Are you feeling lonely following a stroke?
Would you like to talk to someone, perhaps someone who can empathise with you?
Well I have some good news for you. I have heard through the great vine that there is a group of stroke survivors who meet and greet at any time day or night on any subject and they would love for you to join them.
The beauty of this group is there are no prerequisites and there are no requirements or commitments. You can come and go as you please, you can contribute or just be a fly on the wall. Itâs positively thriving and getting rave (banginâ) reviews!!
I have to carry out a risk analysis before I pop by as there is a serious risk of Mum losing a carer!
I already spend way too much time on this forum and to join the OMC would likely make things worse and I may end up getting done for falling foul of safeguarding rules.
Itâs dead easy. You just say âHey Bobbi, Iâd like to join your OMG WhatsApp Group. Please send me a link !!â
And before you know it, @Bobbi will send you a link and if you already have WhatsApp, which most people do these days, you can just join the group and have lots of fun and games. If you donât have WhatsApp, Bobbi has produced a guide on how to get yourself onto WhatsApp and he is very helpful so even if you get stuck, heâll make sure youâre all set up.
If youâre on this forum and reading this message then I would suggest you know more about computers than where the ON button is. I bet you have even switched it OFF and then ON again many times
Thank you for your response but I truly am completely computer-illiterate! And whilst I would love to be able to communicate with other stroke survivors, it looks like I will be unable to do so.
I donât even know exactly where I am supposed to enter âHey Bobbiâ !!!
@Bobbi is the expert on this and he set up and manages this group chat. If you donât have WhatsApp, you are not alone (I donât have it either) but it is something that can easily be installed on a smart phone. I am not 100% sure, but I believe you do need to have a smart phone or at least a phone number to install the app.
I am sure @Bobbi will be more than happy to help set you up.
There is also another group that has been set up by another member @Gnasher which you may find interesting.
As well as that, the stroke association has regular (I think, though I have not managed to join them myself - time, lack of) zoom/video meetings and exercise classes where you can join in with other members.
Hope this helps.
Welcome to the forum and hopefully, your experience on this forum will be better than when you had your stroke and were left to struggle by yourself.
I believe all things happen for a reason, and for me that is a way to accept or deal with the situation I find myself in. You will have your own wise of dealing with things and I note you have been through the school of hard knocks with your three full-on strokes in four years, your âtime in prisonâ, living in an area with a known reputation for bad NHS service. Having been through all that and being here to tell the tail, I expect you will do well.
@bob.isle and @Zazzy the Stroke Association runs Online Activities. These are sessions that we run on Zoom throughout the week, we have everything from Quizzes and fun interactive sessions to sessions where you can share whatâs going on and learn how others are managing their recovery. If youâd be interested in these, you can sign up to Online Activities here.
There are also other face to face groups that may run in your area which you can find out about here.
I think there may be some confusion here: I have never, to my knowledge, âtagged youâ. I do not even know what that means. I did notice you had a member called â@Bobbiâ which may have been confused with my name.
I did attempt to message you @Anna_Moderator but you have messages turned off so I will post my message to you here.
An open message to@Anna_Moderator
I did actually message bob.isle offering a link to our Whatsapp group but got no response.
I think he is finding using the internet overwhelming. Iâm sure he is reaching out but is not aware of how to follow and engage in a two way conversation.
It is isolating and difficult to have experienced stroke so communication in any form does begin to open doors and help discover ways towards improvement.
I have not always been able to be of use in circumstances like this and can only hope that he gets support from another direction.
I am not the only one both here and elsewhere who believes that stroke can be a beginning rather than an end.
As a group, a community, we can offer one another a listening ear, friendly encouragement and a positive view of the future. This forum has been a place where so many of us have managed to find ourselves.
For this I am grateful and heartily recommend it to others.
Enough of me and my ramblings.
Thanks @Anna_Moderator for being who you are and doing what you do.
Hi bobbi, you are absolutely right :I do not know how to follow and engage in 2-way electronic conversation. Equally, I did not know my messages were âturned offâ and do not know how to turn them on !
Thank you for trying to help; as I have said before, I am completely computer-illiterate. I am sure a 2-year old can do better!
I understand it can be difficult and confusing to get to grips with something new but donât worry, weâre all here to help.
Within this âtopicâ there are a few different people talking to each other which can be confusing. When @Bobbi mentioned about messages being turned off, he was talking about my messages being turned off, not yours, so thereâs no need to worry about that.
I have sent you a message privately to offer some more support with using the Online Community. You can find your messages by clicking on your profile - the little person icon at the bottom.
Iâm 79 and only a youngster. In my opinion there is much to learn. Discovering the new has always been my hobby and pastime. Itâs all very worthwhile.
Having a chance to chat, exchange ideas, celebrate successes, commiserate over losses, is as important as anything else for our well being.
As a group we have one another and, tempered by adversity, we are a splendid bunch!!
Hello @bobbi,
I am sorry I failed to respond to your kind offer of help in exploring 2 way communications. I have to admit I am afraid of making a fool of myself! Because of my total computer-illiteracy.It is very frustrating and embarrassing!
Regards and apologies,
Bob Isle
My experience with others post stroke has been good.
Stroke is a weird experience that leaves you feeling alone, in need of answers when there seem to be none, maybe leaving you fearful of what comes next.
Well I have news for you. There are about a million of us in the UK all going through that same experience.
You are definitely not alone and communicating with others will begin to help you build a better picture of where we are and you will find there are things you can do and ways to manage it all.
Thank you for getting back to me. I canât promise you an instant cure or even that tomorrow will be wonderful.
You will have great moments, even dreadful times, but you will continue and begin to handle what stroke has left you with.
All I can say is that youâll find others who are in the same place and by supporting and encouraging one another it youâll find you are making gains.
As far as making a fool of oneself is concerned I can heartily recommend it for being great fun and taking the serious edge off it all for a bit.
As the singer says, âDonât worry, be happy.â
âDonât worry, be happy.â