Hello Martin,
Welcome to the community and thank you for sharing your experience of stroke with us.
I don’t know you @martinc1 and I don’t know the exact nature of your strokes and I certainly am not medically trained nor am I even a stroke survivor, but I have read many posts on here and quite a few, too many in my view where a specialist (medical practitioner) has said something along the lines of what you said in your post.
The more I see this type of quote, the more my blood boils. Why oh why do they keep spouting these lines?
Yes, it’s true, the stroke has damaged your brain and it may even be considerable damage, but to say the damage is permanent and you must learn to live with it!
I am here early and so I don’t know what others will say as they come along, many of whom will speak from personal experience, but for what it is worth Martin, here is my tuppence worth … there is help available that can help you improve your mobility and balance.
You should try to find it, and you should try to find what works for you. I am caring for someone who is living proof that having a stroke is not necessarily all doom and gloom. I am having difficulty explaining this and have had to edit this paragraph in an attempt to clarify. Yes, it is true that when you have a stroke, part of your brain is damaged and the cells that are killed in the process are dead and so that is permanent. However, and this bit I quote from a book “Stronger After Stroke - Your Roadmap to Recovery” by Peter G. Levine
Start Quote
- There are approximately 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) in the brain
- A typical stroke kills less than 2 billion neurons
These numbers are small compared to the number of connections between the neurons in the brain. It is estimated there are between a quadrillion (a thousand trillion) connections between neurons. That is a lot of connections.
End Quote
As per the above, as you recover from the stroke, you make new connections between the surviving neurons and that is often referred to re-wiring the brain and it is technically called neuroplasticity.
Bottom line and without getting bogged down in terminology and technicalities, you do not have to learn to live with the condition - you can do something about it.
You have a choice. You can choose to accept what the specialist has told you, but at the very least I would get a second opinion, or you can do what many on this forum/community have done work towards improving your mobility and your balance.
Ann, @Mrs5K has started the ball rolling and you can do a lot worse than follow her advice.
I wish you all the best.
Forgive me if I have spoken out of turn 
Namaste|
And that constantly movement of your legs is also another good strengthening exercise for them as you are actually giving it a darn good workout.