worth the wait?

Please don’t misunderstand that just because my blog has been on a sabbatical for two months that I didn’t have anything to say.  I thought writing about more of my travels or accomplishments was getting to be tedious and no longer meeting the original objective of my blog which was to help stroke survivors in some fashion.

Having just crossed my 11 year anniversary of my stroke, I can summarize my situation by explaining what I can and cannot do and how I try to continue to stay challenged

I can:

·        travel domestic and Internationally with ease

·        get to the grocery store and back by myself

·        ride a stationary bicycle inside

·        plan for, shop and prepare meals

·        develop a marketing plan for my volunteer work

·        make dozens of cookies to support events with Donna’s help with packaging

·        take Spanish lessons three times week and perform associated homework

·        walk to nearby coffee shop/restaurant

·        walk to museums and parks in my neighborhood

·        perform all personal grooming

I cannot:

·        drive

·        bike outside by myself (My left-side neglect is so severe that I would likely miss traffic coming from the left).

·        walk on rough terrain alone

·        retain what I read comfortably and consistently resulting in poor memory retention

·        write or text without making tons of errors due to my poor vision and left neglect

·        Do any of this without bob.  11 years ago he vowed to see me succeed and teaches me how to have fun every day of my life and  that my identity is bigger than my circumstance

It is my belief that I have not plateaued and I am trying to turn my “cannots” into “cans” I recognize that I will never drive again.  Bring on Driverless cars!

There was a recent article in “Stroke” magazine stating that stroke survivors plateau in the first three months.  I call bullshit on this and am living proof that stroke survivors continue to evolve. It is all about the continuous remapping of the brain and neural networks. Come on brain research!

Last month I challenged myself by going go an art fair on my own. It was challenging because of the logistics and crowds, but I did it. The mantra for stroke survivors is continue to challenge yourself and those around you.