January will be the second anniversary of my stroke.
I’ve been home just over year recovering and found it really isolating. Obviously, it’s great to be around my family again but my wife has to be in town two/three days a week and I can’t get into London very much to see friends as it so tiring.
What’s more, text messages with friends have dried up because they think their own issues “are nothing compare to what you’ve been through” so don’t tend to get in touch.
Anyway, my reason for saying all this is because I’ve heard of regular catch ups between stroke survivors either in person or online. Can anyone give me more details or let me know where I could find more information?
I feel like I’ve done this alone enough and it would be good for me to talk to other people.
Hi @MortimerJazz so sorry to hear you are struggling and Christmas in particular can be hard on stroke survivors fighting to overcome so much. You are not alone I do know @Bobbi runs an online chat group. And now that I’ve tagged him here hopefully he will be along soon to tell you more.
Simon is an ex member of this forum, and he also runs an online group on Thusdays, which members from here still meet. You could contact him here, you will be very welcome there too
The sessions I held fizzled out as people moved on. I have been thinking about offering them again probably in the new year. They are easy enough to arrange if there is interest.
I usually hold informal meetings of small gtoups. They are a chance to meet face to face and talk about whatever is on our minds.
I’ll post something in a week or two, offering a few dates and times looking to see if there is any interest.
If you want a tutorial session just to try it out I’m happy to meet one on one so you have a better idea of how it works. In fact it is not complicated and you will find it is liberating to talk with others.
Bobby I really must, even if only to hear about your driving expeditions and when are going to start with the metal detecting😄
But Saturdays and Mondays are normally out, so it would have to Thursday for me.
Being Christmas holidays just now I’m free most days, bar tomorrow Friday, until I’m not.
We’re pretty spontaneous around the holidays, don’t plan ahead much just go where we feel like on the day.
@MortimerJazz having a stroke can be very isolating especially when everyone else around you has returned to their normal lives. I found people didn’t want to talk to me about their problems as they felt I had even worse going on. I told them all I wanted to listen to their issues. It was a distraction from what I was going through.
The Stroke Association run some online activitites where you can get together with others in a similar situation as you. They run a variety of activities so there’s likeky to be something to suit you. Have a look at this link
Hi @MortimerJazz welcome to this community, sorry to hear that you are struggling at this difficult time, we all know how isolated stroke survivors feel in the early days of recovery.
If you are able to get out and about, I would definitely recommend attending a Stroke Survivors support group if there is one local to you. You can search on the Stroke Association website for a group near you. I found a group local to us through the Different Strokes charity website www.differentstrokes.co.uk and both my husband and I found it very helpful and informative. The group was attended by a variety of people from 18 -70 years of age and everyone had something valuable to offer. Some people came alone and others came with their partners or carers. They arranged a variety of activities and we had a number of evenings out.
Sadly Covid 19 came along and the meetings stopped. It was so helpful speaking to someone who knows exactly what you are going through and I would definitely recommend attending.
I hope you find something useful for you either online or a meeting in person.
Personally speaking, engaging with other stroke survivors was ‘good’ at the start for me. Or so I thought.
Then I got into a vicious cycle of speaking to others, ruminating about the stroke, speaking with others, ruminating… etc.
It was really not good for me. As I have recovered I’ve pulled away from all groups, other than this one. I’ll maybe go back at some point.
We were so looking forward to engaging with you, but you never came back after posting your note. If you have found people to talk to, that’s fantastic. If not, please do get back and I’m sure there will be something for you.
Perhaps we can mark your 2nd anniversary and plan ways to move on
@matt_d13 - I wonder if you don’t need to be around or need the support of other stroke survivors as you have moved on and recovered so much so as you don’t feel like a stroke survivor any more (I did not want to use the term “normal” as what is normal?).
As you say it’s personal to you and you seem to be happiest when you are not around other stroke survivors.
I am pleased for you and pleased also that you are happy to remain / visit this here group of stroke survivors/carers
Sorry - it was my New Year’s resolution to engage with the community more after two years of trying to deal with things myself.
I was also made redundant shortly after coming out of hospital and job interviews got taken out of my calendar as soon as people heard about my stroke.
As such, I’ve had to try and start up my own thing so the beginning of the year has been a bit mad which is why I haven’t been here as much as I had planned.
Thank you for all the advice though. It’s much appreciated.
I joined my first call earlier this week and found it very therapeutic to talk to other people who have been through a similar journey. I plan on making those calls a regular thing … at least on the short term.
I totally get where Matt is coming from though. As therapeutic as it was, it was also difficult to hear people who had a stroke 12 years ago still had troubles walking. I’ve always had a mindset that I will recover fully - it has kept me motivated in my rehab. So it was a little demoralising to hear that.
I do know 
