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my stroke rehabilitation Uncategorized

Let’s think about your minimum

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lefthandEnding „institutionalized” rehabilitation in hospital is always the big test. Will I still workout for my better future? Will I continue with good piece advice of physiotherapists? For most of people I know enthusiasm ends within two weeks.

To tell the truth among tens of people I spoke to during my hospital times only one person admitted that she’s been actually exercising almost every day for last 20 years. This incredible lady has SM and she is moving with just one cane. I admire her so much for being so smart and dedicated to her health. For me she is a person to look up to.

Well I’m not that strong. I’m hardworking, BUT lazy (I know how it sounds, but believe me, it’s more than possible). And that’s why I made for myself something I call „my plan of minimum”. This is a rehabilitation plan which I have to do even if i feel like laziest person ever.

It’s like „must do”, even while being superbusy, superlazy, during the travel, I have to do it.

For now it goes like this:

manual exercises 15 minutes (you can do it everywhere)
one logical game
exercises of face
reading (preferably aloud, but silent reading of difficult text will also do)
language game or languge learning (it’s about improving my speaking skills and vocabulary)

Most of these you can do during other activities (if you can do two at the time). Doing such „plan of minimum” doesn’t let you feel as someone who just doesn’t care about himself.

For me this plan change every few months, and to tell the truth there were months during which I did only  this, I felt so bad that my minimum was maximum at the same time.

It’s easy to give up fighting for your health and once you stop for some time it’s very hard to go back to routine. If there is something like this it’s easier for me not to give up…

my stroke rehabilitation Uncategorized

Running after stroke is possible! At least for me…

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neighbourhood

my running area:)

When one of my hospital’s physiotherapists asked me what I would like achieve with her, I said straight forward: I would like to run again.

She was very surprised. Weird wish for a survivor, who few months back couldn’t walk. Survivor who had just spent few months in hospitals, had countless checkups and had heart procedure, still with a slight hemiparesis of left side, left hand so tense that sometimes it hurts, suddenly dreams of running.

But she believed that I could run again. When we finished normal rehabilitation activities and place of working out was getting empty we started our practice on treadmill. Now i wish, someone had recorded my beginnings. I can’t describe how ridiculous they were. I had like zero coordination, one leg here, one leg there, but treadmill helped. My Mrs. Magda was gradually increasing the speed of the treadmill. I wasn’t allowed to look at the numbers. Slowly, but surly, after few days I was able to walk very fast.

And just few days before being discharged I „run” my first meters. My body had to „catch” the pattern of the movement. Slowly and not far, but I was running! I was so proud of myself.

Of course it was more like slow jog-trot, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care (and still I don’t) that I run more slowly that most people crawl. In the middle of the May, just 5 months I had my moment of glory, I ran 2,2 km (1,64 mi) in 22 minutes, without stopping even for a single second. I was sooo proud of myself.

And thankful for Mrs. Magda and my daddy and brother, who bought me gadgets to enjoy my first runs more. This made me believe, that impossible is nothing. Even for the stroke survivor.