@Ingo66 tee hee. Now there’s an idea 
can you imagine all the raised eyebrows as i walk down the local high street like a puppet 
Your point about concentrating on lifting properly & not realising your brain had worked it out is a very valid one which i will try & remember. I did say to my physio that i will continue to try walking without Ollie in case my brain has done just that.
Morning Ann @Mrs5K. There is so much on this forum that is inspirational but this is right up there. Your determination, ingenuity and persistence gives us all something to aspire towards. Wishing you well in your quest and thank you for sharing, Julia x
You are working hard at rehabilitating your foot, and hopefully it will pay off. It’s like learning a new language, it takes a quite a while for the brain to become fluent or near to fluent when learning to communicate with its bodily parts. You can also add to your routine, restricting your working foot and forcing your brain to put all its energy into the other one. This is used in post stroke rehabilitation for hands and arms, one arm is put in a sling, so the brain thinks the good arm is out of action and starts to redirect to the non-working arm.
After two years of rehabilitating my spatial-visual reflexes, it becomes rather apparent that there is no magic bullet but just persistent and positive work to be done.
@JuliaH thank you for your lovely comments. I never really consider what i’m doing to be inspirational. More me trying to get to as near ‘normal’ walking as i can so i can start to enjoy life a bit more. Thank you again. Best wishes to you.
Ann xx
@Rups i am really hoping that going back to basics is going to work. I’ve tried all sorts with little luck up to now but will keep persevering so I can be the best person I can in the circumstances.
I hadn’t thought about trying to restrict my good leg to fool my brain into redirecting to my affected leg. I’m not sure how I do that but will definitely give it a try. I have been doing things like just sitting and lifting my affected leg and trying to step with my affected leg first. Hmmmm will think about it some more and i’m sure i’ll come up with something. Thank you thats given me something to work on.
Yesterday, during a Zoom session, I saw @Mrs5K moving around the house.
You don’t seem to be doing so bad @Mrs5K but we didn’t get to see Ollie.
Fair enough, but keep it up, You’ll be dancing soon.
@Bobbi shucks you noticed I can get around the house ok but always with the foot dragging along. Its ok in the house as nice floor boards make it easy to drag. Nasty gravel on the drive is a different story 
Hi Mrs5K, that sounds as though the electodes were in the wrong place, i have had a FES for 11years, and i still have to search about for the right posistion. It is great.
@Crick thats a possibility. They did try them in many places and none seemed to do what it was supposed to. I’m due to see them again in a couple of months so will perhaps ask them again. Really pleased it is working well for you.
Hi Mrs5K. Did they just try to find the correct position or did they let you take one home with you? Please make sure you ask about having another try, you will be suprised with the difference it makes to your walking. Please let me know. 
@Crick no they just tried it. I didn’t get to take one home. I will ask again when I go back. Before the FES did anything at all it had to be on the highest setting which I found quite painful. I was really hoping it would work for me.
Hi, i still think it will work for you eventually. When i first had one the Doctor that was trying to find the right spots to put the electrodes she took a photo of where they were for me to bring home. Please let me know how you go on
I am having my orthotic review on Friday. It hasn’t been the success I was hoping for as I still can’t lift my foot. I did a little experiment this week to see if “Ollie” is helping me at all.
Yesterday I went for a short walk without him & I tripped up quite a few times. Mainly tripping over my toes. Today I did the same walk with Ollie & I didn’t trip at all despite a small balance issue.
So, it seems Ollie is helping me keep my toes up so I don’t trip but I’m still dragging my foot. I am also starting to get a sore knee & hip (think the knee is an old injury that’s been aggravated by my poor gait).
Does anyone have any thoughts on other things I could ask about at my review (FES has previously been ruled out)? Accepting that my walking isn’t going to alter much anytime soon do you have any advice on how I can minimise the impact on my hip & knee?
Thank you in advance for your advice
Hi Loraine @Loshy thank you for your advice. I’m not sure about blocks in my shoes but i will mention it as that could well help.
They have told me that I might never be able to lift my foot/leg so I’ve accepted it is what it is gor now but with a bucket load of hope that it may just return to normal.
I had been doing squats so will try them again. I will give the hip exercises a try.
