Fortunately Ken has managed to get very good movement back in his dominant stroke arm and his dexterity is improving so he can now sign his own name.
He’s a member of Artmap Argyll and members usually open their studios for two weekends in August but I don’t think he’s going to be able to do that even if by some miracle he can get home (no carers available to carry out his home care package so he’s stuck there).
It will be interesting to see if his work changes. He’s started doing some drawing whilst he’s incarcerated in the community hospital.
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You are Ken’s inspiration 
.
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I’ve posted some of my artwork on my blog. I am a naive artist hardly accomplished but it is a form of expression I enjoy.
Maybe he would like to display some of his work here?
Link to some of my stuff before stroke much now lost or stolen.
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The euphoria is shock, the fact that you went through this life threatening experience and lived to tell tell. But what goes up must come down, the endorphin crash, can bring you to this all time low. And can also be enhanced by your condition getting you down. How long it lasts can vary from person to person.
But you are and will continue improving whether you want to or not. It was about 18 months after my stroke that cognition seemed to just switch on like flipping a light switch for me. My hubby and I were in car dealership at the time to buy a new car. And I managed to proceed with the purchase and all the paperwork that entails, by myself without my hubby having to intervene😁
Other things like walking and use of my arm were more gradual. My foot drop and toes curling literally snapped out of it maybe 2yrs or so after the stroke. Though I do still get a touch of foot drop towards the end of the day when tired.
Speach is still a work in progress, but I can get by unnoticed if I keep to short and simple sentences and topics I’m familiar with.
Short term memory has greatly improved, most noteable in this last year, retaining six digit codes long enough to key them in…and re-key them in when my fingers make a mistake on the keyboard😅
So you see, this is why we say you have to be in it for the long haul, never give up, never give in, you will get there! It just takes time, so there’s no use hanging around waiting for it to happen. You to keep moving forward making a good life for yourself in your current format until your brain makes its next upgrade 
You will get there!
Lorraine
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The funny thing is, at no point did I think ‘OMG, this is life threatening’ it was only when I tried to lift my arm up that I thought, 'Oh, I think I’ve had a stroke… now, how am I going to get myself out of this bathroom? ` (spoiler alert - didn’t and I was there all night 
).
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I love your art! The naive style always feels cozy and comforting to me.
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I’m sure he would like to display some. I’ll mention it when I visit this afternoon.
Nice work by the way. I like naive art.
I started doing pastel landscapes during covid having done nothing since I left art college in 1973! Ken and I met there, but we’ve only been together as a pair since 1996 having been previously married to other partners.
It helps level out some of my depression and anxiety, though my current passion is jigsaws. They stop me fretting about Ken.
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I’m pleased to hear of the progress he’s making.
We have something similar to ArtMap Argyll here called North Somerset Arts week and I’d like to do it at some point.
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No you might not have, but you brain certainly did. It can be much the same with blood pressure for instance, it can be going through the roof and your thinking 'but I don’t feel particulaly stressed. Your body says otherwise.
Lorraine
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I like your medieval and fantasy stuff. I would hang them on my wall.
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Oh, my brain is in a constant state of ’ Fight or Flight’ at the moment and it’s absolutely exhausting!
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Thanks @Rups
I’m tempted to try again.
My control has gone, so the results will be very random.
I suppose there is appeal in that.
A bit like automatic writing with an extra random-stroke factor.
I’m always prepared to experiment but my hopes are not high.
Here’s to something different. (but not necessarily an improvement)
Enough words.
I will return with an image, or four five.
Oh yes, here I am.
Noo. No sketch pad.
Black biro and paper ripped from old notebook.
No old envelopes handy.
Maybe if I persevere, things could get worse.
This isn’t naive, this is chaos randomised.
Success, I can out-artificialise Artificial Intelligence.
Signed edition.
(notable as unlikely to gain entry into any reputable gallery)
yes
looking back
I have come far
If
I’d turned round
I might have seen
what was coming
hind sight
is a truly
wonderful thing.
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I’m impressed. I can’t manage anything that good with 2 working hands nor pre-stroke
As always your prose has made me smile.
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I was two months in hospital where I chatted incessantly at anyone anywhere on the ward, doctor, consultant, cleaner, nurse, visitors, my fellow patients, the guy who fixed the televisions, the woman who wandered in from the ward next door, nurses doing the rounds in the middle of the night. I bent everyone’s ear.
When I got home I was installed in a downstairs room.
Alone.
Bursting with things to say.
My computers were out of reach upstairs.
I was in dire need of communication.
I arranged to have a second hand laptop delivered from a recycle company.
When it arrived I did a few searches and found this onlinecommunity.
I set about bending ears here and have been doing so ever since.
There have been one or two bumps along the way but I like to believe my contribution has been useful, amusing, diverting and all sorts of other wonderful things.
I definitely feel that talking to others who have experienced stroke can be more informative than any learned medical description or explanation.
Plus communication does stimulate investigation and aid in the pursuit of knowledge.
A giggle every once in a while can work wonders.
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Hi @Gaina
Here I am, appearing once again on this thread you created.
Your question has given me a pause for thought.
You are just beginning to explore your possibilities.
You have much ahead of you.
Having a stroke is something no one is prepared for. It is never expected.
What you now have is the result of that event.
Results vary from one to another so there is no one solution that is good for all.
Looking at your avatar I reason that you are no stranger to disability. For me stroke caused disability. It was something I had never any need to deal with. The last three years have been about coming to terms with that. I struggle to find alternatives. I seek positive outcomes.
You could probably counsel me far more effectively than I could you.
Plateaus are negative constructs. I can only see them as artificial barriers, or preferably as rest points and platforms from which to progress.
My first major hurdle has been coming to terms with disability. The next step will be finding ways to maximise my potential.
Nope
I checked
There’s nothing here.
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I liked someone’s reframing of a plateu as a spring board to the next phase. I’m choosing to call it a rest stop, and take it as my body saying “Whoa there, Pickle! I think we should have a break”.
I was born with Spina Bifida and I think that might be complicating things somewhat as I now discover that as someone with SB I am more prone to things like emotional lability… and strokes.
The cartoon did make me chuckle. 
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Like you I found this community invaluable in those early, lonely days. I still find it valuable & learn from everyone daily.
Your contribution here has been invaluable too & many people can take much from your posts.
You have a great way with words & i iften smile & chuckle at what you write. Even laugh out loud sometimes gettjng funny looks from my hubby.
That is a great gift to have & long may you continue with the chuckles.
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It all comes and goes @Mrs5K
I love to share when I am able
Hearing a little applause helps recognise the way
I think we all appreciate a little light in the darkness
To be honest I think that ‘gift’ was donated by stroke or more correctly by my reaction to stroke and the effect it has.
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Good to hear of the progress Ken is making after being written off the unit he is in. David
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