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April 1st, 2006, that's when the universe decided to play a practical joke on me - it gave me a migraine. One that lasted for two weeks. The upshot of which was that the effect on my brain was the same as a mini-stroke. Oh, how we laughed!
So, in a matter of weeks I went from being bouncing, energetic Danny to constantly giddy, no concentration Danny. What made it worse was that after months of waiting to see a neurologist, the one we got was pretty useless. He always seemed to disregard the migraine as a starting point for the problems I was having, concentrating instead on the giddiness, and basically suggested that I take it easy until other symptoms presented themselves so he could make a diagnosis.
It wasn't until a little while after we moved to Canberra that we got someone who joined the dots in a truly Sherlock Holmesian manner. Asking weird questions and putting my answers together. I still remember when he'd said he was 90% certain that I'd had a Basilar Migraine - one based around my brain stem - and I brought up something I'd forgotten to mention, that the scent of my body had actually changed, and he nodded and said that it was just more evidence backing up his theory.
Of course the first and most important thing to do after a stroke is to start retraining one's body and brain, something I hadn't been doing because I'd essentially been told to take it easy. I had started jogging a month or two before the diagnosis because my legs had been getting weaker, but I was basically ten months behind. The doctor we'd seen said that while there was no reason I couldn't eventually make a full recovery, these things are unique to each individual and I may not.
So, where am I at?
Well, I reckon at this point I'm probably at 70%-80% of what I was like pre-stroke. Last year I would have said 60%-70%. Wii-Fit has made a substantial difference in my balance over recent months, which was one of the things that helped hold everything else back, so that's great.
I still take my walking stick with me everywhere, even though I usually only need it when I'm really exhausted, or probably one time in fifty for random balance issues. So essentially I don't need it any more, but having been caught without it once or twice when I really needed it, I like to have it on hand. It's like the spare key to my car that I carry, and the spare fuel I keep in the boot - don't need them the vast majority of the time, but when I do, it's a godsend to have them there.
Lex is still an awesome feat of living physiotherapy. He keeps me on the move a lot, which is good as, being a small child, it's his job. And apart from the times where I'm suffering from lack of sleep, I can pretty much keep up without issue. Insomnia times, I struggle though.
I'm reading more, and my god, most of you have no idea how good it feels to be able to read whole chapters at a time and not have it mentally exhaust you. It's soooo nice!
I'm watching whole entire movies again! And following the plot! Mostly if I have to stop a film these days, it's because Lex has woken up and needs me, not because I can't cope with the concentration. It's really lovely to be able to fully enjoy movies again.
I still get tired out socialising, but it's not as bad. Lex permitting, I can go to large chunks of a convention now, rather than spending most of the time in my room, resting for the couple of panels I'm on.
Slowly catching up on all the work and things that are literally several years behind. Of course my ability to catch up on these is slowed substantially by Lex, but hey, it's his job, and I am still getting there, slowly.
Interestingly, I'm coping with email, reading/writing LJ, and other internet based stuff less. If I have the mental energy, I usually have other house related things to use it on. So that's more a shifting of priorities than anything. And I've always been crap at replying to email. You need me for something - ring!
Got a story I want to write, and assuming I get off my arse and can concentrate on it, may have a market for it. That'd be nice.
Way behind on my business, mostly because all my free time recently has been taken up with house-hunting and dealing with Lex.
But overall, I continue to get better. Hooray! Looking forward to the sheer exhaustion brought about by the appearance of my second master of physiotherapy in late July :)
So, in a matter of weeks I went from being bouncing, energetic Danny to constantly giddy, no concentration Danny. What made it worse was that after months of waiting to see a neurologist, the one we got was pretty useless. He always seemed to disregard the migraine as a starting point for the problems I was having, concentrating instead on the giddiness, and basically suggested that I take it easy until other symptoms presented themselves so he could make a diagnosis.
It wasn't until a little while after we moved to Canberra that we got someone who joined the dots in a truly Sherlock Holmesian manner. Asking weird questions and putting my answers together. I still remember when he'd said he was 90% certain that I'd had a Basilar Migraine - one based around my brain stem - and I brought up something I'd forgotten to mention, that the scent of my body had actually changed, and he nodded and said that it was just more evidence backing up his theory.
Of course the first and most important thing to do after a stroke is to start retraining one's body and brain, something I hadn't been doing because I'd essentially been told to take it easy. I had started jogging a month or two before the diagnosis because my legs had been getting weaker, but I was basically ten months behind. The doctor we'd seen said that while there was no reason I couldn't eventually make a full recovery, these things are unique to each individual and I may not.
So, where am I at?
Well, I reckon at this point I'm probably at 70%-80% of what I was like pre-stroke. Last year I would have said 60%-70%. Wii-Fit has made a substantial difference in my balance over recent months, which was one of the things that helped hold everything else back, so that's great.
I still take my walking stick with me everywhere, even though I usually only need it when I'm really exhausted, or probably one time in fifty for random balance issues. So essentially I don't need it any more, but having been caught without it once or twice when I really needed it, I like to have it on hand. It's like the spare key to my car that I carry, and the spare fuel I keep in the boot - don't need them the vast majority of the time, but when I do, it's a godsend to have them there.
Lex is still an awesome feat of living physiotherapy. He keeps me on the move a lot, which is good as, being a small child, it's his job. And apart from the times where I'm suffering from lack of sleep, I can pretty much keep up without issue. Insomnia times, I struggle though.
I'm reading more, and my god, most of you have no idea how good it feels to be able to read whole chapters at a time and not have it mentally exhaust you. It's soooo nice!
I'm watching whole entire movies again! And following the plot! Mostly if I have to stop a film these days, it's because Lex has woken up and needs me, not because I can't cope with the concentration. It's really lovely to be able to fully enjoy movies again.
I still get tired out socialising, but it's not as bad. Lex permitting, I can go to large chunks of a convention now, rather than spending most of the time in my room, resting for the couple of panels I'm on.
Slowly catching up on all the work and things that are literally several years behind. Of course my ability to catch up on these is slowed substantially by Lex, but hey, it's his job, and I am still getting there, slowly.
Interestingly, I'm coping with email, reading/writing LJ, and other internet based stuff less. If I have the mental energy, I usually have other house related things to use it on. So that's more a shifting of priorities than anything. And I've always been crap at replying to email. You need me for something - ring!
Got a story I want to write, and assuming I get off my arse and can concentrate on it, may have a market for it. That'd be nice.
Way behind on my business, mostly because all my free time recently has been taken up with house-hunting and dealing with Lex.
But overall, I continue to get better. Hooray! Looking forward to the sheer exhaustion brought about by the appearance of my second master of physiotherapy in late July :)
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I try to make a film my reward for getting through the day. I love films and there's just so many out there!
Chapter of a book is generally a before bed thing to help turn off my brain. Don't do it every night, but I find I drop off a lot easier if I've done some reading.
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