Stroke Survivors Tattler: August 2015

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Saturday News

Contents of This Week Saturday News August 29th / 2015

Definition: Steadward Centre - 2015

Steadward Centre - 2015: Our Centre, founded by Dr. Robert Steadward, provides high-calibre, research-based physical activity and sport programs for adults with impairments. Our adapted physical activity programs currently serve over 300 adults (18 years +) with a range of physical and neuro-muscular impairments that include Spinal cord injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Traumatic Brain Injury and others.

Video: Steadward Centre - 2015

-- The Steadward Centre
-- MS Pool Lift - Steadward Centre - U of A
-- Bike Opens Fitness Options for Users With Disabilities
-- Dancers With Disabilities Inspire
-- 1999 Distinguished Alumni Award - Robert Steadward

Headline Blog: Steadward Centre - 2015

Eclectic Stuff: Many articles from many Guest Bloggers about Stroke

Weekly Columnists

Daily Comics: For Better Or For Worse, Dilbert, Mayes, Doonesbury

Future Topics in SSTattler

Saturday News | Future Topic
--------------+----------------------------------------------
Sep/26/2015 | Agraphia
Sep/19/2015 | Alternative Medicine
Sep/12/2015 | Statin
Sep/05/2015 | Medical Cannabis (Marijuana)

Definition: Steadward Centre - 2015

The Steadward Centre

Personal & Physical Achievement

SSTattler: You can enrol anytime but the programs are based on the university term i.e. September - December, January - April, May - August.

Our Centre, founded by Dr. Robert Steadward, provides high-calibre, research-based physical activity and sport programs for adults with impairments.

Please see the Website:
The Steadward Centre Personal & Physical Achievement

Who Our Programs Are For

Our adapted physical activity programs currently serve over 300 adults (18 years +) with a range of physical and neuro-muscular impairments that include

Spinal cord injury
Multiple Sclerosis
Stroke
Cerebral Palsy
Spina Bifida
Traumatic Brain Injury
and others

Fitness Programs Include:

Water in Motion
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)
iDance Edmonton Integrated Dance
Interval Circuit Training
TrailRider Excursion Program
Rundle Park Ramblers
Wheelchair Ball Hockey

Where To Find Us

View Larger Map

Video: Steadward Centre - 2015

The Steadward Centre

The primary goal of The Steadward Centre is to provide adults with physical disabilities with opportunities to improve their health, lifestyle, physical fitness and / or athletic performance. In an attempt to accomplish this goal, the following objectives have been established:

To provide regular fitness evaluations for adults with physical disabilities.
To design and prescribe group and individual training programs based on the specific needs, interests and abilities of each individual.
To supervise and monitor group and individual programs.
To design instructional and resource materials, equipment and techniques used in the assessment and implementation of programs for adults with physical disabilities.
To carry out research studies in the areas of fitness, sport training & conditioning and motor performance for adults with physical disabilities.
To expose students, coaches, teachers and other interested individuals to the most up-to-date information available in the areas of sport and fitness for individuals with physical disabilities.
To promote fitness as an important component in the daily routine of adults with physical disabilities.

Read more ===>>

Headline Blog: Steadward Centre - 2015

Definition: Blog (noun). Add new material to or regularly update to a blog. (Origin 1990s: blog shortening of weblog)

Feeling Normal

Robin
RockyMountainStrokeSurvivor

Posted on August 23, 2013

I meant to write about Stroke Camp first and this experience at Stroke Camp second, but you’re getting it out of order. It took me over a week to recover from camp and just as I was feeling myself again, we all got sick. So here we are weeks out without any posts. Maybe I’ll write my next one on how long it takes to bounce back from illnesses or vacations…

Ever since my stroke, I have lived in a continual carnival.

Because my stroke is cerebellar, I am constantly playing games of coordination, speed, dexterity to just get through normal activities. Reaching for something and picking it up is as challenging as one of those arcade games with the arm that you use to pick up a stuffed animal and drop it down a chute.

