Skip to main content

Three years ago today....

It seems like yesterday that my first stroke happened. It has been three years ago today. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOAFIUx5S6c


I mark the days since my strokes differently now. It used to be days. Then months. Now years.


I could use my time like this Pink Floyd sang, "Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day. Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way."

Is that what I have been doing? I do not think so.


I cannot be bored. I need to be useful and have a purpose. I need to be busy!


However, my body and mind have limitations.


On Christmas Eve, I had a "incident." Neurologists call those incident a "brain attack." Nice euphemism until it is YOUR brain. 


Before Christmas, I had some headaches and it was compounded with being dizzy, minor chest pains, and a sore left wrist. Normally, I would not think about this. However, given my history, I told my wife. Then we called my neurologist.


Back to the St. Al's ER! Great.....

After several hours, the tests were in. I am fine.

Since that time, my neurologist suggested I cut down on my activities. "Schedule your board meetings in the morning and be done about Noon."
That is not realistic for many reasons. 

I am just one person. I cannot expected the other people to make concessions for me. 

And second, I will not give in to my strokes. I will continue to beat the expectations for stroke and seizures survivors. 

I will live my life like another Pink Floyd song: "The Great Gig in the Sky:"


"And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime." 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...

What is wrong with us! A lot: Aphasia, Apraxia, and Dysarthria

This morning, from 10:30 to Noon, at St. Lukes in Meridian Idaho, I participated in the “Aphasia, Apraxia, and Dysarthria Support Group” started a year ago through Idaho State University. We meet weekly.  So, what is wrong with us? Aphasia is the name given to a collection of language disorders caused by damage to the brain. A requirement for a diagnosis of aphasia is that, prior to the illness or injury, the person's language skills were normal. The difficulties of people with aphasia can range from occasional trouble finding words to losing the ability to speak, read, or write, but does not affect intelligence. This also affects visual language such as sign language . The term "aphasia" implies a problem with one or more functions that are essential and specific to language function. It is not usually used when the language problem is a result of a more peripheral motor or sensory difficulty, such as paralysis affecting the speech muscles or a general hear...

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 ...