Effects of Circuit Training as Alternative to Usual Physiotherapy After Stroke: Randomised Controlled Trial.

Dean Reinke
Deans' Stroke Musing

Sunday, May 13, 2012

I can just see our insurance/HMOs salivating at this. You don't need no stinking therapist help, get yourself a gym membership without our help and just rotate amongst the stations. Its scientifically proven to be at least as good as physical therapy. Full article is Effects of Circuit Training as Alternative to Usual Physiotherapy After Stroke: Randomised Controlled Trial, but no specification of what stations were used.

Feeling Normal

Robin
Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivors

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.

Summer is Ending and Fall is Rapidly Approaching

Greetings to our friends who have expressed interest in Make Rocks Talk and The Teaching of Talking. Just thought I would bring you up to date on what has been happening with our new book entitled: "The Teaching of Talking, Learn to do Expert Speech and Language Stimulation at Home with Children and Adults."

• We presented at the Aphasia Recovery Connection June meeting in Las Vegas, and presented to caregivers and those with aphasia. The subject of the presentation was "Increasing the Odds of Success with Speech Therapy. In that 30 minute presentation, I shared with the audience what I believed to be the key foundation points for success with speech therapy. Having practiced speech therapy for over 40 years, it was time to share with those who have been extremely thirsty for information. The presentation is on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/markittleman/boards/ At the ARC meeting we also met with many people who had aphasia and offered suggestions for speaking improvement.

The Pleasures of Dealing with Bureaucracy

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Earlier this week, Bob received a glossy brochure in the mail from the insurance company. The brochure read: Thousands of United Healthcare Medicare Advantage members save $104.90 a month in Medicare Part B Premiums! It's easy to see if you qualify! Then, in two large colored boxes:

To qualify if you're single:

Your gross monthly income must be under $1,456.25 with less than $13,300.00 in assets.

To qualify as a couple:

Your gross monthly income must be under $1,958.75 with less than $26, 5840 in assets.

And I'm reading this, thinking, wow, he now qualifies for this! I had heard about this program before, but last I checked it, he didn't qualify because his income was too high. So they must've changed the income guidelines. And I'm thinking wouldn't it be nice to not have to pay that $104.90 Medicare premium every month?!! We really could use a break.

Sunday Stroke Suvivor ~ Grief- Denial

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, August 25, 2013

As promised this is the first of my grief counseling for stroke survivors. Not all the stages occur in order within your life and you may experience several at the same time. The order is just a guideline.

Today is about denial, bargaining and guilt. Now don't say you are not going through this because you are. You are just in denial. <G>

At first denial is easy. I spent my first 24-hours in denial. I still go to sleep each night, after a year, hoping to wake up in the morning and finding this has been a bad dream similar to "Dallas." If you are not familiar with this old television show, a whole season was choked up up a bad dream sequence. Well, I can hope can't I. But the next morning I awake and find it wasn't a bad dream. I had a stroke. I'm am recovering daily from a stroke and all the new and old challenges from the day before lay in front of me. I could deny it all day long if I could lie in bed not moving, thinking, or speaking not that it happens that way. I can only play Ostrich with my head buried in the sand so long before I have to roll over to shift positions or have to pee.

How The Brain Works

Grace Carpenter
My Happy Stroke

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Our seven-year-old daughter was working on a drawing a few days ago. It was a diagram of the brain:

How The Brain Really Works

She had color-coded each part of the brain in the drawing, and she explained to my husband and me how it all works:

Pink -   Separate World ("Seperate World")-- i.e., imagination. Everyone can have a separate world, she told us. You can decide the color of your separate world. My daughter's world, of course, is pink.

Green - Silly Beans. Everyone is born with 1,000,000 silly beans. After birth, you start losing them. Between the ages of 4 to 7, you have 1,800 (or at least, I think--her calculations were too complicated for me to follow). At this stage of life, my husband has 900; I have only 700 silly beans left.

Lines and Dots  - Files. Most of the space in your brain, she told us, is occupied by files.

Red -  Blood  ("Blud")

Blue - Thinking. Note the size of the part of the brain that is devoted to thinking.

See the original article + 10 comments:
      How The Brain Works
      in My Happy Stroke

Can You Name This Strange Old Tool?

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

I thought you would enjoy this educational moment in Canadian history. 

