Heart Attack and Water

Monty Becker
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Good information to try.

How many folks do you know who say they don't want to drink anything before going to bed because they'll have to get up during the night!!

Heart Attack and Water - I never knew all of this! Interesting....

Something else I didn't know... I asked my Doctor why do people need to urinate so much at night time. Answer from my Cardiac Doctor - Gravity holds water in the lower part of your body when you are upright (legs swell). When you lie down and the lower body (legs and etc) seeks level with the kidneys, it is then that the kidneys remove the water because it is easier. This then ties in with the last statement!

I knew you need your minimum water to help flush the toxins out of your body, but this was news to me. Correct time to drink water... Very Important. From A Cardiac Specialist!

Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body: 2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs 1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion 1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure, 1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack

I can also add to this... My Physician told me that water at bed time will also help prevent night time leg cramps. Your leg muscles are seeking hydration when they cramp and wake you up with a Charlie Horse.

"Life is a one time gift"

Gall Bladder Firmly Out

Andrea
A Year of Living In My Head

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

I had the surgery. My over sized non-working gall bladder was hauled out of my body.  The surgery was laparoscopic -- four incisions made, to accommodate a camera, navigating tools and extraction spot.  I recovered nicely, although at one point got a lecture because I thought I could be doing stuff one week after surgery.  And was told, no, I needed to not be hauling stuff around for about a month.

Sigh.

On My Nerves

Marcelle Greene
Up Stroke

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

As a stroke survivor I have heard that to regain muscle control, I have to forge neural pathways between an undamaged part of my brain and the nerves that network through my muscles.

One tool I've used to facilitate innervation (nerve growth) is Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation. In addition to receiving electrical stimulation as a regular part of physical therapy three times per week, I purchased a small NMES unit to use at home while doing hand exercises. Initially my arm and fingers moved only when triggered by the unit, which works by sticking electrodes to the skin and sending electrical pulses through the muscles. Basically, the stimulator does the job of nerves until they can do it for themselves — sort of like jumpstarting a car.

Sunday Stroke Survivor ~ Inappropriate or Overkill Emotions

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, October 13, 2013

I've talked about my inappropriate responses on this blog for over a year. It has a name that I haven't discussed yet. It's called Psuedobulbar Affect (PBA). You may have seen recent television commercials about it recently. Now you are meeting someone afflicted with it. It's not depression.

It's a side effects of my stroke. No, I'm not crazy for laughing for no apparent reason, or bursting into torrential sobs at someone saying "boo," or going ballistic with rage when you drop a pin. I just can't help myself and I have no control over it either. No I'm not exaggerating or taking an author's license.

credit

Some of you may remember the blog about the one and only wedding I officiated since my stroke. For those who didn't get a chance to read it, it's here. Since my stroke, you won't find me without a box of tissues and my incontinence pads for this very reason.

11 People ... On a Rope

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Eleven people were hanging on a rope, under a helicopter.

10 men and 1 woman.

The rope was not strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that one had to leave, because otherwise they were all going to fall. They weren't able to choose that person, until the woman gave a very touching speech.

She said that she would voluntarily let go of the rope, because, as a woman, she was used to giving up everything for her husband and kids or for men in general, and was used to always making sacrifices with little in return.

As soon as she finished her speech, all the men started clapping . . .

Soooooo Tired...

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Sunday, October 13, 2013

This week, we were coming home from a doctor's appointment on the wheelchair transport, when the driver asks me, "Is he OK?" (meaning Bob) and I turn to see Bob sort of leaning to the side of his wheelchair, his left hip raised off the seat. And I think, oh shit, and I mean that quite literally because that is what he was doing, right there, in his wheelchair, in the back of this transport van and we still had 20 miles to go before we got home.

We get home and, you know, it is nearly impossible to change a diaper in a wheelchair, so I tell Bob that I will get him into bed and then change it. So poor Bob has to slideboard onto the bed, meaning there is going to be an even bigger mess in his pants, but I get him onto the bed and get a washable bed pad under him and when I cut off his Depends, there's nothing there. I am thinking huh? and then I realize there is a rock hard stool stuck half-in and half-out, so I have to pluck that thing out, plus dig out some more and give him a suppository because there's still stuff stuck up there, then spend the night cleaning up diarrhea squirts.

