 |
| Robin Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor |
I’ve realized in the last few weeks that perhaps one of the reasons that young stroke survivors are such an overlooked group is that so many of us are trying to live as normal a life as possible that others can easily forget what happened. I’m regularly told that I look great, look normal. And while I certainly am feeling significantly better than I was a year ago, I can’t say that I feel normal!
I’ve practiced everything I need for regular daily life so many times now that I can pull it off just fine. But ask me to jump with both feet off the ground at the same time or do a small motor skill that I haven’t practiced yet and you’ll discover that I’m faking it. I’ve learned everything necessary to get by and stopped there. I’m so grateful I’ve even been able to make the progress I have…the fact that I am able to perform all my daily activities is a blessing that many stroke survivors are still hoping for. But I suspect that there are a lot of other stroke survivors like me…who inadvertently make people forget how devastating stroke is.
The absolute worst part is still the fatigue. I wish there was a way to explain brain injury fatigue to someone without a brain injury. How do you explain the fog, the wall? I’ve learned to pace myself, “zone out” to conserve energy, function in “idle” more of the time. So to others I look normal because I haven’t hit the wall yet. But my entire life has to be planned around it…and that’s not normal.
What stroke symptoms do you have that are invisible?
See the original article:
in
No comments:
Post a Comment