Yes that sounds hard… like myself, I never knew life could be so hard
That’s why your 5K in under 30 minutes is an amazing achievement
…and I’m sure you’ll do more and more… bravo, Sir
ciao, Roland
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Hi @mrfrederickson
Apologies if I’ve asked this before…
What do you do that is on the path to a better functioning arm?
You’ve told us you have reached a milestone with your walking and you describe using a stick and walking without a stick - what comparisons have you got for your arm?
For example when I came out of hospital mine hung up like a dead kipper. Multiple times a day I tried to make it move. My fingers were in neutral multiple times a day I just thought at them “come on and move”. After 3 years I can move my shoulder and elbow enough that I can move my hand behind my head and up my back, to my left armpit straight out in front and almost straight out to the right.
Now what I do is think at the fingers. I haven’t yet got much extension but they will curl in for a grip that I can’t then competently release yet a few months ago I couldn’t release at all. My second finger has not yet acknowledged I’m talking to it My third finger says I’m not listening and first and little finger are becoming more obedient
I talked to them multiple times a day and they especially in the last half an hour and the first half an hour while I’m still in bed.
I find even when I’m on my guard against it I still have a lot of learnt non-use - neuroplasticity is really the enemy by nature it is only our ally as a result of a great deal of mindfulness and effort and then only reluctantly
You can re-start (reemphasize?) your upper limb rehab today 
the results like you’re walking will follow
2¢
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Hi Simon alas my arm has made little changes or no improvement in the three years passed.
It does have some feeling bu no major motor movement.
The hand can grip r the shoulder operation is weak and some minuscule Tod the fingers in a very small way. Not good news there and a.considerable source of sadness and disability.
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I think Simon, & Frederickson (sorry I’ve forgotten your first name), @mrfrederickson
that what you have done is chip away each and every day, just tiny increments. Even though something seemingly gets nowhere, if effort and thought is put into it, all sorts of improvements are actually being made, that are barely or not at all visible. That is the secret to seemingly impossible achievements… work with no immediate result, or at least no immediate gratification.
Now, it’s my turn to chip away at an impossible situation. I have to solve my paraesthesia problem. I have a few strategies (very few) and a few tools (oils, iteracare wand, vibration board, acupuncture) and a few more I will need to invent to crack this problem. But if I chip away, every day, like our friend Simon, I’ll be damned if I can’t make some progress. What I will discover along the way will be fascinating…
Good luck, Roland
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Yes Roland, often the incremental improvements we are not aware of, are spotted by others. Motivation has been a big stumbling block from start, but three years on now bit by bit I’m motivating myself more. Some days still a swine , but they are getting fewer. Yet to start my 1,00 piece jigsaw , but when my battery is fully charged and the planets line up I’ll be off.
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Good luck when you start
I try to take a slightly different tack.
“The best time to have started was 1 | 2 | 3 etc years ago, the 2nd best is: Start now, don’t wait” - but I do recognise that motivation ‘bow wave’ - I’m convinced that if we had a coordinated community then we could act as the motivation for each other.
2¢
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I don’t know what regime you follow to create improvement so could you describe it?
How much do you fight learned non use per day?
Yep - that’s an approach that I use
I find the “no obvious progress” is a challenge - until things combine
There has to be progress in 3 or 8 different elements for breakthroughs - EG shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers in range, strength, speed etc - each DOES improve on its own but when the elements work together that’s note worthy and shows there was more progress going on and was detectable.
Learned non use is the enemy and it’s other name is Neuroplasticity. NP is only a friend when harnessed to a goal that is pursued with work everyday. Every week/ month of delay means NP takes you further away from that goal.
2¢
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Nice read, Simon, @SimonInEdinburgh
but the true strength of Neuroplasticity is the ability to forge new neural pathways. It’s up to us to put our brains through its paces, not sit back and mindlessly repeat exercises. It’s possible to strengthen our bad habits, but that’s down to laziness and ignorance rather than anything else. One thing is clear to me; that stroke recovery is the hardest challenge I’ve ever faced by far, and requires constant hard work. For instance I’m typing this with my stroke hand ! Takes 5 times longer !
ciao, Roland
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Thnx
5 times longer this week, 4 times next month, 2 x next year…
Yes but my point is that the downhill path is easier than the uphill one and whichever way you go neuroplasticity will be building in the results. If you coast then you’re downhill NP accumulates and since it’s harder to go uphill you now have a disproportionately heavy struggle.
These are two of the villains but not all of the villains. There is incompetence within the advising therapists - that is a lack of the right competencies to advise and motivate and revise situationally a lack of competence to recognise that Latin MSK terminology does not connect with the person who’s paying your fees (the NHS is not free it’s expensive)
There is much that could be done if #StrokeWarriors as a community were coordinated
Cs
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I’m always up for the challenges just unsure what I can do to get the arm to wake up when the brain doesn’t respond to it correctly my good lady provides passive stimulation every evening she is consistently moving it and has done for three years to no avail.
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