Category: Stroke Recovery and Background

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!’

Disability Insurance, Stroke Recovery and BackgroundLeave a comment

Updating Disability Insurance Conundrums

rbspecht

This morning I had a phone call from a lovely sounding young woman who will be my Disability Insurance Case/Claim Manager.  It was a really nice chat, and quite informative with regards to how things may work going forward.  She is working on the approval and doesn’t see any real challenges in the approval process.  One of the questions she asked  that caught me by surprise was her request that I describe to her the reasons why I shouldn’t be returning to work right now.  Be prepared for this question. It felt a bit bit odd at first, but I’m … Continue reading Updating Disability Insurance Conundrums

Stroke Recovery and Background, Watching The WorldLeave a comment

The question of privacy on the Internet and in this blog…

rbspecht

I was reminded this morning that this blog is open to the world.  I had three images on it which contained way too much personal information, so I have taken those images down, to be reposted when I can make a couple of edits to trim the more sensitive material from the images. We’ve all heard the reviews about internet privacy, that once its up there, or out there, its there forever.  Obviously the big caution is for young women, for those interested in a career in politics, and anyone whose behaviours could be considered career limiting if they were … Continue reading The question of privacy on the Internet and in this blog…