Once a survivor.   Now a warrior.

You are the Stoke Hero. Do what you can do. Everyone has their own unique expression. Loving baby-steps. You are NOT on the stopwatch approach. You are NOT on the robotic approach. You are NOT on the physician’s plateau You are a child-like being; be playful, be curious, be watchful, be emphatic about yourself &…

Do you know what the hardest word to say for me is?   Silk.   First, my tongue draws back to the ‘Eeessss’ then, slides across the mouth and double loop-de-loop to say, ‘eeeee’. Then rounds it up around the palate and ‘laaaa’ and drop down to say, ‘ka’. Confusion reigns in my brain and…

In October, 2008, about two months before my coma, I wrote this letter to my old friend.     I looked at your photos… you look so happy! Your eyes are on fire. It brought me back to the time you took me to dinner in Boston for my birthday and we spoke about me becoming…

There is a very ancient and potent charm which may be tried with great effect in case of a suspected fairy-stroke. Place three rows of salt on a table in three lines, three equal measures to each row. The person performing the spell then encloses the rows of salt with his arm. He leans his…

Alon struggled with a setback in stroke recovery while traveling. I had a very set back up, January 2nd, in NYC. My middle daughter and I went to the Met Museum.  My excited daughter and I did every rooms at the Met Museum. (Some twice!) The killer was the stairs. My affected ankle and foot collapsed…

I suffered a catastrophic massive stroke. Years ago, my OTs pretended that I was ‘doing’ my affected arm & hand during hand rehabilitation with my mind whereas OTs (secretly) put my palm & forearm in pressure points controlled by… my OTs’ hands. Anyway, my rehab center cost too much. My Medicare bought me a SaeboReach.…

The ER doctor and nurses were good to me. The brain surgeons were good to have after my brain injury. The ICU nurses were good. The rehabilitation center therapists were good. But, the doctors were terrible to me. What a nightmare! The rehabilitation center nurses were awful to me. They would barged in at night…

Nearly 6 1/2 years ago, I was in a catastrophic massive stroke. Stuck in a medical coma, I didn’t know where I existed. Now, look: I am a Stroke Hero. I even know where my flight tickets, my core is handing my backpack & I’m fluent in non-verbal communications (traveling through Thailand you have to…

I began eating vegetarian at twelve years old. This lasted a time until I was 17 (5 years! Which is a long time for a teenager) and I rode the train through South French to Carnac-Plage up in Brittany. And, I became malnourished. I went to the restaurant and wolfed down a chicken. Several years…

“At six months out from a stroke, you don’t expect to see any further recovery.” “Often times there is rapid recovery during the first three months, but then progress slows down. This eventually leads to a dreaded ‘plateau’ in recovery after about six months.” “’Plateau’ is an expression frequently used in relation to decisions to…

What’s it like to deal with hand paralysis? This morning, I can’t find my little pinkie in my brain’s map of location. Furthermore, I can’t find my four toes (the big toe is hard to miss).

I feel overwhelmed by disparate chores/time management issues. I have been ending the day with a yucky feeling at the end of the day that my head is full of loose ends, that I didn’t get anything accomplished. I am assigning emotions to non-emotional subjects due to stress/exhaustion. I am starting to resent certain obligations.…

I woke up and my bladder was telling my brain (in a broadly Scottish accent) that, “My bladder is coming apart! Mayday!” My consciousness was awake. My body and my thoughts calculated my trajectory towards my cane. Because it was hanging on the other end of the room, to get there I would have to…