Good Morning. At the end of this month I will be a year post stroke. I am still wobbling around the house using my stick although I have been trying to walk without it with some very shaky success! I darent walk outside on my own so if we go out for a meal etc my husband is always holding my arm. Had anyone managed to walk as they did pre stroke and if so how on earth did you do it? I really can’t imagine ever being able to even walk short distances on my own
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Sometimes I just carry my stick, only using it if I really think I need to.
Well done on your progress, I know how important finally being able to walk is. A wobble is better than no walk at all.
This Forum is a great place to report and record your successes.
Partners are such an important part of progress, too, aren’t they?
Keep on keepin’ on
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@Apple keep going you are making progress even if it seems you’re not.
I haven’t got back to pre-stroke walking but i’ve come across others that have so don’t give up you can get there.
Some of it is about building your confidence back up again & this will come in time. Try not to worry about needing your stick. I take mine when I go out to help me stay upright but it also serves as a visual for others that I have mobility problems & they tend to give me more space than they otherwise would. It’s also good for clipping prople around the ankles if they get too close 
not that I do that of course but the mischievous side of me would love to 
Best wishes
Ann xx
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I’m 5 months post stroke and can now walk normally without the use of an aid. I started to walk the day after my stroke with the use of a walker, then progressed to a stick a couple of weeks later. I ditched the stick a few months later. I’m a long term horse rider who has a pretty good sense of balance and I think that has helped a lot. I’m riding again now, albeit slowly. I walked a lot on grass when I gave up the stick so if I did have a wobble it was a soft landing. A good physio is very important. Good luck, you will get there.
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I had another thought that might help you, I broke my back in a riding accident 8 years ago and was bed bound for a few months, When I was learning to walk again I had physio in a swimming pool which was really helpful. It gave me the chance to practice walking in a completely safe environment and your muscles, which lose strength very quickly, get a really good workout.
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@Apple
Hello: do you have a therapist working with you to help with walking freely? very important. I worked and worked over and over bit by bit and now when I use the cane I feel a tad awkward. Keep going with moderate exercise.
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@SimonInEdinburgh Another terrific Source “BodyTraceFit” .
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I find that carefully arranged furniture and other fixed objects help me to walk unaided in my own home. My kitchen is quite compact so I can do jobs in there mainly by holding on to or leaning against worktops. That helps me to do all the two handed jobs easier.
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I find it helped to wear 2 pound ankle weights when walking in my home or the sidewalks for awhile. I switched from the shoes I was wearing after strokes (flats) to the shoes I wore pre-strokes (heels) and can now walk as before (like my brain just remembered the familiar shoes). I do have some trouble in crowds, noise, lighting changes so take my cane with me for that. @Mrs5K I love you,I use mine in the same way. And to beat children with. Just kidding, I only threaten to beat them and it makes them giggle. For Halloween I am dressing up in mismatched hospital socks and gown with rollers in my hair. I will be sitting on my rollator with four post walker in front of me and cane in hand. I will raise the cane, point it at the kids and yell harshly “Get off my lawn!” to scare them before I hand them candy.
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DeAnn. That’s so funny! Hadn’t thought of using my stick to beat anyone up but could come in handy in the future!
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I always give someone a little tap with my 145cm RNIB guide cane with the big roller ball on the tip if people don’t get out of my way or don’t notice me and bump into my cane or me ha ha.
And I’m not easy to miss!!
Oh and by the way - yes - all my sticks have mini polar bear stickers all over them (aside from the crutch as I don’t use it much anymore thankfully)…
Children quickly learn without a tap as my cane is generally bigger than tham and when they realise they immediately are considerate - and mostly parents also note me and get their kids out of the way.
I don’t get out much so do like tapping 20something year olds who just don’t look ha ha.
K
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I’ve got your number, flirt! Admit it, you have been using the canes to get the attention of the lovely young ladies, haven’t you?
