stroke

[don watson]

Hi All,

Just a note to say I suffered a stroke last Monday and it has left me a bit out of kilter. I am now back home and starting the recovery process which the doctor says will take months, if not years, and I think getting home has helped me to take another look at this. It is extremely frustrating only having one operating hand/arm,  have the use of my right side which is great but the loss of the left side is very problematic.  didn't realise that I need the left hand as much as my right, things like buttons on shirts etc. take an absolute (and extremely frustrating) age to do up, and getting annoyed with myself does not help, I must do the physio exercises to help me improve.

I had a mental 'look' at the possibility of trying the jigsaw puzzles and I think that would be a good thing to try, but at the moment it is all in my head and liable to be there for quite some time. I have a source for some very good 5 ply wood about 1/4" thick (6 mm)but it is only available in certain sizes and shapes (squares, oblongs) but I don't think that will matter for a wee while yet.thanks for reading and good luck to you all with your projects.

take care and stay safe 

Don W

 

[Peter N White]

Sorry to hear wishing  you a speedy recovery just keep doing as medics say and all the best.

[don watson]

Thank you

[Sycamore67]

I wish you a good recovery.  Take care !

[barb.j.enders]

Don,  Sorry to hear about your stroke.  Hope you have a speedy and full recovery.  

[Jim McDonald]

Prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery. 

[jerry walters]

A speedy recovery Don. Do as your Dr. and therapist say. Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Jerry

[Gene Howe]

Prayers are with you, Don. Marie C may have some insights for you. She's a well experienced PT.

[Scrappile]

Don, you have my sympathy, I know some of what you speak.  I have had two strokes, that we know of.  Very scary,  I have been very blessed, so far, I have no physical deficit's.  I have a couple blind spots in my eyes that are a nuisances and I have memory loss and get confused often.  My wife disputes that the latter two items are from strokes, she says I have always been that way. I swear, trying to get any sympathy out of my wife is a full time job!

Stay strong, attitude goes a long way toward recovery.  Keep active and keep doing the physical therapy.  Be patient.  Stay active on here!  You have many years of experience to share and help us with. 

[preprius]

There is a good book to listen to. "My stroke of insight" by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor.

She is a brain doctor and had a big stroke.  In that book she describes not only the stroke but the best way for her to recover.  

She narates it.   I feel it is Really important. 

 

Me.

Mark Eason

[Dan]

Sorry to hear. My prayers are with you and your family. Take your time, listen to the doctors, and do your PT. 

[rjweb]

Don, sorry to hear about your troubles, will keep you in our prayers, RJ

[ChelCass]

Dear Dom, so sorry to hear about your stroke.  Thoughts and prayers for a full recovery.  May I suggest with your shirts  to button them and never unbutton them, just slip them over your head (if possible).  A little trick I learned from a Navy man.  Just a thought.  God Bless.

 

[meflick]

Don, I’m sorry to hear about your stroke. Glad it was not worse and you have been able to return home and begin the road to improvement. Steady is the pace, although I understand that is frustrating for you. Keep plugging away a day at a time and know that everyone here is praying for you and cheering you on. Be sure to visit regularly to keep your’s and our’s spirits up.

Edited May 7, 2023 by meflick
Typos

[jellis2]

So sorry to hear your bad news. I will add you to my prayer list and remember "NEVER GIVE UP"

[AUTOMILE]

Hoping the best for you ! I’ll say a prayer!

[OCtoolguy]

Sorry to hear Don. My wife had a minor stroke in 09. She did all the physio and has recovered about 95%. She has weakness on her whole right side. Do as the doctors say and exercise those affected areas as much as you can. It will get better.

[Dak0ta52]

Prayers for you, Don. I'm about to have knee replacement on Monday and I'm agitated on the amount of time it will have me out of commission. Then I hear of your unfortunate situation and realize mine could be a lot worse.

[don watson]

17 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Don, you have my sympathy, I know some of what you speak.  I have had two strokes, that we know of.  Very scary,  I have been very blessed, so far, I have no physical deficit's.  I have a couple blind spots in my eyes that are a nuisances and I have memory loss and get confused often.  My wife disputes that the latter two items are from strokes, she says I have always been that way. I swear, trying to get any sympathy out of my wife is a full time job!

I know what you mean there as I am much the same but my wife is quite sympathetic (at the moment) and I do tend to get very frustrated at times. It has been less than a week now but I keep looking for some signs of improvement ?? The doctors did say months possibly never so I will keep doing the physio until I can get back to the saw.

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

[wombatie]

So very sorry to hear of your health problems Don.  Positive thinking helps and trying to do things even though they are frustrating.  Keep us updated and stay in touch.

Marg

[don watson]

3 hours ago, wombatie said:

So very sorry to hear of your health problems Don.  Positive thinking helps and trying to do things even though they are frustrating.  Keep us updated and stay in touch.

Marg

It is hard to believe how frustrated/angry I get when simple things go wrong/ won't work as I want.

[Bill WIlson]

Just seeing this now.  Wow!  Sorry to hear about your situation, but glad you are still with us.

[bobscroll]

Hello Don, I'm so sorry to here of your health problems,  All I can say is try to keep positive, All best Bob 

[MarieC]

Don, so sorry to hear of your stroke.  I know you must be very frustrated.  As Gene @Gene Howe mentioned I am a physical therapist and actually specialized in stroke and brain injury care as well as cancer care.  It is so important the next two years to really work on making your left side cooperate, as hard as that is, and I know it will be difficult.  You will get your most recovery in the first six months (work really hard especially until November) so this is crucial to focus your brain on that left side.  It is your brain that is healing and the more you think and work that left side of your body (even with the help of your right side) the more recovery you will get in your brain.  All those nerves from your hand/arm to your brain need to build new pathways, if you keep taking those paths (focusing on your left side)  they will start to form a clearer path, if you don't, then it is like weeds and brambles start building up on your paths and then the information just doesn't get through.  I am sure the therapist will help you with all that.  Hopefully the therapist will help you get back to scroll saw work soon...be sure you tell them that is your goal so they can design your therapy with that in mind.  My two cents.  mc

[don watson]

Thanks for that advice MarieC it is certainly worth a lot more than 2 cents. I had a session out in the backyard this morning as it was a beautiful day and managed a fair bit of sanding to the Dragon pattern I had cut. At times very frustrating trying to grip with my fingers of my left hand but I am quite happy it went pretty well but very slowly. I could probably use the inflatable drum sander with my right hand but that would not help my problem so I will take it easy for a while (a long while, I think).