• Can you name this strange old tool?
• Do you know what it is?  

Tobacco Smoke Enemas (1750s - 1810s)

The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient's rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration. Doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase, 'blowing smoke up your ass'.

Amazingly, it is still in constant use in Ottawa,
by the best senators money can buy. 

Surgery - Gall Bladder

Andrea
A Year of Living In My Head

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

I need my gall bladder removed.  Since the stroke I have dozens of little stones that have formed in it, and cannot be on any statins because they give me an attack.  (Doctor point of contention "There are no studies that show statins cause gall stones").  Well, doctors. When you put me on statins they give me an attack. When I don't take statins, the attacks stop unless I do something like, say, for instance, eat a brownie. A big one. Or down something cooked with lots of dairy.

Authenticity

Barb Polan
Barb's Recovery

August 19, 2013

Being authentic pre-stroke was easy: I knew who I was, what my goals were, and how to be my best self. I had some natural characteristics I admired, so I could let them have free rein: intelligence, compassion, empathy, helpfulness, generosity, faith, tolerance, wit, along with being logical and straightforward. As a result, I felt good about myself. Who wouldn’t? Post-stroke, it’s harder. Being authentic now frequently gets me where I don’t want to be. I don’t want to be slow – mentally or physically.

Updated to "Guest / SSTattler Bloggers" and "Dynamic Weekly Stats"

John C. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

During this summer I changed to 2 menus involved "Authors/Contributors" and "SSTattler Weekly Stats":

• I e-mailed to the people "Contributors" and changed from "Authors/Contributors" to "Guest Bloggers" & "SSTattler Bloggers" - this is more accurate for "Bloggers" instead "Authors/Contributors".  We have about five real "Authors" but they know the difference between "Authors" versa "Bloggers".  
• Right now we have 23 "Guest/SSTattler Bloggers".
• If you like write about "stroke", either you have a personal blog or just e-mail, just send to me for details, SSTattler11@gmail.com, and I will add you to the list.
• Take a look About Us.

Bob Mankoff: Anatomy of a New Yorker Cartoon

Published on Jun 26, 2013

The New Yorker receives around 1,000 cartoons each week; it only publishes about 17 of them. In this hilarious, fast-paced, and insightful talk, the magazine's longstanding cartoon editor and self-proclaimed "humor analyst" Bob Mankoff dissects the comedy within just some of the "idea drawings" featured in the magazine, explaining what works, what doesn't, and why.

Bob Mankoff has been the cartoon editor of The New Yorker since 1997. But his association with the magazine started many years before that, when he began submitting his own cartoons to the title in 1974. 2,000 rejections later, his first "idea drawing" was finally accepted and published, and in 1980, he accepted a contract to contribute cartoons on a regular basis. Since then, more than 800 of his cartoons have been published in the magazine.

These days, Mankoff is mainly responsible for helping to select from the 1000 cartoons the magazine receives each week, in order to select the "16 or 17" he says will actually make it into print.

Bob Mankoff is the cartoon editor of The New Yorker, as well as an accomplished cartoonist in his own right.


Standard YouTube License @ TED Talks

RMR: Rick and Olympic Trampolining

Uploaded on Jan 31, 2012

Rick trains with London 2012 athletes Jason Burnett, Karen Cockburn, and Rosie MacLennan in Richmond Hill, ON.

Standard YouTube License @ The Rick Mercer Report

---------

Quick Note: Summer Holidays End This Year Next Week Aug / 31 / 2013 and Toward the Future...

John C. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Next week, Aug / 31, it is the end of summer holidays and the start of autumn:

• the first week is "Steadward Centre - 2013" about Edmonton of University "Personal & Physical Achievement" for stroke survivors - it is similar to last year but updated a little bit.
• I have list of new "Guest Bloggers and SSTattler Bloggers"'s (formally titled  "Authors/Contributors").
• Detailed about the statistics, "Dynamic Weekly Stats".  
• See as well "Weekly Index" about the past, one and half year for SSTattler, and about, usually, one month in the future.

See you next week,
John C. Anderson
SSTattler11@gmail.com

Saturday Comics

For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston - 2008-07-26

"And despite your grouchiness..."

Dilbert
Scott Adams - 2013-08-18

"You have 25 alleged accomplishment..."

