Hesitant to post this as I know I’m fortunate and very lucky to be able to do anything remotely close to this.
But yesterday on the 5th of Feb 2025, I hit 5 months to the day when I had my brainstem stroke. To ‘celebrate’ I ran 5km. I hadn’t ran 5km since during the covid lockdowns when gyms were closed and I had nothing else to do
I’ve been building up my cardio for a couple of weeks/months and just thought I’d go for it.
I go away on holiday in just over a week and physically I’m feeling great. When I got hospitalised I had to use a wheelchair. I’ve some slight neurological issues lingering but for the most part I’m doing well.
Hopefully someone sees this in future and gives hope they can ‘get back’ to where they left off or better
That’s an amazing achievement, well done you . So great that your determination and perseverance paid off big time. You must be so prod of everything you’ve achieved.
Thank you for sharing and I hope you have a great holiday.
Hey Matt - thanks for sharing your great milestone. I am sure anyone seeing what you have achieved will be inspired and have hope that they too can achieve similar.
Well done and enjoy your holiday - you have earned it and deserve it!
@matt_d13
Very impressive to run 5 km after 5 months ! bravo. I think at the 5 month mark I got out the car walked 8 wobbly wonky steps and went home crying. Today I walked 0.9 km
And I think that just shows how different we all are
Both your and Matt’s achievements are equally commendable. They both demonstrate how individuals can recover at their own pace and what is right for them.
As you often like to remind us, it can be “Mind over matter”.
I would go as far as to say all achievements should be applauded, so here you go
You’ve come a long way Roland! The neurologist I seen last Monday said at 6 months I’ll not see any further improvements, which does concern me a bit as I’m (I think we all are…) going for 100% and still have little strokey reminders here and there.
Given what you have achieved and given you have seen what @pando Roland has achieved, I wonder who you are going to listen to?
Your neurologist who thinks 6 months is some sort of “barrier” beyond which you cannot improve, or your own mind and body which may tell you otherwise?
Trying to think where I read that 6 months isn’t the end of progress. Will try to find it, aside from all the people on here who will testify to continuing progress.
My improvements began at the 6 month mark. In fact, 6 months to the day was the first time I felt any sensation in my affected hand (it was the tiniest tingle of a coin dropping onto a coin in the palm of my hand.) I did this exercise for 1 hour every evening for a month, willing my nerves to feel something… anything. I think the story is on here, somewhere ! I was in tears of joy.
@matt_d13 congratulations on your achievement. Please do post as many of your your achievements as you want to. We are all really happy to read about them and they are often a source of encouragement for others.
Hope you have a fab time away and look forward to hearing about how you get on.
Well done @matt_d13. It took me much longer after my brainstem stroke to get back to jogging (hemiplegic and also wheelchair dependant for several weeks) but it was a huge motivation to keep going at regaining some form of fitness.
Keep building on this. I built up longer distances but am so slow that the maintenance to keep that going was too time consuming. I can recommend parkrun. It is a repeatable, manageable event. My experience has been that it is really inclusive.
You should be very proud
. So great that your determination and perseverance paid off big time. You must be so prod of everything you’ve achieved.
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