Category: Stroke Recovery and Background

Moving through the world, My Cancer Journey, Stroke Recovery and BackgroundLeave a comment

Another turn around the sun, and a milestone birthday come and gone

rbspecht

  I suppose that I should acknowledge, based on years of observation, that some people have significant challenges with the ‘milestone’ birthdays.  Some folk revel in them, basking in the glow of achievement and celebration, some are seriously afraid of them and what they perceive them to mean about the progression of their lives.  Each milestone means we are older.  Each milestone can also be used as a marker of where we should be in our lives in terms of career, family, relationships and so many more silly little things that are defined by the society we choose to live … Continue reading Another turn around the sun, and a milestone birthday come and gone

My Cancer Journey, Stroke Recovery and Background, Watching The World1 Comment

Send me a note to call me on my behaviours!

rbspecht

If you find that this blog has not been updated within a two week period, please send a note or comment to that effect.  the blog was intended to connect with others who have had the same challenges, or just generally to stay ‘in the world’ rather than retreating into some sort of intellectual hibernation.  Not to remain as current as possible in this day of social media is just plain silly.  Help me to stay current… give me a virtual poke, a pinch, a kick in the pants, to remind me. Thanks!! Continue reading Send me a note to call me on my behaviours!

cognitive model, Effects of stroke, Moving through the world, participate in your own life!, Stroke Recovery and BackgroundLeave a comment

Be patient with your recovery; take the time!

rbspecht

Be patient.  It takes time to come back from any sort of brain injury,  even if its just to find the point of balance that becomes your ‘new normal’. I fought like hell to get back to work after my haemorrhagic stroke.  I couldn’t sit at home, essentially feeling like I was under house arrest, prevented from contributing to the world and the environment I had been helping to to shape.  I wanted to go back to work.  I was bound and determined to demonstrate that there was nothing significantly different about me, my memory or my cognitive abilities.  I fought … Continue reading Be patient with your recovery; take the time!

Stroke Recovery and Background, Stroke TimelineLeave a comment

Negotiating the back to work protocol

rbspecht

Well, I am happy to report that there have been some real successes in the last couple of days! Two of the key successes are a) certain people on my rehab team are actively negotiating a graduated return to work protocol, and b) my employer is embracing the parameters and the graduated return to work plan. So now it’s full steam ahead.  My employers’ HR team has a return to work specialist  who will have the job of convincing the provider of my Long Term Disability Insurance that this is a good idea at this time. I’m not entirely sure … Continue reading Negotiating the back to work protocol

Stroke Recovery and Background, Stroke TimelineLeave a comment

Consider Managing Your Own Recovery

rbspecht

Well, I will admit that I am beginning to get tired of all of this.  I want to go back to work, but I am having a lot of trouble getting traction with the medicos who are in charge of my care.  I don’t know what comes next.  And it would appear that the team that is supposedly managing my recovery from the stroke doesn’t know what comes next either.  In conversation I have discovered that the ‘team lead’ apparently hasn’t taken the time to map a course of action, or just hasn’t bothered to communicate it to the team.  … Continue reading Consider Managing Your Own Recovery

cognitive model, self-talk, Stroke Recovery and BackgroundLeave a comment

Living in my head and dealing with self-talk since the ‘incident’.

rbspecht

  There are a lot of rooms in my head, and always have been, but since the cerebral hemorrhage/stroke I have been taking inventory, visiting each of them to ensure that they aren’t empty, that everything is still there.  Oh sure, there is a certain amount  of disarray in the mansion that is my mind.  Its actually quite roomy, and hasn’t been a studio type apartment for decades.  I haven’t really checked the place out for a while, so why would it surprise me to discover that furniture has been moved around, and there are a lot of dust covered … Continue reading Living in my head and dealing with self-talk since the ‘incident’.

caregivers, My Cancer Journey, Stroke Recovery and Background, TiguanLeave a comment

Taking care of the care givers can be costly…but it is worth the cost!! ;)

rbspecht

And while we all love the dedication and support of our caregivers, and quite possibly would not make it through all of the challenges we are presented with without them, we do have to be mindful of the costs involved in properly showing our appreciation for their devoted service.  For instance, my wife, partner, companion has been my chauffeur, always on standby, always ready to take me hither and yon, adjusting her own schedule and obligations to ensure that I don’t feel too much like I am under house arrest because of the stroke and the complications of an unusually … Continue reading Taking care of the care givers can be costly…but it is worth the cost!! 😉

Stroke Recovery and Background, Watching The WorldLeave a comment

And it keeps turning…

rbspecht

Well, in spite of the silliness of so many of the world’s leaders, their inability to engage with the people whom they govern, and their clumsy interactions with the other leaders they absolutely must deal with, the world keeps turning.  Yes, well, we’ve got a volcano with renewed activity out there showing that the planet is developing indigestion likely from the antics of its parasites, and some pretty confused and confusing weather patterns. But on the home front, things are becoming a bit more stable and the future is looking far less bleak.  We are exercising regularly, in fact it … Continue reading And it keeps turning…

Stroke Recovery and Background, Watching The WorldLeave a comment

I don’t mind a challenge or two, but this morning we’ve reached the point of ‘enough!’

rbspecht

I guess that just challenging fate by surviving cancer and working through the effects of this damned stroke isn’t enough… the universe has to pile it on higher and deeper. So, with the stroke comes the responsibility to tell the ministry of transportation that there has been a life altering change in my medical status.  I did that yesterday.  Now it’s official; I cannot drive until the doctors sign off on my ‘fitness’ to get behind the wheel. Let’s layer on the mess with my disability benefits coverage for the mortgage.  Add the general embargo on ‘working’ which will eventually … Continue reading I don’t mind a challenge or two, but this morning we’ve reached the point of ‘enough!’