All is good!

Its Saturday.
It's been raining.
We so badly need the rain.
Everything is so dry.
The grass is already looking green once again.

On Thursday I had another stroke specialist appointment.
He is really really happy with how I am.
He agrees that the left overs from the stroke are hardly noticeable to him let alone anyone who didn't know I had one.
He has concurred with the Autonomic Neuropathy diagnosis by his registrar. It was not a factor in the cause of the stroke but because of the stroke is why I've been able to have an early diagnosis.
I have to have another couple of tests and if everything looks ok still in 3 mths he is going to hand me over to the Endocrine department.
Woohoo!!!!
They will concentrate on the diabetes and blood pressure mainly but it shows how confident he is with my recovery.

I have to seriously think about lap band surgery.
The specs have suggested that I am a good candidate for this even if I may not be "big"enough due to health concerns.
In the last 6 yrs, with food changes and exercise the most I have lost is only 5 kgs.
I'm told not to be depressed about this (yeah, right) as its not what I'm doing or not doing but how my body is working.
In reality, its not.
I keep being told by all the drs that I am definitely their challenge hahahahaha
Anyway, I'll go to an appnt and talk about it with Gary.
Seriously consider it and if all risks are minimal then maybe that's what I'll do.

Started me on a new medication (again) so hoping there are no serious side effects with this one like last time :(

Ciao for now!

Darn this stupid memory rubbish

I just had a post all thought out in my head and of course raced in here to type it out.

What did I write????

A big fat nothing!

Why????

Because by the time I sat down and got the right page up, I'd forgotten the whole darn thing.

Couldn't even remember the post title.

How's that for sad!I suppose I need to tie a pen and notepad around my neck.

To me its obvious

that the stroke did cause a bit of facial muscle sag.

A photo I posted in an earlier post made me think its quite obvious.

What do you think?

The muscles around my eye and from my nose down to my chin I think there is quite a sag.

I don't have the same smile anymore.

But this was taken only 6 wks after the stroke.

Maybe its fatique more than anything (hoping that anyway).

I probably see me than others do ?????

Oh well, if this is the worst thank I'm okay with that.

What a way to inflate the ego!

I had my standard doctor appointment this morning.

It was a good one as I really was only there for a checkup.

My doc said she's happy to have these types of appointments where we can have a chat and she doesn't have to solve 27 different medical questions. hahahahaha

She seriously told me that I should be proud with how well I've coped with everything over the past few years.

Awwww she made me blush (I find compliments hard to take)

Then at 3.30pm I had my Stroke appointment.

Now the specialist I see is Dr Grimley. This man is so nice and so good at putting you at ease.

As soon as I sat down, he told me that he was really impressed with how I walked in.

He could immediately see that I was much healthier and he expected me to be alot worse.

Dr Grimley said he was "very impressed" with the speed and level of recovery I've had.

He does say that the speed of recovery will taper off very quickly now and may take 2-3 yrs before I feel a complete recovery has been achieved but I say that if God can do this in 10 wks than He can achieve greater in less than 2-3 yrs.

But I did walk out feeling pretty chuffed :D
Now I just need to borrow a nail and I'm good ......................

Oh Oh Oh

And the best bit of all

I can now drive again!!!!!!!

On my file in big block letters Dr Grimley wrote

FIT TO DRIVE
Woohoo!!!!!

This Rehab thing is getting old!

I am an impatient recoverer (is that a word :D)

I am so over having the stroke and just want life to back to normal.

I'm glad that I am able to do rehabilitation to help getting my right side back to working order again but since being home from hospital, the responses are alot slower.

I expected to be doing more and "feeling" more than I do right now.

My Rehab team are very happy with my results though and assure me that I'm doing extremely well for it only being 5 wks since the stroke.

Monday I was back at the pool, walking instead of swimming. That went for 25 minutes. Not long I know, but yeah, it was looooonnnnngggggg.

Then at lunchtime I started my rehab course.

I had Occupational Therapy for an hour, Speech Therapy where my swallowing and mouth/face/neck muscles were checked out (for an hour) and then finished it off with Physical Therapy. It was HUGE!

I was so tired come night time and Tuesday morning.

Flowers

I got quite a few bouquets of flowers and pots of plants while I was in hospital.

Roses, Carnations, Daisies, Hyacinth, Cyclamen - all so beautiful.

I'm alive so I survived

The past 2 weeks have been so much - a blur, a dream, a nightmare - all rolled into one.

At 2.00 am Friday the 8th of May, I had a stroke. I know the exact time cause I woke up at the onset of it. Had pins & needles in my right arm and couldn't lift it up and then my leg lost all feeling.

I have the most miniscule of all facial droop that most people can't even notice it (thank goodness).

So I was bundled up and off the the hospital by ambulance. Had numerous tests - CT brain scan, echocardiogram, ultrasound of arteries in leg and neck, xrays, MRI - you name it I had it.

The MRI conclusively showed I had a Lacuna Infarction (LACI stroke) so now hubby says he has proof I'm brain dead. hahaha - NOT!

The specialists all told me to have a stroke, this was the good one to have as they were confident I would recover well, if not fully. I would have at least 6 wks in hospital and rehab if I did well.

I'm more than happy to say that prayers were answered and I only spent the last two weeks in hosp/rehab. 1 week under specialist care and 1 week in rehabilitation. All drs and therapists are so surprised that my improvement has been so fast as they were sure last Friday I would need at least 3-4 wks of rehab.

So now I'm at home as of Wednesday, 20 May and am an outpatient so I can continue therapy (physio, occupational, mental) but sleep at home. That's the main thing for me. I am so happy to be home.

I had my dr check-up today (Thursday) and she is very happy with my progress.

I have full movement of my right arm back if not full sensation and feeling. My right leg is taking longer but I'm now walking without a crutch and only need a walking stick if walking over 300metres. Funny thing is my toes on my right foot don't touch the ground anymore when I stand on it Hopefully that will be restored soon. I need all the balance help I can get

Other sensations inside are slowly getting better as well but I could have a weakness on my right side for the rest of my life. The slight facial droop is permanent and apparently I speak slower but that's only noticable to my family. The good thing is my handwriting is alot neater cause I have to concentrate so hard

The down side is I sometimes forget how to walk properly. I have to consciously keep repeating "bend knee, heel down, roll onto toes, squeeze muscles". Forget the litany, forget the walk

I look forward to getting back into action online over the next few weeks.

Phew! This has taken me ages to type (having to correct so many spelling errors) and now I'm exhausted.