Research

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Oct 14, 2013

Someone made a point yesterday that was really profound and true.  If I hadn’t gone to school for physical therapy, and if I hadn’t been trained to do research for medical stuff a certain way I wouldn’t have found Kundalini Yoga.  When I was 9 months out of my stroke, I was desperately searching on the internet for something that could help to get me out of the HELL that I was in.  The doctors weren’t helping me.  So I knew how to find credible research and I kept getting results for something called Kundalini Yoga.  I went to pubmed.com.  This is what I was taught to use in PT school.  I have no clue what I searched for.  I can’t remember, but to say that Kundalini has saved my life is an understatement.  This stuff works, it gets results, the research says so.

See the original article + 6 comments:

Research

in ▶ My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Jack Donaghy, aka Alec Baldwin, is This a Wind Up?

Kate Allatt
A Rocky Stroke Recovery

October 13, 2013

Has he followed any of you too?

Last week something strange happened on LinkedIn!! I got a new connection… a guy ‘Jack Donaghy?’

Looking at his profile, I joked to Mark and said,

‘Bloody hell he looks just like Alec Baldwin! You know former husband to Kim Bassinger (9 1/2 weeks – You can leave your hat on!!!)’

Anyway, then I did the kids, the dog and my work stuff as I do normally and forgot about it!

Last night I couldn’t sleep while Mark flew to Paris at silly-o’clock, so I googled ‘Jack Donaghy’, like sado would.

Wiki said this,

‘From 2006 to 2013, he starred as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, receiving critical acclaim for his performance and winning two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work on the show, making him the male performer with the most SAG Awards.’

Maybe, it’s clever marketing by 30 Rock for the award winning sitcom, or maybe they’ll pay me to fly over to deliver some inspirational talks in LA, or maybe I’ve been too gullible (again)?

Still it made not sleeping at 3am more interesting than unloading the dishwasher or counting sheep!

See the original article:

Jack Donaghy, aka Alec Baldwin, is This a Wind up?

in ▶ A Rocky Stroke Recovery

Fascinating Look at Stroke Results, Recovery

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith

Thursday, October 10, 2013

A fascinating article - complete with videos - comes from a Canadian media outlet, how stroke survivors can experience 'bizarre' syndromes:

Every 10 minutes in Canada, someone suffers a stroke, and while the physical impacts are often obvious and familiar – a limp, or a paralyzed arm – equally devastating are the hidden, cognitive disabilities that can convince some people they’re losing their minds. 

After decades of neglect, science is beginning to unravel the strange, but fascinating, neuropsychological syndromes that can occur when neurons die and the brain tries frantically to rewire lost connections – conditions that will increase as the population ages, because one of the single biggest drivers of stroke risk is age.

The articles runs through a half-dozen less common - but very real - stroke results that can change how people perceive our world and how they speak.

And it speaks to the real need for long-term therapy for stroke survivors. It quotes Dr. Dale Corbett, scientific director and chief executive officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Centre for Stroke Recovery in Ottawa.

“The brain is so fascinating, and so complicated,” said Corbett. 

With the right therapy, people will often continue to recover “long past what we would have normally expected.”

See the original article + 1 comment:

Fascinating Look at Stroke Results, Recovery

in ▶ Stroke of Faith

WTF? You're Asleep Already?

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

Sep 30, 2013

"Are you asleep?"

I whisper the words, but loud enough for him to hear it. I don't get a response--not a foot twitch, not a hand movement, not a face gesture. I get nothing. He lies down and then, somehow, he is instantly asleep. Lucky him. But to this stroke survivor, not so fast. I often get up, in the middle of the night, because I can't fall asleep and don't want to lie there endlessly for more than two hours which is my limit, waiting for sleep to overtake me. It's unfortunate for me that I'm so active in the middle of the night. I get up and do something else, like go downstairs to my office to write, or flip through my kids' pictures--again, or listen to the night sounds of the ocean crashing against the surf. Oh, boy. I have to get up early. The vampire, aka phlebotomist, is coming at 8. *sigh* The time is now 1 AM.