Garfield
Jim Davis - 2013-08-23

"Why don't they make tuna-flavoured ice cream?"

Betty
Delainey & Rasmussen - 2013-08-23

"Follow these steps, starting with the proper grip..."

  
*For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. See as well  the cartoonist Lynn Johnston.

** 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 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 and Dilbert.com.

*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ The Stages of Grief

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Wait a minute Jo! I'm not dead, but survived a stroke. I hear you, but a devastating, life altering event such as a stroke has a grief or loss process similar to a death of a loved one. Once again this is an Amy inspired blog. She just blogs so prolifically that's hard not to reference back to her.

I've actually mentioned the stages of grief in various blogs but I don't think I've ever broken it down like this before. I do know that I charged $100 for grief counseling sessions that lasted twelve weeks in my ministry profession. This is a gimme course that is free so take advantage of it.

So over the next five weeks I'm going to explain to you the stages as it pertains to your stroke recovery. I will give real world examples of what I've gone through, coping skills, and exercises for you to do to gain a level of acceptance in conquering each step. After all, knowledge is power and control. It is something we as stroke survivors rarely feel until we work through the process. Understanding is the key. Think you've mastered it all? You've been a survivor for multiple years and this doesn't pertain to you, think again. I've met dozen of survivors still grappling with these after ten or twenty years post stroke. Am I through it all? Yes and no. I'm still bouncing around the steps taking victories where I can.

If it seems like I'm donning my ministerial hat, I am in a way. I'll be paraphrasing this to my pastor's blog as well because it is a whole spirit concept. I've spent years in grief counselling both as a grief stricken person and as a counsellor. So needless to say, I recognized it in my own stroke recovery as well.

The Stages

And if you want to carry it farther into seven steps, you can.

Both apply in a case like a stroke. I usually combine Shock and Denial, and Bargaining and Guilt, the Upturn, Reconstruction with Acceptance. So my version is five steps while taking the seven into consideration. Now with death this process takes roughly a year to complete or maybe a little longer. With stroke recovery it may takes years! You may bounce between levels or be on multiple levels at the same time and you may gain acceptance in certain areas faster than others.

Why should stroke survivors care about this? The ultimate of ultimates of recovery is to be...

• the best you can be given the circumstances
• a more proactive survivor
• aware that this is going on and it's normal.
  Isn't it nice to be considered normal. <g>
• forewarned is forearmed

Knowledge is power. Foresight is awesome. Being prepared is everything. Tune in next week for the first installment...Shock and Denial.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

6 Comments:

Zan Marie August 18, 2013 said... Powerful truth, Jo!

oc1dean August 18, 2013 said... If my medical staff had done anything at all useful I might have exited the anger stage a long time ago.

J.L. Murphey August 18, 2013 said... Yes, Zan Marie it is.
Dean the awful truth is medical staff are not trained in grief counseling only drug therapy. It takes a psychiatrist or minister to enter for curing the human spirit.

Barb Polan August 19, 2013 said... Wonderful,wonderful! I have never heard of the "reconstruction" phase, but I've been there a long time. Thank you for your insight. 

BTW, I looked for a counselor for nearly a year. When I finally ran into a psychotherapist who had lost her husband the year before, I thought, "Bingo!" She's been perfect for me.

Hilary Melton-Butcher August 19, 2013 said... Hi Jo .. I came on here yesterday and get bombed out by Chrome .. but eventually return ... the tricks of blogging!

I was interested from another point of view .. well actually two -

My mother, who was severely stroked - bedridden and fed via tube - but mentally fine .. however she could not cry, nor could she express sadness --- so I needed to watch when I was talking to her .. really why I never chatted about life - because she could not be emotional - even though I could see in her eyes she wanted to be ... 

From my point of view - it was adjusting to what my mother could and could not do .. 

That was never explained to me ... I worked it out and how to cope ...

The thing that frustrated me, and showed in my mother's eyes, was that my brothers did not think about her ... they were visiting, but not adjusting to her situation .. and that was and is very difficult to deal with ... they would talk very quickly, not look her in the eye ... and let her join in the conversation ... 

Anyway - at least you know what's going on .. and learning the process of grief ...

