Hi @Mrs5K
I feel you and can empathise and understand how you’re feeling.
Sorry to hear that you have had a bad week.
I was feeling the same way last week.
I often miss “the old me” especially when I am feeling fatigued.
On the harder days I also try and remind myself that I still have a life and not to compare myself to who I was before.
I am a big believer in positive thinking and deep breathing.
Sending you a smile and some sunshine from New Zealand 
Warmest
Alice 
Hi Alice thanks for your thoughts, all the way from New Zealand, which part are you in, my brother in law is in Hastings and my brother is in parmistern north plus my nephew’s are in Christchurch. Small world.
I’m better already after a stern talking to myself but every now and then and then I need to moan about my lot in life and the imperceptible slow progress that we all seem to make no big leaps in brain recovery it’s a snail pace for sure
Hello Mark…I hope today is a good ish day for you. I feel exactly the same as you. I had my stroke last December and also thought I would go home after six weeks in hospital and rehab and get some semblance of life back. My stroke was also quite severe…maybe because I waited four hours for the ambulance to arrive but I now have just the tiniest of movement in my left arm and can also hobble with my stick…the biggest impediment being my foot drop.
I was a young 66 year old pre stroke….worked full time at a local airfield and all of my pleasures in life involved physical movement. I loved gardening, walking other peoples dogs, swimming and basically just being outdoors ….now I can barely get out of the front door and have to rely on friends to help me with everything.
I am so lucky to have these friends I know… but like you I struggle to stay positive and hope that one day I will find something to bring purpose and meaning and acceptance and that I can feel content again.
Sending you love and good wishes
Hi Janis
I am totally in tune with you and have similar thoughts and challenges, my strength is my wife and son and wider family, can manage to hobble with a stick to the car so go out at every opportunity. My peripheral vision was affected on tonof my left arm and leg. Only small movement in the arm and the leg is more of a plank of wood I throw forward to get about , that saying I’m taking a driving assessment next January and have had several lessons with an approved disability instructor so you never know may get my license back.
Today I climbed out stairs to visit my teenage son in his bedroom lair the first time since we moved in eighteen months ago.
I keep on pushing the envelope in the vain hope some normality will eventually return but no one knows
Good luck in your recovery sorry to hear of you challenges and as I’m now finding a severe stroke is a very long recovery process
Hi Mark,
You are very welcome, we all go through those days or weeks when it is more challenging and we are feeling low.
Yes It really is a small world. I am in a small east coast. town called Whangamata on the east coast on the Coromandel peninsula.
Glad to hear that you’re feeling a little better.
Recovery is a marathon and not a sprint when it comes to brain injury.
Take care
Alice
I’m a fair long distance runner but this is the most important race of my life
Decided to make Lego to keep my brain active, feel tired aft each session building va part of the modelHello Mark….yes…that envelope pushing! Your comment touched a chord and made me laugh. I’m sure we have loads in common regarding how we feel and how hard and frustrating life has become….but we’ll keep trying and pushing forward as we have no choice and we don’t want to keep feeling miserable all the time. So well done getting up those stairs! And best of luck with your driving and with everything else….all the best xx
Thanks Janis I sometimes feel the need to voice how I feel so I’m sorry if it sounds too familiar but we all have bout moments.
I will continue to strive to recover as much as is possible but should I reach the ten year point and I’m no bett than today I’ll figure it’s permanent and finally accept the truth I’m a disabled ma n until I die.
Yes I know those down days are hard to bear…..I hope today is a good day for you and that eventually the good ones outweigh the bad ones….i have no advice or words of wisdom as we are all trying to find our own ways to deal with our new reality……I wish you well and I wish you peace ….all I would say is to be so thankful for your family…all the best to you x
Thanks Janis
I was out in my local park for a two hour walk on my scooter with my wife and dog so feeling a lot better thank you we all have bad days I have overcome my recent depression.
Hi Apple hopefully you are well and making some progress, I’m doing a lot of research Bon YouTube videos and find the benefit of American neuro physio is very helpful. So I’m doing it diy
Hi. Cant say I am making much progress but quite honestly I am now beginning to think that it is impossible to get back to anything like pre stroke. If you read Emerald Eyes or Anns posts they had their stroke several years ago but neither of them are really anywhere near what I call normal! Honestly is it possible for your brain to overcome an injury like a stroke? Sorry this isn’t helping but I was thinking about it yesterday and came to this depressing conclusion. Hopefully I am wrong. x
It is 4 years since my stroke now & I agree I am not close to where I would like to be but am a long way from where I was. Will I ever be like I was pre stroke? I don’t think so but I am trying to accept that life is now different so I can make the best of it. I still work at getting better & hope that one day I get there. It isn’t all bad though I do like some elements of my new life. It’s a little more sedate (that’s not a bad thing for me). I hope that we all continue to progress & get back to some semblance of life that we can be reasonably content with. It may not be what we planned but we can make new plans. Well, I don’t plan any more I just take it one day at a time. I think we do continue to progress but improvements are small after all this time so we don’t necessarily notice them.
Sending hugs🫂
Ann xx
I don’t think anyone minds if we have a good moan here every now and again.
Better to do that than try to keep it all inside.
I find that getting it written down helps. Taking a look at yourself lets you see a different picture and can make huge problems shrink to a more manageable size.
All of us are dealing with the change stroke has caused.
I think we can provide an ear and a shoulder and making an effort to look outside our personal concerns at others going through this experience.
We can pass on some calm, some hope, with a smile especially to those struggling in the early days when there seem to be no answers, no direction and no hope.
Not forgetting that together we are stronger, more able and really do have a future.
Never forget to remember it is just as important to share your successes, the things you’ve discovered with your triumphs. Life does have a positive side to and sharing that can be a light that provides much needed direction.
I’m sure we can and should be here for one another in whatever way we are able.
keep on keepin’ on