As I complete each task, I walk to the next along rigged paths that sway, rock, and jolt unexpectedly. The only place to sit down to rest is on the tilt-a-whirl. To eat lunch, I sit at a table that jiggles constantly. As my food bounces around, I have to reach out to catch each french fry…the fries jiggle around in the basket that is jiggling around its area on the table as my arm is being jiggled by the bouncing and shifting of my seat.

One of the rides, the “Bike Ride,” involves riding on something like the spinning teacups (only appropriately themed) and then being given a bike. I am put on a path that is constantly moving; it wiggles and swoops, suddenly jolts left or right or up or down. It is positioned in a tunnel that is constantly rotating a few days clockwise or counterclockwise in little jerks. Now ride! At the end of an exhausting day at the carnival, instead of going home to my quiet, still bed, I lie down on the tilt-a-whirl and try to sleep.

In addition to the above, my brain is constantly “pinging” my right arm to try to figure out where it is in space. My brain seems generally less bothered by right leg and let’s it just exist in a sort of fuzzy space.

Read more ===>>

ADLs Are Where the Repetitions Are

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

November 3, 2013

Barb's post expressed how I feel about exercise. Barb said exercises "console survivors that they are working as hard as they can when they are not." The reality is that rewiring the brain requires thousands of repetitions (reps). Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are a great way to get the reps needed to retrain the brain. Four examples show why two sets of ten cannot compete with ADLs.

1) Twice a day I open my hemiplegic hand to grasp a tube of toothpaste so my sound hand can remove the cap. In nine years I have opened my hand over 5000 times before brushing my teeth.

2) I have to turn 14 times to prepare cereal with a sliced banana. I have made this same breakfast for nine years so I have made over 45,000 turns. Add making a sandwich for lunch and preparing a hot meal for dinner and the number of turns I have made in the kitchen are in the hundreds of thousands.

3) Shopping is therapy for my hand. I open my hemiplegic hand to let go of the cart and reach for items with my sound hand. My hemiplegic hand opens a 2nd time when I grab the cart to move on. I open my hemiplegic hand to let go of the cart so my sound hand can empty the cart in the check-out lane and again to load food into my car. Buy 30 items + empty cart + load car = open hand 64 times. 64 x 2 visits a week x 9 years =
I have opened my hemiplegic hand 59,904 times in the grocery store.

4) The distance I have walked at the grocery store is huge. I step away from the shopping cart and bend down or reach up to get items I want. The S-shaped curves I make to detour around people and other carts require more steps than walking in a straight line. According to my pedometer I walk 2,000+ steps each time I visit the grocery store. 2,000 x 2 visits a week x nine years = 1,872,000 steps!

See the original article:

ADLs Are Where the Repetitions Are

Home After a Stroke

Brainu

Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Exercise, does it help after stroke? Of course it does, but the word exercise is so broad it's darned near meaningless.

One of the things that's confusing is the way that clinicians have historically used the word exercise. They have almost always meant "doing a movement against resistance." The focus is generally on muscle building. But, although they're weakened, the muscles of stroke survivors are usually strong enough to do whatever. And the peripheral neurology is still intact. All the nerves outside of the brain injury are doing just fine. So the question becomes, why all the emphasis on muscle building?

The muscles are working. What's not working is the brain. Can exercise be directed at the brain? Yup. But the emphasis should come off of muscle strengthening and onto repetitive practice. Part of the confusion is that both kind of exercises (muscle building and repetitive practice) crossover. For instance, just working on muscle building will also drive some changes in the brain. Conversely, repetitive practice of movement will build muscle. Another thing that adds confusion is that fatigue is such a huge issue among stroke survivors. So exercise for the sake of building muscle (as well as cardiovascular exercise) is important. Still, the emphasis should be on the brain. I suppose you could simplify it as that old athletic training saying: "Less weight, more reps." Sort of. For more clarity please see this article.