What Speech Language Pathologists are saying about the "Teaching of Talking" Book

Mark A. Ittleman
The Teaching Of Talking

SSTattler: This is for caregivers as well!

Speech Language Pathologists are excited about a new method of speech and language stimulation that allows creativity in the ability to stimulate expressive language.

Speech language pathologists are learning to stimulate single words, phrases and sentences without photographs, flash cards or stimulus items.  This enables them freedomand flexibility to stimulate speech and language spontaneously, in context, and in the moment.

A speech language pathologist with 41 years of experience who works with children and adults authored the Teaching of Talking.  The book was written to train speech language pathologists in simple and spontaneous ways of stimulating language, but also to train parents, and caregivers also.  Many speech and language difficulties could take months or years of intensive stimulation and in these days of dwindling resources for professional services it is prudent for the speech language pathologist to train loved ones and care givers.

Teaching of Talking is a great resource for speech language pathology students and clinicians who may be interested in  child language, developmental speech and language disorders, neurogenic speech disorders, aphasia, dysarthria and other types of speaking difficulties which require modeling language, sentence length, speaking rate, latency and prosody.  Here are some examples of what other speech and language pathologists are saying about The Teaching of Talking.

To learn more, read reviews, and get your copy please visit us at:

http://www.teachingoftalking.com/testimonials
http://amazon.com/author/markittleman
http://www.teachingoftalking.com/pre-order-the-teaching 

Mark A. Ittleman, M.S., CCC/SLP
markittleman@teachingoftalking.com

Speech Pathologist "I can do that! Teaching of Talking"

Published on Jul 14, 2013

Speech pathologists and caregivers are realizing that stimulating speech and language is easy to learn and is not rocket science. Once realized, caregivers and speech language pathologists become ignited to stimulate language any time, or anywhere.


Standard YouTube License @ Mark Ittleman

Regenerative Medicine: an Exciting new Approach to Stroke Recovery

Canadian Partnership
for
Stroke Recovery

Published on Oct 11, 2013

Finding ways to help the brain replace cells lost due to stroke -- and ensure that they function properly -- is one of the primary goals of researchers at the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery (HSFCSR). While research in this area is still at an early stage, the long-term potential benefit for stroke survivors is immense.


Standard YouTube License @ Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery

Aditi Shankardass: Neuroscientist

Uploaded on Jun 24, 2010

http://www.ted.com Developmental disorders in children are typically diagnosed by observing behavior, but Aditi Shankardass knew that we should be looking directly at their brains. She explains how a remarkable EEG device has revealed mistaken diagnoses and transformed children's lives.

Aditi Shankardass is a neuroscientist trained across three disciplines of the field: neurophysiology, neuroanatomy and neuropsychology. She has also worked across different levels of the field, from cellular to cognitive neuroscience, and been based in research labs as well as diagnostic clinics. Currently, she leads the Neurophysiology Lab of the Communicative Disorders Department at California State University.

Much of Shankardass' work has been devoted to the use of an advanced form of digital quantitative EEG (electroencephalography) technology that records the brain's activity in real time, and then analyzes it using complex display schematics and statistical comparisons to norms, enabling far more accurate diagnoses for children with developmental disorders. She is also actively involved in public outreach to increase understanding of brain disorders as a board member of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation and a consultant for the BBC Science Line.


Standard YouTube License @ TED

RMR: Rick and Rugby

Uploaded on Nov 2, 2011

Rick trains with Canada's national men's rugby team at their facility in Langford, BC; then shaves flanker Adam Kleeberger's legendary beard in preparation for November.


Standard YouTube License @ The Rick Mercer Report

---------

Saturday News

Contents:

• Headline - MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Comics   - For Better or For Worse, Dilbert, Garfield, Betty
• Eclectic - Many articles from other bloggers and mostly about "stroke"...
• Trailer  - Rick Mercer Report - Intelligence, humorous, politics in Canada.

MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

SSTattler: This is a long but useful article.  Look at the article "How MRI works explained simply using diagrams" then you have a little more knowledge about the MRI.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging 
        From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), or magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize internal structures of the body in detail. MRI makes use of the property of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to image nuclei of atoms inside the body. MRI can create more detailed images of the human body than are possible with X-rays.

MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Video

Brain MRI 

Published on Jun 13, 2012

Meet Scott, a technologist for Michigan Residence Imaging. In this video Scott will take you through the procedure of recieving an MRI for your brain. Real video representation plays alongside narration to help give a better understanding of this thirty minute operation and ease any concerns you may have about your own appointment.


Standard YouTube License @ MRI Michigan 

Saturday Comics

For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston - 2008-08-19

"He's been fine for so long..."

Dilbert
Scott Adams - 2013-10-11

"You claim to be an introvert and yet..."

Garfield
Jim Davis - 2013-10-11

"Liz, I lied about my past."

Betty
Delainey & Rasmussen - 2013-10-11

"There's not many people on Facebook who say..."

  
*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.

Eclectic Stuff

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

Kate and Joyce - Two New Bloggers in SSTattler!

SSTattler: 

       Both are authors!, so, read the biography below and the books are available on Amazon.   Kate lives in the UK so she is the first UK blogger for SSTattler. Welcome Kate & Joyce!

Guest Blogger - Kate Allatt

Kate Allatt
A Rocky Stroke Recovery

• Kate Allatt is ‘Extraordinary Woman of Year 2011’ who survived a devastating brainstem stroke with locked in syndrome at the age of 39.
• She founded Fighting Strokes site and has written two books to date – Running Free & Gonna Fly Now! (Amazon). 
• Kate is an inspirational speaker, national advocate for anyone affected by stroke. 
• Her charity has just become a member of the prestigious UK Stroke Forum. 
• She is currently involved in various research projects to improve the improvement progress for all stroke survivors. 
• Her own stroke highs & lows blog – A Rocky Stroke Recovery – has over worldwide 30,000 hits in just 18 months.

Guest Blogger - Joyce Hoffman

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

• Formerly, Joyce Hoffman was a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News and a consumer News writer for Channel 3, KYW-TV.
• She was an English professor at many universities including Temple and LaSalle.
• Author of Here's to Your Health: The Sobering Thoughts About Social Drinking.
• Joyce was a Corporate and Technical Trainer/Writer, most recently for Cozen O'Connor, an international law firm in Philadelphia.
• Currently she is a public speaker about strokes, and an author of "The Tales of a Stroke Patient" available from Amazon. .
• See Joyce Hoffman blog The Tales of a Stroke Patient.

fMRI

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Sep 10, 2012

Everyone has heard of an MRI.  Maybe you don’t know exactly what it is – well this is what it is.  In simple terms, an MRI takes a picture of the soft tissues of the body.  An x-ray takes a picture of bones.  So if you break a bone, you get an x-ray.  If you tear your ACL or have a stroke (like me!!!) you get an MRI.  Well hopefully you get an MRI if you have a stroke, I almost didn’t.  Anyway, an x-ray takes pictures of bones and an MRI takes a picture of pretty much everything else.   So ever hear of a functional MRI(fMRI)?  This is an MRI that scans your brain while you are performing a task.  They can look at what part of the brain/how much of the brain is being used to perform that motion.  The EXCITE trial kind of kicked off the excitement(no pun intended) about neuroplasticity (rewiring of the brain).  This study showed that when a stroke patient is thought to have no more recovery in the brain, a whole lot of recovery can take place.  Keep at it, the brain changes for the rest of your life.

Related articles:

• FMRI Brain Scanner Reads Thoughts Letter By Letter (medicalnewstoday.com)

See the original article + 4 comments:

fMRI

in ▶ My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

The Mother of All Machines, aka The Mystifying MRI Experience

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

September 26, 2012

SSTtattler: An excerpt from Joyce's book The Tales of a Stroke Patient.

Since I had my stroke, my life has been bombarded with rules and regulations, right ways and wrong ways. And it's not getting any better.

"Don't sleep on your side. You'll fall off the bed." "You have to take the Coumadin [a pill] the same time everyday." "You shouldn't eat any of the foods on the new list." "You have to eat food before you take this medication." "You should walk around the house after an hour of sitting down." "You have to take a nap every day for one hour."

