Albert Einstein and "Give me therapy!"

Tomorrow will be a red letter day for me.

Tomorrow, I will complete the last day of my therapy sessions. It will be 3 years and 46 days since my first stroke.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but it also seems like yesterday.

Since the strokes (and assorted other things like seizures, ER visits, and worry) I have been doing all sorts of therapy including speech, physical, occupational, reading, vision, acupuncture, massage, and hypnosis therapy.

I cannot fathom the hours of appointments I have had. I cannot calculate the hours of “homework” I have done. I cannot imagine the countless hours striving to be back to “normal.” And, it comes down to this: I am blessed in countless ways, but I will never be back to normal. However, it has taken 3 years and 46 days for me to count my blessings and realize I have a pretty good life.

Certainly, I miss “Mark Dunham.”

I miss a lot of things from my old life. I miss reading. I miss helping my son with his homework. I miss math! I miss not having headaches when I concentrate. I miss making a difference at the legislature. I miss not being scared all of the time about having another stroke. I miss driving on the freeway. I miss not being scared when I drive anyway. I miss being in complete control of my life and my fate. I miss not worrying about money. I miss not worrying about our son’s future. I miss not needing a nap. I miss doing my blog right now without a headache!

Simple needs!

3 years and 46 days….

Yet, I am busier than I ever thought. Between board meetings like the College of Western Idaho, the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, the Idaho Chapter of the American Heart and Stroke Association, and other assorted duties and chores, I am astounded that my schedule is so demanding.

My neurologist keeps cautioning to slow down. “Resign from some boards. Take it easy.” However, I cannot. I like to be busy and contribute. I cannot do “nothing.”

Nevertheless, I have really been trying to take her advice to heart. I cancel unnecessary lunches and meetings. When I have options, I try to participate in stroke support groups rather than board or legislative commitments.

When I miss support groups, I can tell. I need those people. I need to be refreshed. I need other stroke survivors. Perhaps it is like AA. My 12 step program. I almost physically need my stroke survivor friends.

At support groups, we laugh and cry together. We have common solutions and concerns. When we cannot express something because of aphasia, we understand. We laugh that often people cannot imagine that we cannot write or sign a signature or complete the alphabet.

So, though my official therapy sessions are concluding, my life of therapy is not. I have so much therapy to do at home. Everyday. For example, in one year, I need to write the alphabet backwards. I have to do eye and vision therapy forever. To reduce headaches, I need to do physical exercises but not elevate my heart rate too much!

My life is a balance. Do not do too much but do not waste away.As Albert Einstein “Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow.”

Same as it ever was

When I had my two strokes more than 13 years ago, I was 50 years old. In the ensuing years I’ve had some health issues related to my strokes and other assorted “age related” things. In May of 2023, I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. As a result I have endured two years of pain and the resulting lack of exercise. That summer I tried to walk regularly but my heel pain was too extreme. I tried to do exercises to relieve the pain but nothing helped. In September of 2023 I asked my doctor to give me a shot of Cortizone. We were headed to Boston for meetings and then headed to Maine. I just wanted to enjoy the trip without pain. It helped a lot. Six months later I had the same pain. I went to an orthopedic doctor who prescribed minor physical therapy. It worked for a bit and then the pain got worse. In September of 2024, my regular doctor gave me another round of Cortizone shots so I could travel to Phoenix. It really helped. For a while. In February of 2025, the pain got worse. I went ...

Phantom Blindness and Taking a Break after Strokes

I met with my eye doctor last week about taking some time off from my vision therapy. I have been doing therapy since my stroke almost two and a half years ago. I am tired, and a need a break. My doctor said, “This is completely understandable. Take some time off.” At the appointment, my doctor tested my vision. Because of the strokes, my vision was affected, and I have a problem in my field of vision on the right side. I have a deficit with my right side peripheral vision. However, it is getting better. During the test, I told him that I “sense things on the right side of my peripheral vision.” It seems that I know that something is there, but I cannot really distinguish what it is. He told me that there is a body of thought describing phantom vision or phantom blindness. A Polish researcher, L. Bieganowski, described this phantom blindness this way: “The subject of the paper is the phenomenon of phantom vision. It occurs among the blind (or almost blind...

January

January 10th was the 13th anniversary of my first stroke. After 18 days in the hospital (including my second massive stroke were I lost almost everything) we celebrated my son’s seventh birthday. I wanted to celebrate my son‘s birthday but I had no idea the sensory overload would cause. The flashing lights, the unbearable noise of the crowds and the music, and loud conversations caused me to panic. In the midst of my brain damaged confusion, I had to go to the bathroom. At that point I really didn’t know how to navigate the restaurant even though I had been there many times. I didn’t know the concept of letters and I didn’t know what “men” and “women” were on the doors. My little son gripped my hand and said, “Daddy… I will take you to the bathroom.” Stumbling through the crowded restaurant I was scared. My son guided me to the proper door and asked if I needed any more help. After I finished I came out and he grabbed my hand and took me back to the booth. In January this year, We cele...

Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Search This Blog