know that some household chores will affect my neck.

Whilst preparing food, I will either use this special piece of equipment or hold the vegetables in my right hand and peel with my left if I can.

It is called a butter board/kitchen workstation and can be purhased from retail outlets that specialise in eqipment for the disabled or on-line.

Sleep & Stroke

When I returned home after spending six weeks in hospital the challenges at that time were huge. Initially, I was scared to sleep incase something occured which presented all manner of other problems. These days I try to be active and lead as normal a life as possible during the day and if I need to go to bed early then I do.

 My sleep is very cyclical: I can have unbroken and long periods of sleep for a few weeks and then it can be disturbed sleep where I will wake during the night and not be able to get back to sleep. I do not let this worry me but just accept it as another consequence of my Stroke. I have found an article called: "Tired of Post-stroke Fatigue" by Lisa O'Neill Hill, of which the following are extracts:

As a stroke survivor, you may be struggling with fatigue. That’s not surprising. Strokes are physically and emotionally exhausting. Most stroke survivors grapple with some sort of fatigue and many have trouble sleeping.

 If you’re a stroke survivor and you never feel rested, consider these recommendations:

Wake up at the same time every morning.

Go to bed only when you are ready to fall asleep. Bed time isn’t as important as the time you wake up. Don’t go to bed until you feel really ready.

Don’t worry about the number of hours of sleep you’re getting. There’s no right amount of sleep in terms of a number. In general, sleeping seven to nine hours is a really healthy duration,some people need more and some need less. The key is whether you feel refreshed.

Avoid sleeping on your back. Sleeping on the side can make a huge difference. Sleeping on the back may not be right for everyone. Ask your doctor if it’s OK for you.

Consider pillows. They are not just for your head. Using a body pillow can be helpful and keeping a pillow behind your back may help you stay on your side.

Get exposure to light in the morning. “It could be a natural source—sunlight—or a light box. Morning light will reset your time clock in the brain.

Sleep is really important in restoring function back.

Give a Hand: October 2015

Are you a wannabe tennis pro or a budding artist? Can you bake a ‘showstopper’?

 Whatever your forté this October put your passion into action for stroke survivors around the UK.

A stroke strikes in an instant but its effects can last a lifetime. Three quarters of stroke survivors lose the use of one of their hands. Often they have to re-learn to do the things they’ve always done – using their other hand. 

For Give a Hand the Stroke Association wants you to undertake an activity to raise funds for stroke survivors, such as baking or gardening - but there’s a twist, you need to use your non-dominant hand!

Get Baking -  Bake up a storm with your other hand - bake and decorate something for Halloween

Get Gardening - Take on a challenge to carve out some terrifying Halloween pumpkins,. 

Get Creative -  Are you a dab hand at knitting? Can you paint a Picasso? Get creating 




 Get Playing - Fun and games for all the family indoors and outside, using your other hand

 I am still working hard to get my right hand and arm back to normality. It is a long and protracted recovery, sometimes you don't want to carry out the daily exercises - but it is the only way to fullly recover. Why don't you try and do a daily chore that we all take for granted - - but remember to use your other hand - - your non-dominant one.

Give a Hand from 26 October until 1 November
 https://www.stroke.org.uk/GAH 

 At a recent night out I chose to wear these fingerless gloves which assist in keeping the nerves warm and lessen the probability of the hand clenching. I have several pairs of these type of gloves and found them to be not only practical but they can also enhance a look. During the colder weather I also wear them inside the house.