So many things in my life of do's and don'ts. <Sigh>. But without any doubt in my partially-altered mind, the most rules come with the mother of all machines--the MRI.

Thump. Rat-a-tat. Ping. Thawk. In case you're thinking of comic books and graphic novels, and the virtual sounds associated with these noises, <buzzer sound>, you're wrong. Those sounds are coming from the huge, medical machine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which I had the mispleasure of using a bunch of times.

Taking on the World’s Media, For Those Who Can’t Speak For Themselves!

Kate Allatt
A Rocky Stroke Recovery

September 20, 2012

My recent radio interview at the British Science Festival 2012 in Aberdeen with ABC Radio Australia can be found here. Be inspired!

Transcript

Robyn Williams: One of the most startling figures at the British Science Festival was Kate Allatt, startling because only two years ago she was ‘locked-in’, seemingly in a vegetative state. Now she is running free, as she puts it. The problem started with a headache.

Kate Allatt: I had a headache for two weeks, busy mum. Well, I ignored the headache, but when I finally went to hospital complaining of a headache I was sent home with a ‘stress-induced migraine’ and some Co-Codamol. Six hours later I collapsed.

Robyn Williams: Then what happened?

Time is Important - So Some Good News....

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

MRI images may pinpoint time of stroke:

Researchers found that MRI data could accurately determine if patients had experienced stroke symptoms within a three-hour period or less, which would allow the use of a clot-busting drug that works best if administered within that window of time. Tissue plasminogen activator, known as tPA, can dramatically reverse stroke symptoms in those whose strokes are caused by blood clots and blockages, which account for an estimated 85 percent of all strokes. 

Strokes strike about 795,000 Americans each year, killing 137,000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. 

"A tool that can estimate the age of stroke would be of great value in cases of unknown stroke onset time," said lead researcher Dr. Catherine Oppenheim, professor of radiology at Universite Paris Descartes in France. "This concerns as many as a quarter of all stroke patients who cannot be given tPA because they wake up with stroke symptoms or are unable to say when their stroke began."

See the original article:

Time is Important - So Some Good News....

in ▶ Stroke of Faith

New Internist

Andrea
A Year of Living In My Head

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

My neurologist has been working on me a while to get an internist.  I have so far tried out two - neither which clicked with me.

Trust. The first, when I told her my blood pressure ran high during menses she cocked her head sideways and said "Well, that can't be, why don't you come in and have the nurse take your blood pressure at that time and we will see".  Like a) her nurse will get a more accurate read than my home cuff or the drug store and b)it is all in my head and she needed an official nurse reading. Also, her office was a ferry ride and 30 minute drive away.

Trust. The second charged me $310 a visit because I needed the "highest level care". She was never with me more than 10 minutes, frequently did not remember things she was going to do, and never crossed from her side of the room over to mine.  Not sure that is $310 a visit care.

Size Matters...

Barb Polan
Barb's Recovery

27th December 2011

When I was in Spaulding Rehab, it made me envious that other stroke survivors could do more than I could: my roommate could use a walker with wheels, holding on with both hands, PLUS she got to get out of bed and go into the bathroom by herself; the 22-year-old across the hall had an "I" written on her whiteboard, indicating that she was independent, while my whiteboard was filled with a list of everything I needed help with - exactly everything, except eating, which I have always been exceptional at; I played a game with a woman who had a stroke the week after I did - I could bat the ballon toward her using just my right hand, while she could use either, depending on where the balloon was. My solution was to whack the balloon at her just as hard as I could. Not a very good sport, was I?

How to Change Your Own Mind, Literally

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

Sep 15, 2013

"You can't be too skinny or too rich," said my old college buddy back in the 60s. But now you know the truth. Skinniness sometimes is related to anorexia or bulimia. And you've heard stories about the deaths of lottery winners who blew their money on drugs or died from being poisoned. My friend got it wrong. She should have said, "You can't be too brainy."

The brain controls everything, like our emotional outbursts to pain, our nervous eating, our ability to pee regularly, our resistance to confront people, our neurotic tastes. But what was thought prior to the 1970s--that the brain was fixed and couldn't be changed after early childhood--was wrong. The brain can process new experiences, like having a stroke, by creating neural pathways to accommodate them. Welcome to neuroplasticity, the game changer.