Thanks for highlighting it .. Hilary

Amy August 19, 2013 said... Thanks for the mention. :). You know I don't think I ever bargained. I've had a whole heck of a lot of the other stuff though, and still do. Especially anger.

See the original article:

      Sunday Stroke Survival ~ The Stages of Grief

      in The Murphey Saga

Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Concert for a Girl With Cancer

Monty Becker
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Published on Dec 30, 2012

A Concert for One - This is about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on tour in Memphis, Tennessee, when at St. Jude's Hospital. There, a little girl had been admitted with an aggressive form of brain cancer and had her first chemo treatment, which meant she shouldn't be in crowds and couldn't attend the Mormon Choir's concert the night before. Somehow her family sent a request asking that some of the choir members, maybe, could meet the young girl at a hotel lobby. See what happened, when the little family, so distraught with their daughter's cancer, walked into the lobby!

Top Comments:

Paul Klenk The primary point for me is that there are people who still care. I am not a very religious person, but I believe that people should follow a creed of kindness and goodness. And, music is so powerful in evoking emotion. We know, with scientific certainty, that attitude plays a substantive role in healing. In short, I, too, was very much moved.
Pam Dieterich Thank You this was wonderful. Many great voices. So glad Chase is doing better.
Eric Cawley The good news: Chase was five years cancer-free as of Aug. 2012 Google chase "st. jude" "brain cancer" for details...
See for more comments: Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Concert for a Girl With Cancer.

Standard YouTube License @ Mike Sadowski

A Mouse. A Laser Beam. A Manipulated Memory...

Published on Aug 15, 2013

Can we edit the content of our memories? It's a sci-fi-tinged question that Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu are asking in their lab at MIT. Essentially, the pair shoot a laser beam into the brain of a living mouse to activate and manipulate its memory. In this unexpectedly amusing talk they share not only how, but -- more importantly -- why they do this. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)

Steve Ramirez: Neuroscientist

When Steve Ramirez published his latest study in Science, it caused a media frenzy. Why? Because the paper was on implanting false memories in the brains of mice.

Steve is a graduate student at MIT’s Brain and Cognitive Sciences department pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience. His work focuses on finding where single memories are located throughout the brain, genetically tricking the brain cells that house these memories to respond to brief pulses of light, and then using these same flickers of light to reactivate, erase and implant memories. The goals of his research are twofold: to figure out how the brain gives rise to the seemingly ephemeral process of memory, and to predict what happens when specific brain pieces breakdown to impair cognition. His work has been published in Science and covered by New Scientist, Discover, Scientific American, and Gizmodo.

Ramirez aims to be a professor who runs a lab that plucks questions from the tree of science fiction to ground them in experimental reality. He believes that a team-oriented approach to science makes research and teaching far more exciting. When he’s not tinkering with memories in the lab, Ramirez also enjoys running and cheering on every sports team in the city of Boston.

Xu Liu: Neuroscientist

After studying how to generate a fruit fly able to learn much faster than normal, Xu Liu's latest work investigates how to activate and deactivate specific memories in mice.

Xu Liu received his Ph. D. from Baylor College of Medicine. During his Ph. D., he studied the mechanisms of learning and memory using fruit flies as a model system. By changing the expression of certain genes in the fly brain, he generated smart flies that can learn many times faster than their peers. Using live imaging, he also detected learning induced changes in the brain cells and observed memory formation inside the brain with light.

After graduation, he moved to MIT and joined Dr. Susumu Tonegawa's lab as a postdoctoral associate. He continued his pursuit of memory with light there. Instead of just watching memory formation, he developed a system in mice where one can not only identify and label cells in the brain for a particular memory, but also turn these cells on and off with light to activate this memory at will. This work was published in Science, and has been covered by the media worldwide, including The Boston Globe, Scientific American, The Daily Mail, and The Guardian.


Standard YouTube License @ TEDxTalks

RMR: Rick with Daryn Jones (Segways,...)

Published on Oct 10, 2012

Rick and Daryn head to Horseshoe Valley, ON to ride off-road Segways, learn how to drive motocross, and careen down a hill in a giant rubber ball.

SSTattler: 

1. Gary, Monty and myself (John),  went in the spring to test Segway with Edmonton River Valley Adventure Co.  All of us have a) bum right arm b) we rode the Segway perfectly --  most stroke survivors can ride the Segway!
2. See Feb/09/2013 Segway PT (Personal Transporter) in SSTattler.

