Feb 26
I awoke to a beating heart and fear of the unknown for the first time since my stroke. Who would have thought that my first dream would be a nightmare? Frankly, I'm hoping that this isn't the last one. Although I would like to get some sweet dreams in too.
Ok. I'll admit that it's a rooster.
Before my stroke, I painted regularly. My sister gave me my first class when we visited one year. That first painting was dreadful. Even so, it was a fun gift to try and I had a good time painting. You could imagine my surprise when she sent her paints later that same year. The message was clear. Start painting.
I spent the week thinking the about all the things that were happening, what I would write about. And then this morning I woke up and made my husband breakfast. We are on the verge of planning a difference in our nutritional requirements and I wanted to have one more weekend of breakfasts that we would call our own.
I failed.
When driving to the gym the other day, I realized that I had adjusted the rear-view mirror with my right hand. For the first time in 9+ months, the right hand did something without thinking.
How do you know when your speech becomes impaired? Well... after my stroke, my speech was a total mess.
In HealthSouth, they had a Speech Pathologist who started me on the road to recovery. She brought in simple sentences and structures so I could work on the very basics of recovery. If I'm honest, they had no idea how far I would come.
Okay, I really don't know if that's true. But my right foot stays on the outside of my body if I don't pay attention. It is not obvious to the casual looker, but the masseuse gave me a hard time today when she worked on my leg.
Today I had my first session in the gym since the holidays... and I went in with a little trepidation. Lyn Loy, my Physical Therapist, generally gives me a really good workout. Today we caught up with what happened over the holidays. Then I shared my story about falling off of the SPRI ball when working out. My shoulder has felt bad since the day a pinged it two weeks ago. Nothing seems to make it improve.
Well, that may not actually be the case. Today I purged my fridge and cabinets of almost all of the ingredients the Dr. said I needed to clear out of my life.
Well, the verdict is in, but it's not related to the stoke. I am allergic to eggs, cheese, yeast... and a whole lot of other things. The first question I asked the Doctor was something like this:
Washington, DC experienced 2-3 inches of snow today. Most people would call it ugly weather. The kids had an awful time getting to school. Their parents had an 'interesting' time on the way to work.
