Hi @Lappaman and welcome to the club no one would freely wish to join. This forum is very heavily ladened with useful advice and support, just key in a few search words into the search bar above
and you could soon be trawling through reams of wisdom, advice and support for most any topic/symptom you need to know about.
But whatever you do, you do it in small bites
Because brain fatigue will be your biggest drawback just now. Your brain is otherwise preoccupied with healing and recovery, so it can have the short attention span of a gnat for anything else and requires frequent rest periods throughout the day. Though sometimes change is just as good as a rest, so it can just be a matter of stopping what you are currently doing and go do something else.
Congratulations on becoming a grandad, you two are going to learn so much from each other as that grandchild is your prime example for your brain’s redevelopment, so pay attention and take note ![]()
And check out the Spoons theory as this may help with managing your fatigue and learning the fine art of pacing yourself
I liken the fatigue to a dog on a lead who doesn’t want to walk anymore, or wants to go in the opposite direction to where you want to go ![]()
Have you had your nutrient levels checked. If you are low in something that too could be affecting your balance and coordination. You can be taken by surprise by how quickly the healing body and mind can deplete any reserves. My gp checked mine at about 8mths post stroke, and it turned out I was seriously low in folic acid. I’d just assumed my symptoms were just part of the stroke effect. But not all of them were, I was prescribed a high dose for a couple weeks and that seemed to really pick me up. The balance gradually sorted itself out after a year or so though coordination took longer and still can be a bit iffy 5 years on but that’s mainly when tired.
That took me a few years to recover from. A few months ago I started coughing on a sip of tea and realised I hadn’t done that in a very long time. Whereas way back at the beginning I could practically choke on air several times a day ![]()
When I first started walking (or should I say staggering) outside with my hubby. After nearly walking out into the road in front of traffic once, my hubby started walking on the curb side to keep me steered away from the roads
It took me over a year to walk in a straight line again
A little tip is to try to not watch your feet. Look a lamppost’s length in front of you; and try watching how other people walk, follow in their path if you can. It helps ![]()
My stroke was left side ischemic so right side affected, 5 years ago, I was 59 at the time. It’s been a constant steady work in progress since then; but I can walk, I can run…as I’ve discovered in the past year. Cognition just switched itself back on one day about 18 months post stroke and then I got back into driving. I do a lot of resistance training at the gym, pilates as well as several strength & balance classes to help with building muscle back up and improving my balance and stability.
Aphasia has been the hardest one of all for to recover from and that’s what made it the loneliest for me. Not being able to talk, to question, query or describe any of my symptoms. Although it’s not really noticeable to others these days, it still takes are lot of work and takes a lot out of me to talk and sound “normal”. This forum has been blessing and a salvation for me. But I also had to relearn how to read and write/type again in order to join in and contribute here, That too is still a bit of a work in progress. But the forum has improved my reading/writing skills over the years and because we are all in the same boat, we don’t have any of the spelling & grammar police to contend with ![]()
Work is out for you for at least the next year. For now, you have to forget about tomorrow and just concentrate on the here and now, and what you can do for yourself today.
But you have some food for thought for the future. Maybe you have a new/redirected calling now, whenever the time is right. You already have second hand knowledge of stroke, but now you have true first knowledge of stroke. I would have thought that kind of experience would be invaluable with your medical qualifications. I’ve said many a time that the NHS and research could do with doctors like you in whatever limited capacity you can manage if not full time in the future. It’s something to think about, this stroke can set you on a new pathway. So never give up hope ![]()
Lorraine