There are four key truths about neuroplasticity:

1. Neuroplasticity is ongoing throughout life and involves brain cells and neurons.
2. Neuroplasticity can happen for two distinct reasons--as a result of learning, experience, and memory or as a result of brain damage.
3. Neuroplasticity can vary by age, and while plasticity occurs throughout life, certain types of changes are more predominant.
4. Neuroplasticity and environment, both together, play an essential role in the process.

Pity Party

Pamela Hsieh
Rehab Revolution

10 July 2010

As always, I encourage you to leave feedback in the comments section below, or e-mail me if you'd like to give input to what I've said.

I'd like to encourage anyone who's feeling a little hopeless right now to start taking action.

I know I talk about this all the time, but in the journey toward healing, you really need a balance of repetition, gentle encouragement, and tough love to keep you going. So on days I don't have a specific discovery to share or a particular therapy technique I feel like getting into, I try to put a new spin on the most basic principle to rehabilitation there is: doing something about your situation. After all, this site is about a rehab revolution, and it's all about attacking your setbacks as best you can to raise yourself above your injury/ies. And you can't do it without it coming first from your mentality, so although it seems simplistic to say "It's all mental," I can't stress more how true that is and will always do my best to keep you going.

First of all though, I'd like to discuss the differences between kindness and disrespect. If I ever come across as a bit harsh, it's because I think we are all motivated best with loving, but firm reminders. I always try my best to be as sensitive to your situations and needs as possible, but there are certainly times where I have to concede and just get this very frank point across: I can't help anyone who doesn't want to be helped. If after spending all my effort and words to inspire someone to make positive changes, I am still met with reluctant and hesitant ifs, ands, and buts, eventually I'm going to become exhausted because there is no point trying to force a round peg into a square hole.

RIP Beating Locked in Syndrome & What Makes Kate Allatt, Kate Allatt.

Kate Allatt
A Rocky Stroke Recovery

October 1, 2013

Setting the record straight.. (& a congratulations to a new birth!)

• Is Fighting Strokes charity Kate Allatt or is Kate Allatt Fighting Strokes? …
• Was my  open’ Beating Locked In syndrome’ Facebook page, always about Kate Allatt?

Of course it was! It was my diary, warts and all, since May 2010 from when I was in hospital! (In retrospect, being an ‘open’ page was a big mistake, though I never fully appreciated that until this year!) Did it expose my ‘car-crash’ life at times, for sure. I’m fragile and vulnerable.

Since January 2013, it was as much my diary, as latterly a specific resource to inspire people seeking PRACTICAL advice for their recently ‘locked-in’ relative. You see people used to search Facebook for any groups or pages with ‘locked in syndrome’ in. I guess unwittingly, my diary cornered the market!

Did I pat-myself-on-the-back sometimes? Annoyingly perhaps, (and certainly not a very British thing).

Well, I did work alone after all, and the majority of time, I had no one to bounce off or share your inspirational successes with, especially since most of my own loved-ones seemed to me, to get ’stroke fatigue’ with me, a year and a half ago. (Don’t blame them, but when I realised this,I soon shut up completely about Fighting Strokes in ALL non-internet, social situations!

Stroke Survivors Everywhere

Richard (Dick) L. Burns
Live or Die: A Stroke of Good Luck

Monday, October 15, 2012

You made it.

You're a stroke survivor or you wouldn't be reading this blog.

You're unique, you're different.  You have physical and mental problems...trust me, you'll continue to get better, not just well, but better!  It works!

Sure, it's going to be hard work but it's going to be successful work.  And, remember that you'll become a better person with each step you take to heal yourself.  You ask, why me...can't answer that 'cause I don't know you - may be lifestyle, may be diet, may be heredity, may be illness.

But I do know something,  because I've been there, done that.  I'm a stroke survivor, too.

Pain, depression, speech, walking, movement, coordination, eating, just washing your hands and face or putting on make-up or shaving to keep your life up, make yourself feel better.  Each step, each job is a taxing chore that at first takes unlimited time.  It's all part of the healing process and it's worth it.  And, it works!  With today's medicine and therapy and assistance it'll probably take you 33 months, not the 33 years it took me.

