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| Barb Polan Barb's Recovery |
I just finished reading Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America."
Sound negative?
Reading the book was freeing: for the first time post-stroke, someone has said something that perfectly expresses what I've thought, but been afraid to say without sounding bitter, envious, (i.e., negative). Here we go:
Ehrenreich has lived through breast cancer diagnosis and treatment (Let's not even discuss why she hates being called a "survivor.") When she attended a Relay for Life event for the first time, she found the remembrance luminaria ceremony poignant, but the survivors' lap was something else,
"The stars [of the event], though, were the 'survivors,' who seemed to offer living proof the disease isn't so bad after all."
B-I-N-G-O!!
Every so often, I - or someone I know - run into a story about a stroke survivor who accomplishes the near-impossible - runs an ultra marathon, goes back to a demanding job in high tech, or plays brilliant professional guitar.
Yup, that is inspirational. Don't get me wrong - I am very impressed when a survivor does something extraordinary, even extraordinary for someone who hasn't had a stroke. And I'm delighted for the person and the leap of improvement in the quality of his/her life. And, yes, I am envious - I was sure I was going to get to that level of recovery, but so far I have failed.
For every one of those survivors, though, there are nine who will just never get anywhere near there, nine who remain significantly disabled, probably for life. I'm not being negative - those are the numbers.
In my own recovery, I investigate available therapies, I stay positive; I work hard, I stay positive; I exercise, chant, meditate, pray, visualize, I stay positive. Did I mention that I stay positive?
Yet, after 4 years (tomorrow) of that, I am still in the "significantly disabled" bunch - unable to use my left side for much. Despite that, I have a happy and productive life. It's been challenging to build this happy life; not all stroke survivors are able to.
As I've often said, I would not wish my disabilities on my worst enemy, and I am typical of a stroke survivor. When someone has a stroke, the person is far more likely to end up like me than like the marathon runner or the guitarist, the ones who are "living proof the disease isn't so bad after all."
I am living proof othe disease is so bad after all.
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