See the original article:

Brainu

Stronger After Stroke

Blocking

Amy Shissler
MyCerebellarStrokeRecovery

February 27, 2015

Sometimes the muscle you want to contract isn’t the one that contracts when you try to perform a movement. This goes for both orthopedic stuff and neurologic stuff. Way the hell more with neurologic stuff though. I’m working with someone right now and one of my goals is to get her quadriceps muscle stronger. The thigh muscle. An exercise that I ask this person to do, I kind of made it up so it doesn’t really have a name, is to – seated – start with the leg bent and try to straighten it as much as possible. She is only able to straighten her leg about 15-20 degrees forward. So the leg is kicked forward from about 100 degrees of flexion to like 80 degrees of flexion. It’s this exercise but the leg is not straightened…….

Anyway, when she attempts this movement, she recruits her hip flexor muscle and her knee raises up slightly. In order to work the quadriceps muscle, sometimes I have to hold down her knee down and block it from raising up so that the quad is working more, not the hip flexor. I allow the incorrect movement some though. In a few weeks of performing this movement, the incorrect movement has significantly decreased, a sign that the correct muscle, the quad, is gaining strength and control. I wonder how NDT therapists would deal with an issue like this. In NDT therapy, the goal is to inhibit all the bad, incorrect movements. That is so very strange to me.

See the original article:

Blocking

My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

I Need Reprogramming

Diana Smith
Beyond Reality

January 9, 2012

I finally made it to both therapy and walking on the same day. I realize now how tired I am, and I still have another hour and half that I should be doing the electrical stim on my left arm. Not to mention, I totally forgot to put on my hand splint last night. I need to shift my schedule around to get all this therapy done. My occupational therapist added more shoulder cap muscle exercises, to my already long list of arm exercises. My electrical stim should be twice a day, for a total of three hours. I might have to figure out how to walk around with it on to get it all done. I have to give up my morning naps too. The only thing I can think of is I will have to get to sleep every night before 11PM. I was on that schedule when I was working, and could go all week without a nap.

thank you,
thank you very much

While walking today, I remembered to put on the pedometer. I did the last time I walked too. I went 3/4 mile, which my pedometer said over 1600 steps. I confirmed online that 3/4 mile should be around 1500 steps. My strides are shorter, since I still do not have much control of my left foot placement. I also walked to and from the car. It is a far cry from the 10,000 steps I should be walking every day, but I don’t wear shoes or the pedometer all day. Eventually, I probably will. For now, I am just keeping track of my steps per walk. I might see how many I take shopping tomorrow. I just need a few things at the store. However, I don’t get out much, so I am going to walk around “window” shopping (inside where it is warm), for exercise. If there was a furniture store here, that would be heaven. I do have a $5 coupon for Ace hardware that will expire soon. I can use it on any regular priced item. It does not have a minimum purchase, so I thought I would try to find something just over $5. I was thinking something for the garden (looking ahead to Spring), or some paint brushes.

See the original article:

I Need Reprogramming

Beyond Reality

Tonal Exercises

Steven H. Cornelius
Music and Stroke

Posted on July 6, 2014

SSTattler: Hmmm, tonal exercise, at least partly, is a physical exercise too!

I practice piano nearly every day. After my stroke, I initially used the instrument mechanistically, as a vehicle for regaining left-hand movement and dexterity. I still use the piano in that fashion, but my focus has shifted. Rather than trying to achieve technical expertise (a quixotic dream, to be sure), I work to experience tone’s possibilities. The great majority of my piano “practice” time is spent listening to and conceptualizing pitch.

I have a practice routine, but because it revolves around unfolding musical intuition rather than technical studies, every practice session is different. Exercises are constantly evolving as I gain new insights and understandings.

Observing my practice sessions from the outside, it might appear as if I were doing nothing more than plunking out a tone or two every now and then. But I am listening intensely, then conceptualizing to the best of my growing ability. This is hard work. Depending on the particular goal, it may require several minutes to digest of the implications enfolded within a single pitch.