I am getting a bit frustrated with it but will keep persevering as you never know it might just right itself at some point.
Thank you for your help.
Best wishes
Ann xxx
Sorry that Ollie is causing worry. It’s a shame he hasn’t had the effect everyone was hoping for. Good that he stops you tripping though, but seems like a faff for only a slight benefit.
I can’t really relate to your issue fully but I did have problems with drop foot that I was able to eventually improve by concentrating really hard on pulling my toes up when I walk, which has now (after over a year) started to become automatic. I don’t now have to concentrate so hard and it seems to not scuff most of the time.
However from what I remember you are unable to pull your toes up at all so I’m not sure what to suggest apart from maybe concentrating on visualising your toes lifting up when you are sitting down. This would require daily sessions several times a day. The reason I say this is because my neuro OT has recently given me some daily tasks to help with the lack of feeling iny left hand. These are things I was show 18 months ago but she said it can still work even this far into recovery. You never know and if you don’t try…
Good luck with your appointment.
Mark.
Thanks Mark @Ingo66 I think the orthotic is a lot of faff for very little benefit too although I did nearly take my toes off the other day when I caught them on a carpet gripper
I have an added complication with my leg which has been diagnosed as FND. Basically the signals from my brain aren’t sending the messages they should be to my leg. My leg has all the movement in it it should as long as someone moves it for me. It just doesn’t do it itself. Unfortunately the medics don’t understand the condition much (& some like my GP have never heard of it) so there’s little treatment out there.
I have been doing the repetitive exercises you suggest but so far no progress. I’m not giving up though & will continue on with them. You just never know one day my leg might just work again 
Hope you’re keeping well.
Ann
Ouch! That sounds particularly nasty. As we are all on blood thinners we bleed a lot (as I usually find out when I cut my finger and toe nails taking a chunk of the gigit with the nail).
Shwmae @Mrs5K, I have not heard of FND (Functional Neurological Disorder), but I have spent this morning reading a bit about it. It seems to be connected to psychological trauma, and little understood in the medical field. There is a FND society that consists of professionals contributing to its research. I concur with @Ingo66, those neurotransmitters need to reroute somehow and get that foot/leg working again. It would all be signals to the central nervous system from the brain, so it needs to get those messages through. Can you feel pain in your leg or foot? Have you thought about trying the Mirror Box Therapy on your foot?
I am two years post stroke, and my symptoms have only been improving at 1-2%, and they are mostly cognitive visual/spatial issues. When I am fatigued or stressed, they regress, so I know I still haven’t quite made the connections I need to make. When you wrote, “You just never know one day my leg might just work again.” I think that’s the position we are all in with our symptomatic problems, it feels like if and not when. Do you like certain music? Have you tried sitting and listening to a tune you like, tapping your working foot along with it, and imagining your other foot tapping? I can’t remember which side of your brain was damaged, but if it was the left, you can use the melodic right side to encourage brain activity.
The fact of the matter is that there might be improvement that we can’t even see. My brain might be making progress but the result is so infinitesimal that I cannot detect it in my everyday life. If we augment our lives with rehabilitation that is enjoyable, it can’t do any harm, and makes our life in general more fulfilling.
@Rups thank you. I was told that my stroke has triggered the FND. When I said to the consultant I hadn’t had any trauma their response was well you have had a stroke. So guess that’s the trauma they talk about.
It was the right side of my brain that was hit by my stroke. I do sit and tap my right foot often & even try my left foot (although it doesn’t play ball). I can feel pain in my leg/foot. I will have a look at the mirror box therapy as not tried that.
Maybe I am being too impatient & just need to give it more time. Like you say progress is probably being made even if I don’t realise it.
Compared to some FND sufferers I have gor off quite lightly & for that I am grateful.
Thank you again.
@Mrs5K, aye indeed, patience is required but also don’t stop working on it, as trying should be cathartic, and not disheartening. It’s good that you can feel pain as that means synapses are working in that area.
The brain is complex, and over time our brains have developed to be even more complex than when we started out in life, so it’s not surprisingly that when something goes wrong it takes such a long time to sort it all out. We can’t get someone in to fix our brains, so must do it ourselves. Hope you are having a decent week, regardless of post stroke issues.