I have now got changing the duvet cover down to twenty minutes.....and no swearing. Alas, this virtue does not apply in the kitchen where things still slip out of my good hand, let alone my weak one. On the plus side I can now put on an outside coat and take it off ‘the old way’ and can tie shoe laces quite well. Wiping my shoe on a mat with my weak leg is a bit amateur, but I keep trying.
my golden rule us.....keep trying, keep utilising your weak side and never give up. I still need my daily rest, but have a lot to be thankful for. All your posts are interesting and,between us, we share more hints,tips and emotions than anything provided by the medical profession. Keep at it, my friends.
Hi John - I've always hated changing the duvet, but I can't do it now without thinking about your love/hate relationship with this task ? !! So I have a wry little grin as I perform this thankless task.
Your persistence is amazing - have you always been a tenacious terrier or has stroke brought this out in you? I give up too easily and I haven't suffered a stroke, but I've learned many lessons from this site, and some days just need to remind myself how fortunate I am and to jolly well take a leaf out of a SS book!
I have always been tenacious since childhood. When I was young if I aspired to anything my mother used to say, ‘Oh it’s not for the likes of us’ and I used to think ‘why not? And that spurred me on.
When I first came home I was so knocked back I thought I wouldn’t cook again. Then one day I thought ‘why not? ‘ and got on with it. Now I cook most days. The difference now is that it now has to be planned and everything put out before I start. I also have kitchen aids to assist me.
My other triumph is taking the wheely bin out. I open the back gate then tip the bin against me and totter forward. This probably looks as comical as me changing the duvet. I also have a way of getting in and out of the bath. Please do not try to picture this in your mind as I do not resemble David Beckham in age, physique or dexterity.
All these tasks require someone near by, but I can do it and have yet to call for help. I am lucky to have the motivation and willpower, but that trait has always been there. I will never give up!
I've just read your reply and recognise the wheely bin technique. Once I have got the bin out I have to walk back into the garden and the house. I'm perfecting the one hand on the fence etc style. I try to put the bin out when no else is around. They would fall about laughing???. I've tried hooking my sticks to the handle of the bin for the return journey but they keep falling off because of the angle the bin has to be pushed at. As you say the most important thing is to never give up and keep trying! ??
HI John - I've just changed ours and I'm shattered now. Mind you, looking at the heap of bedding on the floor that now needs washing didn't help! At least all I have to do now is load it, press a button and forget about it. It's going to be a sunny, breezy day in Yorkshire tomorrow so Mother Nature will take over and do the rest of that job. Big pat on the back at getting it down to 20 mins. I can't imagine you swearing - you're such a gentleman!
When we first posted EMails I think you might be changing your duvet in four hours > metaphorically.
My mobility is not bad at all and I havent suffered the severity that you have. But I must admit that it is too easy to drop things, good hand or less good hand. And it is agony tieing shoe laces. If I could get my foot to come up to my hands it would be OK.
I still struggle with a coat and even worse a dressing gown. I am sure someone has re sown these obstacle courses.
Can I add opening an ironingboard and then ironing and folding said items to the " Stroke Survivors " Olympic events. Takes me an hour start to finish to iron and put away 12 items. Pre-Stroke would have been more like 25 minutes.
But as you say there was a time when I couldn't move my right side, so never giving up.
We would need mathematical geniuses as time keepers for the Stroke Olympics.I despair when it takes me five days to do something I would have done in a day. The chances of the weather etc remaining constant for five days is slightly higher than minus 1.
My London house has wheelie bins but my rural bungalow does not. I cant get up to London so havent done the wheelies for three years. It is a little exciting getting the recycling boxes and black sack on to the prescribed collection point. However my mobility has been quite good and continues to improve.
Wife does ironing. But I have done a bit. It wasnt too bad. Especially compared to the pretty useless performance pre stroke.
I have sheets and blankets and a quilt, the only time I use a duvet is for my group relaxation sessions. Making the bed each morning is torture.But I make myself do it. First thing.
Were you attacked with a left sided infarct ? Mine was right sided yet I got aphasia. Which some journals say is left sided. Guess we all differ.
As another christmas (I was 13/12/2015) looms towards us, I wonder where our "new normal" will take us all. And how much of our lives will be consumed getting there.
Have to remind myself that the alternative was death so I guess we didnt draw the short straws.
Kay, Love your post. Today I am a bit shattered having walked around a fair amount of Hidcote Gardens (NT). Have also had to cook meal.
I have a way of flipping the ironing board up, so ought to video this! I can only iron a couple of things, though, before it becomes too much of an effort. I am fine with wheely bin and duvet now, but hopeless getting anything out of the top freezer drawer.
Can’t wait to close my eyes for ten minutes as I had no middday rest today.
Thanks Colin. I will never give up. The trouble with dropping things is I feel duty bound to pick them up. It will be my fault entirely if I fall over. I tie my shoe laces up by putting each foot on the edge of the coffee table. I swear we’ll doing this task, but I will double up on the bow.
When I was initially assessed at the stroke unit they thought the best I would do is to do step transfers. Good thing that didn't tell me that until the night before my discharge from hospital. When I walked from my bed to the car that was taking me home. I used a rollator frame but I was walking and was able to climb a flight of stairs.
Oh, I assure you I can now swear for England. Making my vegetarian lasagne, I had to dice carrots. Some ended on the floor setting off the first bout of swearing. Then a piece of dry lasagne broke into pieces setting off a second bout. Peeling garlic provoked a third. By the time this meal was in the oven the air was blue.
For reasons best known to God, I find pegging out washing using my weak hand quite satisfying. However, I find it easiest to transport wet clothes to the washing line or tumble drier bit by bit. I still struggle carrying weights of any consequence.
Wish I was a fly on your kitchen wall! LOL. I lost the feeling in my finger tips on my left hand due to my stroke. My fingers are all fine and my left arm is virtually back to normal strength but because the tips of my fingers have gone and haven't really improved since my stroke, I find gripping difficult and picking up fiddly things. For example, I can make a sandwich absolutely fine but struggle to cut it in two. Toast is a nightmare to both butter and cut as it slides all over the plate. I'm right handed so have to hold the toast with my left but no matter how much I try to hang on to it, it will not stay put on the plate! And don't get me started on those pesky little butter portions you get in coffee shops. If they don't end up on the floor, I end up with more butter on me than on my scone. Another problem is plugs. The old style plugs had like a little ridge around I could grip to pull it out of the socket but the new moulded plugs are all smooth and rounded with little indentations at the side which have no grip at all. So I've finally conceded to those blighters and my hubby has changed all our plugs to the ones with hooks attached. They just make life so much easier! I used to laugh at my Mum when she couldn't undo lids on jars. She's probably sat up there laughing at me now because I'm the same!
I find it odd that things simply fall out of my grip. I am lucky enough to have good grip and manipulation. I think things slip because my brain does not receive the right messaging. Cant recall dropping anything when I hold one item, its when I hold two or more that they are inclined to go walkabouts. I use a spare dining chair to get my shoes nearer my arms. And double knots, just like being back at school.
Lovely blue sky again. Even if its a chilly 8c, its still alovely sky.
Thats encouraging. I presume the MRi shows an infarct somewhere.
On day one I was almost totally paralysed. I could use my right hand but nothing else. Miracle day 3 or 4. I woke up and walked. But I didnt manage to walk to the taxi home. Would have taken all day, so it was wheelchair. A few weeks before I got up a step.
Quite right, we all break the rules. Mainly because every one of us is different.
Its nice to hear fellow SS stories. I do feel isolated amongst people who are kind but have no idea what we are going through.