I generally begin my practice sessions by pressing and holding down a single key, so as to listen to its rich overtone structure (and part II).

Through this exercise, I have learned to identify nuances that previously went unnoticed, even though my ears were younger and far more sensitive. (I could write at length about this experience, but it is most valuable to do the exercise oneself.)

Read more ===>>

Breaking Down the Many Aspects, ’50 Shades of Stroke’

Sas Freeman

March 2, 2015

Many of us do not ever know the definite reason for having had our stroke, especially I think in cases where we had them at a young age and lived a full active life. So I am intending to write about different aspects, complexities of #50shadesofstroke within my blogs.

We go through life believing, often wrongly, that we live healthily. I for one was guilty of this. I never put on weight, I exercised regularly. My exercise was also varied: Pilates, yoga, walking, swimming and I rode race horses. I ate balanced healthy meals. I have always loved vegetables and for snacks I would often eat nuts, almonds in particular. Pretty perfect you may think and so did I!

On the surface this could be considered exactly what is required to prevent both heart attack and stroke. Or so I thought.

It is only when you examine further, break it down and are prepared to be totally honest with yourself that you realise you may not be living the healthy lifestyle you believe you are, you are simply kidding yourself! This is what I was doing, it turns out.

Don’t get me wrong I ate chocolate, cake all the ‘baddies’ as well and enjoyed a drink but I believed that my main diet and lifestyle was healthy.

I also, wrongly, thought that because I was so slim my cholesterol would naturally be at a healthy level, wrong again. I would often reach for a chunk of cheese if peckish, thinking as it was full of calcium so beneficial for my bones and teeth it would be good for me not realising it was raising my cholesterol level considerably.

We would enjoy a drink before and with our meal, and I particularly liked a gin & tonic. Again, on reflection a home version in our rather splendid glasses equates to three pub measures but in my mind I had enjoyed one, perhaps two drinks. It was ONLY when it was discussed in hospital, I heard the words I was drinking rather a lot for a woman’s weekly allowance, what a harsh shock.

Read more ===>>

Exercise: Stroke Prevention Medicine

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

I'm convinced that being a longtime distance runner helped me survive and recover from my stroke in 1998. Fifteen years later, I'm still doing it.

Not to say that running is for everyone. Some people can't stand it or aren't ready for it. Even starting a walking program, though, could reap benefits, according to a recent article how exercise can be a powerful medicine:

Photo from the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control
and Prevention

▶ Exercise may be as effective as medication in preventing early death in people who've had heart attacks or strokes, a new study suggests.

▶ "Doctors should give their patients advice about the lifesaving benefits of exercise, and when possible they should refer patients to rehabilitation programs with exercise programs," says the study's lead author, Huseyin Naci, a fellow at Harvard Medical School and a graduate student at the London School of Economics.

Preventing a stroke is far better than trying to recover from one (or another one). Exercise, I'm convinced, can be a huge help.

See the original article:

Exercise: Stroke Prevention Medicine

Stroke of Faith

Fitness Linked to Brain White Matter Integrity in Aging

Bill Yates
Brain Posts

Posted 15th July 2015

Cardiovascular fitness has been correlated with a variety of beneficial effects on brain structure and cognition.

These correlations have not proven causality but they do support continued imaging and brain function studies.

Scott Hayes from the VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston School of Medicine recently published an information study on this topic.

Brain white matter integrity is now open for study using diffusion tensor imaging, available from high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

In the current study, the research team used the following key elements in their study design:

Subjects: 34 younger adults between 18-31 years of age and 33 older adults between 55-82 years of age free of significant medical, neurological illness without a history of traumatic brain injury.
Fitness Testing Protocol: All subjects completed cardiopulmonary exercise testing via treadmill testing to determine fitness levels via an estimation of peak oxygen consumption.
Imaging Protocol: Brain MRI using 3 Tesla Siemens scanner
Statistical Analysis: Measures of white matter integrity were compared between younger and older age groups. Additionally, peak VO2 was used as a covariate interaction term.

