Perplexed about Stroke and Life
About the Author: Joyce Hoffman is one of the world’s top 10 stroke bloggers according to the Medical News Today. With the help of her team, Joyce created this newsletter inspired by the format of Dear Abby. The newsletter is a dialog with Joyce on issues only a survivor could fully understand.You can find the original post and other blogs Joyce Wrote in https://dearjoyceqanda.blogspot.com
Dear Joyce,
I am 2.6 years post stroke and no day is the same. There are many challenges and situations that arise, so I would like to explore all situations here. Survivors, what do you think?
Perplexed in South Africa
Dear Perplexed,
I’m so glad you asked that question because no day is the same. It changes for me, too, 11 years later! Sometimes, I urinate in the morning three times in a row as a result from my stroke for urinary retention. In the 11th year, the stomach pains were finding me doubled over. It turns out, after many tests, that GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) from too much acidity had spiked suddenly, so I changed my diet and I am well now. Yes, every day is a new adventure with stroke and, if you get a handle on the reasons, you will come to accept it as the new normal.
A Strokefocus member, Eugene Sekiguchi, adds, “My stroke was in January of 2011. The treatments available now seem to be more numerous than then and a bit confusing. So I think of that. Occasionally, I wish that I had the stroke at a different time. But now is now. The daily challenges of each day are quite different from day to day. I think that hourly or even changes by the minute are baffling, but they all seem to pass.
“My long term goals are to erase ignorance about (normal) aging and put into context strokes, TBI, and other brain injuries. Along the way, prevention, what to do and when to do it are questions that will be answered as time passes.”