There's more to come, 'cause I've a lot to say.  To help you.  The stages, the steps, the frustrations, the victory and celebration.  That's why my book, a book written to help you.

Dick Burns
Book: www.liveordieburns.com

See the original article:

Stroke Survivors Everywhere

in ▶ Live or Die: A Stroke of Good Luck

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Failure is NOT an Option

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, October 6, 2013

A few weeks ago Barb Polan talked on her blog about failures as a stroke survivor. I say failure is not an option I will not accept it in recovery ever. How about you?

• Do you look at your rehab efforts and recovery as failure?
• Do you look at you rehab efforts and recovery as humbling?
• Do you look at your rehab efforts and recovery as setting yourself up for failure?

Stop that! ( Dean that's for you grinning)

You are not empowering yourself, but demoralizing yourself and setting yourself up for failure. It is a self fulfilling prophecy. Ever heard of it? The thing about stroke recovery is that it's all about the brain...damaged brain, healing brain, thinking brain, and the visual brain. The human mind is powerful and is constantly learning until the day you die. The neurons are constantly firing to remember, to store, produce movements, and has redundant system operating systems just waiting for re-education and activation.

Speech Therapy for Dysarthria or Aphasia Can be Stimulating!

October 3, 2013

I use to hate doing traditional speech therapy for aphasia in adults, and so did most patients.  It is often boring for everyone involved and may lack creativity and spontaneity.   I can not tell you how many times patients have told me that speech therapy for them seemed boring and stupid.   I am writing this blog today in order to make a point to everyone involved in the process.  Speech therapy can be enlightening, exciting and educational for not only the person with the speaking difficulty but also for caregiver and therapist.

Speech Therapy does not have to be boring or stupid!

Speech Therapy does not
have to be boring or stupid!

Case in point:  Sammy is a patient I had started in speech therapy last week.  He does not need cognitive therapy, or to  follow one or two step commands, confrontational naming or problem solving blah blah blah.……Sammy is dehabilitated.  That means he is weak from his illness.   He had a stroke, which left him unable to independently get out of bed, and right now he is confined to a wheelchair.  Thank goodness he is getting physical and occupational therapies.  He also was left with a hoarse, breathy voice and slurred speech which causes people to ask him to repeat himself, often 2-3 times.  He’s a cool guy and speaks with a distinct accent.  It’s familiar; a mixture of African-American, French, and southern white; that’s about the only way I can describe it.

Why I Can't Be My Own Therapist

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

October 5, 2013

My post on finger exercises is a perfect example of why I can't be my own therapist.  When I'm struggling with an object I don't have one brain cell left free to analyze what my body is doing.  One advantage of being an OT is that I instantly understand what my OT is telling me.  I thought the muscle that bends the joint closest to my thumbnail was the bad boy.  My OT helped me understand that my real problem was weak muscles at the base of my thumb (see arrow).  As an OT I know that a muscle imbalance gets worse when I use it so Cathy had my attention.

A 2nd advantage of being an OT is that I see the connection between exercise and function. I've done the exercise in the photo on the left all year round for SIX YEARS.  WHY?  I do this because the tip pinch I use to take bills out of envelopes and fold laundry isn't forceful enough to manage a zipper.  I'm not independent in driving if I can't zip my coat when the weather turns cold.  Brrrr!

Frequent Orgasms May Protect Against Heart Attacks

Dean Reinke
Deans' Stroke Musing

Sunday, September 29, 2013

All the news about your brain health all the time, no censoring. Ok, it doesn't directly mention stroke but close enough. Enjoy.

I'm sure that the faked orgasm that Sally had in When Harry Met Sally does not count. You do expect your doctor to know all about this and prescribe appropriate measures right after your stroke?

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And another reason to have sex:
       Sex 4 Days Per Week Will Raise Your Salary Up To 5%.

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An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away!
      There is also evidence that frequent orgasms may protect against heart attacks and keep our brains healthy. “Functional MRI images show that women’s brains utilize much more oxygen during orgasm than usual, similar to the effects of exercise,” says Barry Komisaruk, PhD, coauthor of The Science of Orgasm.