Read more ===>>

Eclectic Stuff

Definition: Eclectic (noun) A person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources

Neil Young’s Question: Why Do I Keep F___ing Up?

Tim Seefeldt
Brain Food Cafe for the Mind

Posted August 23, 2015

I find myself asking this poignant — if crude — question these days.

Or maybe the question is: “why can’t things run like a fire engine on all cylinders all — or at least most — of the time?”

I’m in an awesome new job. I love it. Great people, heady stuff every day and it’s in communications, my wheel house. On top of that, I’ve got a great opportunity to get my book in front of a publisher thanks to an amazing supporter that I was connected to through a Toronto friend. I had a fantastic road trip from Alberta to Toronto with my oldest just a few weeks ago, followed by an incredible week in Toronto at her new digs, joined by my lovely bride.

Amazing. Colossal. Fantastic.

But now back in Edmonton, my bride is going through intense, brutal medical treatment and there’s little that I can really do. The edits I’m making on my book before shipping it off have stalled for some reasons that I understand and others that I’m battling with my brain over. And I’m constantly feeling like I’m letting down one of my ladies as they cope with the myriad challenges they’re facing.

Angering. Crappy. Frustrating.

Before…

It would be nice to be able to stop time for just a few hours to put together a game plan to figure out how to get everything right all at once. Clearly that can’t be done, and I keep having vivid reminders of this. To that point, I’ve posted a pair of pictures taken from my office of the construction of the new arena – Rogers Place – being built in Edmonton.

The first pic is the day before I left for Toronto on my road trip. The second is from my first day back to work, two weeks later.

Read more ===>>

Look Up

Ramon Florendo
Life After a Stroke

Published on Apr 25, 2014

A spoken word film for an online generation.
Subscribe for more videos: http://bit.ly/Subscribe_to_Gary_Turk

'Look Up' is a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone.

I don't want you to stop using social media or smartphones. It's about finding a balance. It's about making sure you are awake, alive and living life in the moment; instead of living your life through a screen.

Written, Performed & Directed by Gary Turk.
Website: http://garyturk.com

Standard YouTube License @ Gary Turk

See the original article:

Look Up

Life After a Stroke

Weekly Columnists

Definition: Columnist |ˈkäləmnist| (noun). A blogger or a journalist contributing regularly to a blog or newspaper

Musing: Limb Rehabilitation Robot Successfully Tested
with Maplesoft Simulation

Dean Reinke
Deans’ Stroke Musing

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

I'm sure those of you with a little mechanical bent could easily duplicate this. But don't do that - Limb Rehabilitation Robot Successfully Tested with Maplesoft Simulation.

Robotic rehabilitation machines are often used in clinical settings to help exercise patients’ limbs after damaging experiences such as stroke. One of the hardest things to test when building a rehabilitation robot, though, is how it will most effectively interact with a patient. Researchers at the University of Waterloo created a musculoskeletal model of the human arm that can replicate the human action experienced by an upper limb rehabilitation robot, allowing the people designing and developing the robot to take human interaction into account.

A 2D rendition of the arm model used to test

the University of Waterloo's rehabilitation robot.

Image credit: Maplesoft

Researchers Boma Ghannadi and Dr. John McPhee modeled an end-effector based planar robot using Maplesoft’s MapleSim. The robot performs reaching movements in the horizontal plane, replicating the type of movements a human patient would be asked to perform during therapy of the shoulder and elbow. The arm model replicates a simplified planar 2D musculoskeletal arm model with two hinged links and six muscles, and assumes no tendon compliance. Using an impedance controller, the simulated model can adjust itself to replicate either a healthy arm or the variable levels of movement disorders that may affect rehab patients.

Read more ===>>

Stroke Survival Sunday: Support Groups

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, August 23, 2015

If you've had a stroke or brain injury, try and find a local support group with other stroke survivors and/or traumatic brain injury survivors. I think you'll be glad you did.