Standard YouTube License @ The Rick Mercer Report

Saturday Comics

For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston - 2008-07-25

"Iris is going ... for a few days, Dad!"

Dilbert
Scott Adams - 2013-08-12

"Hey, is that a passive job seeker? zzzzzz.. "

Garfield
Jim Davis - 2013-08-12

"Excuse me, I'm needed in surgery!"

Betty
Delainey & Rasmussen -2013-08-13

"...you use the phrase 'grudge purchase' before!"

  
*For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. See as well  the cartoonist Lynn Johnston.

** 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 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 and Dilbert.com.

*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Writing After a Stroke

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, August 11, 2013

I think we are finally out of the woods for the time being. Until the next time. My husband's congestive heart failure and pneumonia are now a thing of the past and I'm not in constant vigilance mode. This morning he took his oxygen off and walked to the bathroom without getting deathly pale or severely out of breath. He even took the trash outside and came in only mildly out of breath. His color has gone from ashen gray to a ruddy, pale pink again. I'm so thankful for all the prayers.

I've been going around and round for the past few months and not accomplishing anything towards the forward progress of Don't Get Your Panties in a Wad. It is frustrating writing after a stroke. Sure, I can blog, but writing a book is different.

The muse just aren't with me when my focus is scattered in too many different directions. I used to call myself a master juggler. Not any more. It's tough tossing one ball in the air and catching it.

Could part of my problem be fear? Possibly. With two agents chomping at the bit trying to sign me up for this book and talk about an auction, the old fear of have I still got it comes into play. I've been analyzing everything as to why I've stopped writing this book. Maybe Alex's Insecure writer's group would help, but that's not the only reason.

As I mentioned Wednesday, I had the opportunity to speak with a teenager doing her volunteer time in therapy before going to college for a PT license about writing and publishing. Did you know they have to log 100 hours volunteer in a PT/OT center before they can be accepted into school? I didn't until my stroke.

Anyhow getting back to this young girl, when she found out that I was a previously published author she lit up with excitement. She was writing a novel herself. Then we started talking about writing after a stroke. She couldn't understand what the difficulties were. Of course not. It's all about your point of view and experiences. There is no way a 17 year old girl is on an even playing field with me having grandchildren her age and recovering from a stroke.

So I broke it down for her.

• In writing you plot out your stories. It takes sequencing and linear thinking. Both of which were impaired with my stroke. Although I'm working at it, there is still a deficit.
• In writing you need command of the language you are writing in. I lost all fluency in languages except English, my third language. Spelling went out the window as did all but simple grammar. When before your stroke you were fluent in eight languages and you are left with one, it can be quite disheartening. Not to mention you are not even fluent in the language you are now speaking. This is evident by all the red and green squiggly line in what you are typing. It gets really irritating when you think you used to write 50-100K words in three months without either.
• In writing you need to be able to focus and not be scatter brained. Now with my "Dyslexic/ADD" any interruption is the death of whatever you had in your mind. That's me now since the stroke. 

So what's my problem now? I hit 37K words before this writing stoppage. It should be easier now that I've partially recovered what I lost, right?

Wrong. I managed to write so many words because I really did not have many demands on my time. Now, I'm driving, gardening, cooking and my husband's care issues has escalated. Marry that with the low energy levels that plague me, it spells disaster. My muse and desire to write hides under the bed whimpering like a dog during a thunder storm. When I ask my neurologist when can I expect my energy level to return to somewhat normal, I get the depends  and every stroke is different answer. At first she said after a year, but I'm there now with no return of my energy. If you don't know something, just say you don't know.

I still need a nap or two to get through the day depending on what's going on. Then I'm in bed sleeping by ten even with the naps. We're not talking about my old twenty minute power naps either. I'm talking a hour at least possibly three. Now admittedly, I am no longer leaving the therapy department with the vague sense of nausea and falling in bed on arrival home anymore, but on therapy days I'm done for anything more strenuous. I do my gardening, chicken and rabbit care before therapy because I won't have the energy afterwards..

