I made sure Amanda was not aware it was the anniversary of her stroke. Although a year of continuous recovery is significant, the event itself is hardly something to celebrate or commemorate. Flowers were suggested but I said that the day should be just like any other and making it ‘special’ might do more harm […]
As the first anniversary of Amanda’s stroke approaches, I reminded her that a year ago this weekend we were busy painting the window frames at the front of the house. She said she has a vague recollection of this. For at least 6 months after her stroke she couldn’t remember anything from the 6 months […]
With Amanda’s working memory skills slowly improving, she isn’t yet at the stage where she is able to venture into the kitchen other than to prepare breakfast, a hot drink or a sandwich. Things like planning, setting goals and carrying out sequenced tasks still require work and, like everything which aids improvement, constant repetition. On […]
Amanda was fed by a strictly – controlled nasal drip for the first three weeks after her stroke. For the following 3 months, except for occasional weekend visits home and food I took in, she ate a perfectly acceptable hospital diet, rotated, we soon discovered, on a fortnightly basis. As many will know, stroke recovery […]
Christmas 2017 was always going to be… different. Christmas in New Zealand coincides with the main summer holiday break. Having emigrated from the UK, the novelty of a summer Christmas has still not worn off even 15 years later. So this year, like most others, we have stayed at home and convinced ourselves we are […]
One of the things which surprised me about Amanda’s otherwise comprehensive treatment and rehab program was the lack of attention the hospital team seemed to give her apparent partial loss of eyesight and hearing. As part of her right side neglect due to her brain injury, they noted her initial obvious difficulty in seeing food […]
One evening last week, I deliberately left Amanda the kitchen after dinner so she could attempt the washing up on her own. I came back a few minutes later to find her busily scrubbing the dishes. She looked up, confused. “How do I make the bubbles in the water?” I looked in the sink to […]
On Thursday Amanda had her angiogram in Wellington Hospital. Our instructions were she could eat a light breakfast before 6am, only drink water after that and report to the ward at 10am. She was on the list for the afternoon, so nothing was expected to happen before 1pm. To avoid getting up at ‘stupid O’clock’ […]
As Amanda’s brain continues to recover I’m realising how subtle the depths and variety of our human emotions are as more of her ‘old self’ is uncovered by the new connections her brain is making every day. These manifest themselves in a number of ways. We’re having more ‘everyday’ conversations, discussing news items, or things […]
Nearly 10 months post – stroke and there are still daily improvements. Subtle, but perceptible. More neurons are firing on an increasing basis, and there seems to be a cumulative effect. Once a door opens it remains firmly open. So, there are now elements of pre-planning going on – For example pre-filling the kettle in […]
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