My support group

After my stroke I delayed in going to a survivors group because I really don't do well in crowds since my stroke. I figured it would just be too much input and overload all my circuits. Finally, I broke down and went. What could it hurt to go to one meeting? I never had to attend another one if I didn't like it. Plus, my speech therapist was one of the leaders of the group so it wouldn't be as if I didn't know anyone.

We were a fine pair walking into the conference room. Me, on a cane with one arm drawn up to my chest and halting speech, and my deaf husband at my side. We entered the room and found a spot to sit. A pad of paper was passed around to sign in on which my husband filled in.

As the meeting was called to order, I looked up to the co-leader. I knew her. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind recollection gears chugged. Finally, it hit me. We went to high school together. Then after an introduction, the speaker was a nurse from the health department. I knew her also from high school and we attend the same church. I turned and saw the physical therapist from the service I used after I came home. I was real comfortable now. It was beginning to feel like old home week. The other stroke survivors I didn't know from Adam, but that was soon amended as we went around the room with introductions. My memory of new names and faces had gone out with the dish water since my stroke so it would take a while to remember a name with a face...but they had the same problem too so I didn't feel so bad.

Read more ===>>

Caregiver: And Now

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Well, my nephew has come and gone, and we had a real good time. I so enjoyed his company and he helped me take Bob's lift down from the bathroom ceiling and haul that plus a bunch of boxes into the attic. And move the hospital bed into the back bedroom --- quite a step for me.

David and Kona

And we had some fun and even hit the beach! -- first time for me, since -- well, before you-know-what:

At the beach -- that's David on the left side,
way down there in the water!

I did the "old lady thing" and rented a cabana - - as it was so very hot. So he swam while I hid in the shade reading my grim books.

So now I'm alone again and I tell you, I am still not handling any of this well. Yesterday, I ran into a old neighbor (from our old neighborhood) at the dog park and after telling him that Bob died, Boomer died, etc. he got all excited and told me "You have a NEW LIFE, a NEW HOUSE, and NEW DOG!" and that this was a "TIME OF OPPORTUNITY!!" for me and I should embrace it as a good thing.

Oh my --- I wish I could feel that way, but mostly, I spend my days crying and just getting through, doing what I have to. And feeling alone, lonely and watching way too much ID (Investigation Discovery) Channel -- just because it makes me feel better --- I mean, my life might suck but at least I don't have any decapitated heads buried in my garage!

And I miss Bob, so so very much....

And I don't know how to go on/if I can go on without him. I am not doing so well, at all.

Did sign up for a grief support group --- starts next week.

See the original article:

And Now

The Pink House On The Corner

Tadpole Update: Reported to August 29th

John C. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Rails to Trails Tour (aka RTT)

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Decpina, North Carolina

and back
(June 1st to September 29th)

Date | Start ✔︎ = DONE

Aug 24, 2015 - "Rails to Trails Tour"

Roz & I had together at 8am my trailer. We went to Home Depot. I got more wax towels & wax & Goo Gone. I got one propane tank filled up, Roz's 3 daughters went to ice cream with me!! I detail outside window and door jams with Goo Gone, over the years build up traffic scum & black mold in caulking. It is a lot of work keeping trailer like new.

Attitude is 90% of life, think positive! "Fins Up"
DanTrikeMan

-- Dan Zimmerman www.spokesfightingstrokes.org

Read more ===>>

Jester: How Do Court Reporters Keep Straight Faces?

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

These are from a book called Disorder in the Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that
morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
_______________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

Read more ===>>

TED Talks - Emily Balcetis: Why Some People Find Exercise Harder Than Others

Published on Nov 25, 2014

Why do some people struggle more than others to keep off the pounds? Social psychologist Emily Balcetis shows research that addresses one of the many factors: Vision. In an informative talk, she shows how when it comes to fitness, some people quite literally see the world differently from others — and offers a surprisingly simple solution to overcome these differences.

Standard YouTube License @ TED

Rick Mercer Report: Rick's Rant - The State of Democracy

Published on Apr 1, 2015

Rick’s Rant for March 31st, 2015.