In the old days, I used to build myself up to get more energy. Do one more set of ten or twenty in exercises, but a stroke is weird. The build up just doesn't work. Granted I'm better than I was a month after the stroke but less than 25% of my norm which isn't good. I watch my grands play nonstop and wonder the age old thought of if I could only bottle it, I'd be a millionaire. It's not like pain is draining my energy because the Botox injections knocked most of that out. 5-Hour Energy drink be damned. It doesn't work in this case. All it does is give me heart palpitations from too much caffeine.

So when will I finish this book? I dunno. I'm biding my time because eventually it's got to get better.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

8 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher August 11, 2013 said... Hi Jo - well all I can say is that you're doing great .. and thank goodness it was English that rose to the fore ... if you'd be posting in Dutch - I'd have been outta here!

But glad to read your hubby is feeling better, and thus you too - I'm sure that chat with the youngster will inspire her to many things in her life ... 

You're doing much more than most of us put together and coping .. all I can say is build one step at a time .. or write a story one story at a time ... 

Cheers for now - you've got it = nothing is impossible with determination .. so right. Hilary

Rebecca Dutton August 11, 2013 said... My first reaction was to tell you to give you self a break. When my husband had a heart attack I was lucky if I had the energy to undress before I went to bed.

Zan Marie August 11, 2013 said... Bless you, Jo! I do hope the girl heard what you said. Just keep plugging, but then I know you will. ; )

Cate Russell-Cole: Artios Communications August 11, 2013 said... Jo, I am late for the blitz, but very glad to be or I wouldn't have caught this post. Hang in there, take good care of yourself and keep your faith strong. Determination and the Father's strength behind you will indeed get you there.

May the Lord bless the desires of your heart.

J.L. Murphey August 12, 2013 said... Hilary- Actually Dutch wasn't one of my languages that I was fluent in, but my brother in law was teaching me. 

Rebecca- I think that was the main gist behind writing this was the break I was giving myself was too long. Or at least I feel it's too long--5 months worth.

Zan Marie- I am blessed.

Cate- Welcome aboard to the Murphey Saga.My faith is strong and steadfast.

Amy August 12, 2013 said... By like 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I have to lay down and close my eyes. I don't have a choice in the matter. It's unbelievably annoying, I hope that goes away in time. Glad your DH is doing better.

J.L. Murphey August 12, 2013 said... Amy, Since I usually wake up between 4 & 5AM, I have to lay down for at least an hour every 5 hours. Now if I am extremely active, it may be every 3-4 hours. No choice either. I've tried pushing the boundaries, but have failed.

SSTattler August 12, 2013 said... Hi Jo, I had a stroke more than 15 years ago so my perspective is a little different from yours i.e. 1 year from your stroke but your motto "Nothing is impossible with determination" is perfect. Just keep on the track and follow your motto. At first you have weird tasks, botox, napping, ... but eventually they will disappear and you will keep on writing. Call me in 2225 years in the future and you can tell me your progress. Meanwhile, at least **I will buy you book**, "Don't Get Your Panties in a Wad" so keep on writing and I'm sure it less than 2225!
Regards / John A.

See the original article:
      Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Writing After a Stroke
      in The Murphey Saga

Make ==> Good ==> Code: Johan Janssens at TEDxBKK

Published on Aug 12, 2013

A culture of peace through technology and free software Johan Janssens is a Belgian web architect, tech entrepreneur and free software advocate. He believes firmly in sharing and collaboration, in spreading good ideas and in the power of technology to make the world a better place. Johan is most know as co-founder of Joomla, an open source content management system used by more than 3% of all the sites on the internet.

Programming in the New Literacy.

"As programming becomes more important, it will leave the back room and become a key skill and attribute of our intellictual and social classes, just at reading and writing did in the past".
             -- Marc Prensky Programming Is the New Literacy.

 Learn more: http://about.me/johanjanssens.

SSTattler: 

1. I was the coder using Joomla for 1 year for Stroke Recovery Edmonton Assoc.  
   It was a nice language & Content Management System!
2. Watch out for young kids - they will know to type "code" when their still in diapers!
   Look at Mind Storms by Lego.

Standard YouTube License @ TEDxTalks

RMR: Rick at Niagara College

Published on Mar 27, 2013

Rick visits the Teaching Winery and Teaching Brewery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.

SSTattler: Hmmm, I could have a degree in Prof. Brew Master... instead  I am a coder!