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Why Bad Sex Is Shortening Your Life
      There is also evidence that frequent orgasms may protect against heart attacks and keep our brains healthy.

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Health benefits of the 'Big O'
       According to sex and health experts, it is quite beneficial to both a man and woman's overall health if they have an orgasm three to five times per week - be it through sexual intercourse or masturbation. In fact, due to circumstances beyond your control, you may not always find a willing partner to achieve that 'Big O' that frequently, so, according to the experts, there is nothing wrong with 'self-service', and, as a matter of fact, you may be healthier for it in the end.

See the original article:

Frequent Orgasms May Protect Against Heart Attacks

in ▶ Deans' Stroke Musing

Connie & Evelyn

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Two little old ladies, Connie & Evelyn, were sitting on a park bench outside the local town hall where a flower show was in progress.

The short one, Connie, leaned over and said, 'Life is so boring. We never have any fun anymore. For $10.00 I'd take my clothes off and streak through that stupid, boring flower show!'

'You're on!' said Evelyn, holding up a $10.00 bill.

So Connie slowly fumbled her way out of her clothes. She grabbed a dried flower from a nearby display and held it between her teeth. Then, completely naked, streaked (as fast as an old lady can) through the front door of the flower show.

Waiting outside, her friend soon heard a huge commotion inside the hall, followed by loud applause and shrill whistling. Finally, the smiling Connie came through the exit door surrounded by a cheering, clapping crowd.

'What happened?' asked Evelyn.

'I won $1,000 as 1st prize for 'Best Dried Arrangement...!''

Stretching Reduces Spasticity. Yeah, No.

Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke Blog

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

OK class, here's your quiz:

1. Stretching decreases spasticity T/F
2. Stretching increases the length of spastic muscles T/F
3. Stretching reduces the chance of contracture (muscle stuck at a shortened length) T/F
4. Stretch helps make joints more mobile T/F

First of all why stretching is good:

Stretch is good for joints. Every time we move, joints are "lubricated." That is, joints require movement in order for the fluid in the joint (synovial fluid) to be properly distributed. Stroke survivors, because they are typically weak on one side, don't get the joints on the "bad" side to move enough. How much is enough? Look at it this way, on the "good" side your joints, all of them, will be moved through their entire arc of movement (called range of motion) dozens if not hundreds of times per day. How many times are you "bad" side joints moved? Because they have trouble moving, it is wise to move them either with the "good" side doing the work, or a caregiver doing the work. This is called passive ranging.

'The Writer' Automaton

Monty Becker
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Published on Jun 3, 2013

From the BBC programme Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams, Professor Simon Schaffer examines a clockwork creation of Pierre Jaquet-Droz.









Standard YouTube License @ lesterfontayne

Survived the Day

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Well, our depositions are done and over and I must say it's a relief to have that behind me. But what a stressful day. I was grilled for nearly five hours and during the last hour, I broke down, several times, crying like a baby and went through nearly a whole box of tissue. Our attorney told me, afterward, that I did an excellent job and he couldn't be happier.

Bob's deposition lasted all about 10 minutes. It took longer to set up the video recorder than it did to question him. Then there was a very awkward moment when he was asked to raise his right hand to swear to tell the truth, and, of course, his right arm/hand are completely paralyzed, so that was impossible for him to do. So everyone was waiting for Bob to raise his right hand, and (I could tell) Bob was thinking huh? and I finally spoke up and said "he can't", and they finally asked him raise the left one. Then, though he really tried, he pretty much couldn't answer any of the questions, or answered them incorrectly.

All I can say is I'm glad it's over. And maybe life can get back to "normal" (whatever that is!) now.

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Survived the Day

in ▶ The Pink House On The Corner

Yoav Medan: Ultrasound Surgery -- Healing Without Cuts

Uploaded on Dec 8, 2011

http://www.ted.com Imagine having a surgery with no knives involved. At TEDMED, surgeon Yoav Medan shares a technique that uses MRI to find trouble spots and focused ultrasound to treat such issues as brain lesions, uterine fibroids and several kinds of cancerous growths.


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