SSTattler:
Please vote - Canada Federal Election October 19, 2015.

Standard YouTube License @ Rick Mercer Report

Laid-Back Admin: Changes Between July - August / 2015

Dr. Beagle C. Cranium
Stroke Survivors Tattler

What Happened During the Summer Holidays:

End of Summer Holidays: Aug/29 - Sep/4 - is the topic this week exercise e.g. Steadward Centre. Nearly all universities (in the whole world) has a program like Steadward for disabilities. Please, try it - it is great for your health and the cost is minimal!
Tadpole Update: Reported to August 29th - If you like bicycle, especially the for disability, you’ll love the tadpole recumbents, faster than a regular bike. Dan Z. takes the Rails to Trails Tour - Albuquerque, New Mexico to Decpina, North Carolina and back; ending approx. Sep/29.
Next week, we have new bloggers, Diana - Beyond Reality and Leslie - Living After Stroke. We have update the SSTattler biography About Us and ▶ Guest Bloggers Index for Diana and Leslie - very soon !!
There is many very good articles during the Summer Holidays ordered by date only i.e. but nothing else. I guess I’ll give up riding my tadpole and concentrate on typing at least until the next Summer Holidays.

Regards & Cheers,

Dr. Beagle C. Cranium
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Daily Comics

For Better and For Worse Lynn Johnston Canada Family Events	Dilbert Scott Adams Dilbert Office Events
Edmonton Journal Malcolm Mayes Politics Views from Canada	Doonesbury Garry Trudeau Politics Views from USA

** I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons. It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very, very low. Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using GoComics.com, Dilbert.com and EdmontonJournal.com.

---------

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Another Visitor

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Tomorrow, my nephew (David) is arriving for a week's stay. I am very much looking forward to the company and to getting to better know my nephew (now a young man) who I haven't seen since he was a kid!

This grieving business is a hard and lonely job --- and, I tell you, being a widow sucks. My motto lately is "one day at a time" and in that way, I plow along....

See the original article:

Another Visitor

The Pink House On The Corner

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

My Conclusions About Swallowing Training

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

August 25, 2015

Impaired swallowing has lingered for 11 years after my stroke. So I am thrilled that 3 strategies improved my ability to swallow - neck elongation, increased sensory awareness, and strengthening hip adductor muscles (see 8/15/15 post about these muscles).

#1. Many ST websites recommend making swallowing safer by lowering the chin towards the chest. However, many people sit or stand with their head jutting in front of their trunk (see arrow). Lowering the chin when the head is in this forward position may collapse throat structures. This "chin tucked" strategy never stopped pills from going into the opening for my lungs (trachea).

Instead I make my neck as long as possible by making sure my head is in a straight line with my trunk before I drop my chin slightly. This maneuver helps send pills down my esophagus to my stomach.

#2. Stroking my tongue with a soft toothbrush after I read about PONs therapy taught me the hemiplegic (paralyzed) side of my tongue was numb. I decided to start chewing food on the hemiplegic side of my mouth. This makes me swallow more symmetrically which makes me more aware of when food touches the hemiplegic side of my throat. This greater sensory awareness tells me when I swallow food while I am taking a breath.

#3. When squeezing a ball between my knees I felt increased muscle tone in my throat muscles. I know muscle tone cascades down a limb from the shoulder to the hand. It seems reasonable that muscle tone of midline muscles would cascade up from the pelvic floor. Now I can quickly tighten my throat to stop food that slips to the back of my throat when I am taking a breath. This gives my tongue time to shove the food back to the front of my mouth. Authors I quoted in my post on urinary incontinence said midline stability requires coordination among three "diaphragms” - the pelvic floor, the diaphragm we breath with, and throat muscles.

Bottom Line:
1. Swallowing training may require an interdisciplinary approach.
2. Brain plasticity 11 years post-stroke is amazing

See the original article:

My Conclusions About Swallowing Training

Home After a Stroke

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