Standard YouTube License @ The Rick Mercer Report

Saturday Comics

For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston - 2008-07-24

"I shouldn't be going, Elly."

Dilbert
Scott Adams - 2013-08-05

"May we breathe this air on his planet?"

Garfield
Jim Davis - 2013-08-06

"Today we send a cat into space!"

Betty
Delainey & Rasmussen -2013-08-09

"If he wanted to throwing knives..."

  
*For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. See as well  the cartoonist Lynn Johnston.

** 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 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 and Dilbert.com.

*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Come On and Raise Your Hand

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Okay all you strokies, a question or three for you. I picked up the term strokies from Amy's site and it has kind of stuck a chord in me.

1) How many of you are at least six months out from your stroke? I am raising my hand. Raise yours if this applies to you.

2) How many of you are still doing your OT/PT/Speech therapy routines? I am raising my hand and waving it wildly, but I am also seeing a few hands faltering and lowering out there.  Is it yours? Shame on you. 

3) Are you fully recovered or just at a state of acceptance that this is how you will be from now on? I'm not raising my hand to this one because I am not fully recovered and not accepting where I am, and neither should you.

I hear all you naysayers out there, "If you were five, ten, twenty years out from your stroke like I am you'd give up too." Nope, I don't think so. Here's why...

• The brain is constantly learning. Learning doesn't stop until you die. They've got this fancy word for it called neuro-plasticity. People will get smarter or stupider as time goes on and that takes brain power. To me death is the absence of learning. I am a forever student in this life.

• I'm too stubborn to give up. Yep that's right. There has never been a more mule headed person born than me and sometimes to my own detriment.

• I'm generous to a fault. I'd rather do without than anyone else. It's a point of view. It's not that I'm not worthy because I am, but more someone else's needs are greater than mine. There is always someone else who has it worse off than you and I am thankful it's not me. Is that wrong? Does that sound condescending? Maybe. I may gripe about my family because they are such a big part of my life and the turmoil they cause, but I let them cause it. There are others in this world who have family but they are not close and there are others who have no family at all. I am thankful. If I can't do then I can't do, and I can't accept that. It's that simple to me really.

• While I still have some paralysis and feeling loss from my stroke, I actually got off pretty light compared to some others. I didn't regain the use of my pre-stroke body, but I'm still able to care for myself and my husband with very little help from the outside world. That being said, I'm still not as self sufficient as I want to be. There are still a lot of things that I wish I could do again. I also believe it won't happen tomorrow and I may have to work years to achieve it.

• Anything you want is worth working for. In your job didn't you not have to go to college and learn a skill set? Okay some of you didn't go to to college but you still had to learn what was required for your job, didn't you? Didn't it take you years to learn that skill set? Therapy is the same way. It is repeating a set of skills over and over again. It doesn't matter if you fail the first time or the hundredth time. You are working towards a goal. To be whatever and be the best whatever you could be. Doesn't the same principles apply here? Each exercise you do and keep doing strengthens the pathways to repeat that action, and with time, it becomes as solid as the original ones. Yes it could take years before my light fluttering grip becomes strong enough to hold anything or do something productive with it, but it's a start. We all have to start somewhere and set an ultimate goal of what you want to accomplish.

• I am now talking about year goals instead of month or week goals. That's a change. For me, my goals for this year are to strengthen my ankle so it doesn't stay inverted and gain control of my fluttering grip so it won't take my entire body to do it.  

If it doesn't happen in 2013, then it becomes a goal for 2014 or 2024. Goal deadlines are flexible where  therapy exercises and recovery are concerned. The important thing to consider is looking how far you've come in the year. Surely in the year you tried to accomplish a goal, other things were accomplished. Revel in that. Celebrated your achievements no matter how small. They are a step in the right direction.

Now if you are totally satisfied in being how you are for the rest of your life, there's no hope for ya. This year is already halfway over but still on my list to achieve and goal setting, but I'm still reaching for the stars but with my feet firmly planted on the ground. I'm still intent on reaching my goals. How about you? Isn't there one thing you would like to do better? Just one?

Nothing is impossible with determination.

1 comment:

Amy August 4, 2013 said... If I could speak normally, I don't think I would hate it as bad as I do. I'm definitely not satisfied like this.

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      Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Come On and Raise Your Hand

      from The Murphey Saga