Thou Shall Not Compromise
If there is one commandment that should apply to stroke recovery, it is that you should not compromise. I don’t mean in any nasty way, but you should not compromise with your previous standards.
For instance, if I take myself, there are certain personal things that I will not let slip.
- In all the typing I do, I still insist that the spelling, capitalisation, layout, spacing and grammar is correct, even though my hands make it difficult. Every time I see a mistake, it grates and I vow to get it right next time.
- If say like C, you’ve always cleaned your shoes every time you tsake them off, then continue to do it. I don’t, but then I never have!
- If you had morning routine, like shower, breakfast and then read the paper till say eleven and you are physically capable, then stick to it.
So in a simple way try to carry on as before. There is research out there from places like Glasgow and Trondheim, which actually shows this is a good idea. In Addenbrookes they got me up on the first day and I made a cup of tea. That made me feel good.
My Left Leg Is Stronger Than The Right
Years ago to try to get some strength and better feeling in my left arm that had been injured in a bullying incident, I went to see a man called Dave Southby at Fitness Works He gave me a set of execises for my shoulders and the left shoulder unfreezed and it felt a lot better. I think too, that my real tennis handicap improved.
I went to see Dave again today and he went round examining the strength and usefullness of my muscles.
Surprisingly, he found that the left leg was in fact stronger than the right. This seemed to apply more as well to the muscles of the upper leg too. Balance ala\o seemed to be better on the left leg. Was this down to the physio started early in Hong Kong, the walking I have done since or some other factor? I was very surprised, as of course my stroke was on the left side. But at least we now know what to work on!
The Levington Ship
On the way back from Felixstowe, we stopped for a glass of Aspalls at the Levington Ship.
The Levington Ship
We actually arrived at the time I needed to take my Warfarin, so I asked the landlord for a glass of tapwater. IT was no problem.
But then you’d expect that sort of sdervice from a pub that serves beer in the traditional Suffolk way by gravity.
Gravity Fed Adnams
A Visit to the Dentist
I must have known my dentist for nearly forty years. I first met him at a dinner party, we hosted at our old house in Debach. I seem to remember he came with a solicitor friend of C’s. But I’m not sure and it could have been that C was one of his patients, but then she wouldn’t have invited her dentist to dinner.
C must have gone to him for well over thirty years and I went back about five years ago, when my dentist retired and I couldn’t find another one.
Since the stroke, I’d had a very sore mouth and I felt that as I was going to the hygenist anyway, that a visit to the dentist might not be a bad idea.
It was, as he gave me a clean bill of health and felt that there were no problems. He thought that to visit your dentist after a stroke is not a bad idea, as negatives from professionals who know you, tick another problem off the list. He also advised staying off tomatoes and spices if you’re on Warfarin, as if you bite your tongue, it can be painful.
I’ve certainly felt better today, with clean teeth and a mouth that is less sore. It was a visit worth doing.
The Left-Handed Blood Test
As my left arm is the one affected by the stroke and because it was also broken in a bullying incident at school, I generally as for blood tests to be taken from my stronger right arm. Today, Today, I had my weekly Warfarin blood test in the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St. Edmunds because I was going to Felixstowe and it was more convenient being on the route I would take.
Today though the blood was taken by a nurse who was left-handed. She took it from my right arm as normal and it was very pain-free. Not that I find having blood taken at all troublesome. Because she was the wrong way round did it help?
But I just wonder, if we never think how we take a blood test! But also I might be lucky, in that they never seem to hurt and all I have to show for them a few hours later is a tiny spot. C on the other hand, feared them and had tremendous trouble taking a test.
But it has to be said that some jobs may be better done, by someone who is left or right-handed. For years, my father said that to be a compositor, or someone who sets letterpress type, you had to do it right-handed. But then he hired a temporary comp, who was left-handed. There was nothing wrong with his work at all, but he was just a bit ungainly to my father’s experienced eye.
Why Am I Sleeping So Much?
Since I glutened myself after coming out of hospital with the stroke, I’ve been sleeping a lot. My stroke doctor thinks I should have problems sleeping, but I don’t. I’m also suffering badly from hay fever, but that is the weather and the pollen. Is this just a normal healing process or am I still feeling the effects of the gluten? Surely, as my body recovers, it will be using up what B12 I have in my body. My nails are soft, which indicates to me I’m low on B12.
Mending Fences
Last night I replaced a fence rail, that some horses had virtually chewed through.
It was very satisfying to do something practical. I perhaps found it difficult to saw through the new rail, but banging 150 mm. nails in was actually easy. Even holding the nail in the left hand wasn’t difficult.
I shall do a second one today and then post a picture.
Oddly, I found walking with my 50-year-old claw hammer as a balance in my left hand. It was much easier than using a dumb-bell. Usually, the dumb-bell slips out of my hand at least twice on a walk, but the hammer didn’t! Speaking to a physio today, he felt it was because the hammer was thinner and easier to grip, but also, the dropping was probably due to tiredness.
Why Haven’t the Germans Struck Off Incompetent Doctor?
A local story that has been around for months, is the case of the German doctor, Daniel Ubani, who killed a patient in Cambridgeshire. He refused to appear at the inquest and a couple of weeks ago, was struck off in the UK by the GMC.
But yesterday, two brothers were arrested in Germany for protesting, where the doctor was giving a lecture.
Obviously, Germany treats its bad doctors differently to how we do!
Wildlife Therapy
I went for a lovely walk this afternoon at Fen Drayton Lakes. Is trying to spot and identify birds with my perhaps less than perfect eye-sight, good therapy after a stroke? It won’t hurt, that is for sure. But I did see a common tern, lots of swans and lots of dragonflies.
I also spent an hour walking the stud. Sad to say that there is now only one baby duck, as the moorhens or something else has killed or eaten the other eleven. Saw quite a few hares too!
I’ve also taken to walking around the stud carrying a 2 kilo dumbell, throwing it sometimes from hand-to-hand to try to improve my left hand. Is this a good idea?
Let’s All Support Nobby
Nobby Stiles, one of the heroes of 1966, has had a very small stroke.
I wish you well Nobby and here’s a deal; you get well and I’ll try to do the same!
What is it about a problem shared?
The Anonymous Widower 