Hello wonderful group,
after trains, boats it’s now planes
a Sopwith Camel just flew overhead
Happy weekend all, and it’s half term !!
ciao, Roland
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Very nice, love the contrasting colours.
You must have good control of your hand to keep the lines clean like that.
keep on keepin’ on
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Thanks, Bobbi… there’s not a straight line in it, if you look closely. Alas, I did almost everything in this painting with my non-dominant hand. The reason is because I lack enough feeling in my right hand to judge how much water I’m picking up in my brush. However, in time I plan to assign more things to my affected side. Just yesterday, during physio, I realized I now have a degree of proprioception in my wrist, because I was doing a chest press with a 1.5kg weight, and my physio said my wrist was all over the place just 1 month ago. Now I can keep it straight, and feel it is straight… I couldn’t tell 1 month ago.
Thx again, ciao, Roland
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@pando Roland: great subject and so well painted. Nice washes of color. As a judge and Art teacher, I give you an A+.
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But I thought the whole purpose of painting was for your brain to relearn and get control of your stroke hand.
So long as you are still trying to paint with your stroke hand I’ll let you off 
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@pando you are very talented. If that’s with your non dominant hand i look forward to seeing one with your dominant hand. A fantasy watercolour.
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Why thank you Derek,
High praise indeed.
As usual, there are things I like and things I dislike
But I think it is slowly getting there…
How are you? Have you had any developments recently ?
Ciao, ciao, Roland
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Good reminder. But unless you prefer abstract art, it’s Roland’s hand for the time being. Soon Ronald’s hand (my dominant hand) will have a go. ciao, Roland & Ronald
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I think your wife needs to tie your good hand to your side to force you to use your stroke hand more. And that is a therapy, usually done for about 2wks at a time.
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I know ; how about a painting competition with our stroke hands?
(I’m serious)
2 weeks should be enough
Roland
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@EmeraldEyes I did a course of restraint therapy and it does work. In my case they talked about me wearing a big mit on my good hand. Now, that is all well and good if carers are constantly helping you but in my case I needed to be able to grab a rail or make an emergency movement if necessary. So I conciously either put my good hand in my pocket or let it hang if I was using the stairs, so it would be there in an emergency.
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@pando Superb work, I’m always amazed at people’s painting skills because I’m completely hopeless at it. We used to have one of those fly over here occasionly from a local airfield, I used to love seeing it. Keep up the painting, you have a wonderful talent there.
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Okay, let me explain. I’m no slouch when it comes to rehabilitation and hard work.
The reason I went back to painting with my good hand was to offer myself the best chance of success, because I want to be able to express and create. It’s called art (though my work does not have strong artistic content … yet) so it’s not about rehab. At the right time, I will transfer certain (not all at once) tasks to my affected hand. This is the way I do it ; set the example with the good hand, then put the sock over it !!
Roland
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Yes that has to be a balance between life today and preparing for life tomorrow.
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Could mirror therapy help ? Trying to fool the brain that it’s your weaker hand ?
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hi Nigel,
Forgive me, but I’ve probably misunderstood you (again)
I have a mirror but never thought of using it like that.
So I would try to persuade my brain that my left (unaffected) hand is writing like that?
I wouldn’t want to downgrade my left hand.
…and would that improve my right (affected) hand? I doubt it.
My latest idea with the mirror is to stimulate/simulate sensation with my right (affected) foot. Look at left foot while rubbing left foot on carpet and feeling the texture. (it looks like right foot in the mirror, and brain will hopefully think the right IS feeling the texture of the carpet)
I used the mirror to first feel any sensation with my affected hand… it took me a month, and sensation started 6 months, to the exact day after my stroke
Thanks for the reminder to use the mirror
I’m off to use it on my foot
ciao, Roland
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Hi Roland,my issue is my left hand side so a bit reversed to you. I am right handed.
Potentially the starting point (this is what the physio team have been getting me to do over and over in the last 4 weeks) is just to imagine. So in my mind, I am visualising lots of different activities using my left hand side. I have added to this by adding micro movements on top. If I imagine I am reaching for a cup with my left hand, I might move my left hand an inch or so and open my hand as though I was going to grasp the cup.
I have been lucky in that a lot of the movement has come back on the stroke side, all be it with lots of pain. We might be a bit different in that sense. My left side was my non dominant side so I haven’t had that complication to contend with.
So I’m guessing the idea behind my imagining, my left arm is moving in my mind with no pain. To supplement this, I think from next week, I am going to use my good right arm alongside a mirror and when I look in the mirror, it’s going to look like my left arm is doing whatever my right arm is doing but will be doing it pain free.
For yourself, could this be that you would imagine using to right hand to write ? How does the pen feel, how does any button or clip feel against your hand, what temperature is it,is it smooth, how heavy, quite a lot of detail.
Then after doing that for 4 weeks (this does seem a lengthy process) put the pen in your left hand along side the mirror and look at it intensely in the mirror. Move it a little bit and trick your mind into thinking it’s in your right hand. Perhaps even tell yourself it is ? Tell yourself you are doing well ? Remember how it feels
Whatever works for you really into your brain thinking your right hand side is functioning normally.
The other bit if you can find one, is a left v right brain game on your tablet or phone
No guarantees this will help but it might
Cheers Nige
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Excellent ideas, Nige
Thanks for the explanation, I really enjoyed reading, and learning new ideas. Imagination and visualization is what I do all the time. There is no pain in my affected hand or arm, ever. But the scapula can ache quite a lot by the end of the day. The following day it has reset and is ready to go fully rested. Remember my right arm was remapped, a procedure no one will have experienced, I’m 99% sure
To imagine is the key. I work on trying to guess and imagine the sensation of something coming into contact with my hand / foot. I feel a tingle…but it’s not a warm accessible feeling. I am working on refining sensation, and using the mirror a little too.
We are obviously at slightly different stages, but share enough experience and exercises to be able to compare notes and understand each other. I am thinking of doing some mirror therapy rehab videos, and perhaps link and post them in a new thread. I have more pain in my leg; most of it is stiffness though, so not too serious. My big problem is paraesthesia, (and incomplete proprioception) but I have been working on that for 2-3 hours today. I can’t feel the shape of the pen, yet, but when I do, it’ll be a major boost. Coupled with some walking, vibration board, some weights, rings etc. and I’ve done at least 4-5 hours on my day off !! I have a purpose in life, let’s say.
ciao, Roland
I didn’t even know that was a “thing” until my daughter mentioned it. And that was only because that was basically what I was doing myself to get my hand and arm working again. I would think of how I’d manage if I was trapped on a desert island, how would I manage then (that was a tip from a midwife when we had our first born).
In a way, I was on an island, trapped inside my own head. So that’s basically what I started doing, using, or at least involving, my stroke arm and hand in everything I did without let up. I never achieved much in the beginning and what I did do was done badly if at all. But very gradually it improved, little by little, and I still say its a work in progress even after being at it for 3yrs and all it can do now.
I never literally tied my hand away, I always like to have my hands free for falling, don’t even keep them in my pockets out walking. To me, keeping my good hand in my pocket or with a sock on the end would be unnatural. And I was all about try to do things naturally, instinctively. I mean, its natural instinct to use two hands to wash the dishes isn’t it?! I just made sure my stroke hand was involved naturally with everything I did. Thankfully I have a very encouraging and forgiving family…and a lot of chipped and broken crockery now 
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