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@DeAnn that made me chuckle
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My stroke consultant keeps telling me too!
So far I’ve managed this at the darts at the o2 in London - JP didn’t get one ha ha!!
But When I get out and about more I will use all my techniques 
by the way that white blob on my green hoodie is actually a mini polar bear pin of course. And the young ladies got a mini polar bear each and they seemed happy to make a partially sighted mad guy smile
I have a stash of the good stuff!
come to me for a fix anytime - you will get a smoothie and a lollipop and a polar bear!
My friend Chris says apparently Victor Hovland got more ladies in his pic after the Ryder Cup win 
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I think you need to start putting some of exercises to some good more practical use. Tense and flex your spinal muscle, then your gluts, thighs, calves, and start using them more, get them working for you and where you want to go.
I was walking alone and unaided within a year of my stroke…18mths to 2yrs proficiently. But we are all different! Plus you have had the setback of your broken arm, the fall being a setback to you psychologically too. So you’ve got that holding you back also.
There are also several members in my aphasia group who once again walking proficiently unaided, as well as some who use a stick and some who limp around.
There is a young very well dressed man in south England, very fit and healthy looking, doesn’t need a cane, with his whole life ahead of him…he’s currently receiving chemo. But you wouldn’t know to look at him!
There’s also a very pretty young woman in the same city as him, equally well turned out, fit and healthy looking, doesn’t need a cane, busy on her phone, could be a solicitor I think…she does have terminal cancer! But you wouldn’t know to look at her! I don’t what cancers they have but I do know they both also had their covid boosters too.
Just pick up your cane and start walking, an hour a day, every day, that’s what I did! And I’ve had to do it three times now! It works if you let it And yes, those two people are very real!
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xxxxx
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I knew it! And you sent the proof. You just trip them with a cane, smile, apologize and give them a polar bear. Then they are just all over you, huh?
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that’s why I find my treadmill very helpfu: I can hold onto the handle bars, so my balance is taken care of. Then I can concentrate on the leg(s)
I like your concept of using the good leg as a model and an example for the other leg to follow…
good luck, ciao, Roland
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For me personally, I think the cross trainer at my gym beats the treadmill hands down for sorting out my walking and balance issues.
(For those who don’t know what it is, it mimics cross country skiing . . . like peddling standing upright
)
The beauty about that piece of equipment, is its versatility for me.
You have the safety bars to either side of you as well as the 2 types of hand grips.
You can practice and play around more with you balance, completely hands free, without the fear of falling because you have those safety features in place and they’re solid for when you are thrown off balance.
You certainly give your sense of balance a good training workout with the up and down motion, then going into reverse and then getting it back to forward peddling.
Peddling whilst looking around you turning head side to side, swinging you arms, getting a rhythm going.
It takes time but I’m certain that’s what has gained me the greatest progress out of all the therapies/exercises I’ve tried for balance and walking . . . . aside from walking itself on all types of terrain.
You are being more constantly thrown off balance on the cross trainer compared to a treadmill. So you are giving yourself that mental workout needed to reset connections with your body, with the physical workout on leg muscles, with that continual correction and resetting of your balance.
Your balance will certainly be constantly thrown off in the beginning, I was constantly reaching for grab rails and handles. It’s hard work but well worth the effort in the long run.
@Apple If you haven’t got enough muscle strength in your legs, they’re going to tremble and quake when you walk, because they’re the ones you are asking to carry the rest of your body weight with them. And that throws your confidence. If you poke a finger into your thigh/calf muscle, is it hard or soft; if soft/softish then there’s not enough strength and you need to build up more muscle. And the best way to do that is to start walking with your sticks.
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So i am 11 months post stoke. I was in a wheelchai for the first 2 months
I am now walking without aid , and i have just restarted playing padel ( i live in Spain) . Its been a long hard journey but ive had physio 3 times a week since the start.
You have to put the work in but the rewards are there. Bit by bit, challenge yourself and the reults will come.
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