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Getting Fit and Tired
Mar. 30th, 2018 02:00 pmOn July 31st, 2013, I went to bed early complaining of a sore shoulder. A short time later, my wife Kirsten heard a crash from the bedroom and found me unresponsive, lodged between the bed and a chest of drawers. I spend the next couple of days in a medically-induced coma while a team of doctors did endless tests on me.
When I was finally awake and semi-coherent I was told the bad news. I had suffered a transient ischemic attack. I had a stroke. Luckily for me, TIA's are considered mini-strokes, as the blood clot dissolves or breaks up fairly quickly. In my case, my stroke triggered a seizure that caused me to slam my head into the dresser. That may have saved my life.
Sadly, even a minor stroke such as mine can be devastating. I had incredible trouble speaking. My proprioception on my right side was garbage. This is your sense of body position. It's how you are able to reach for things without looking at them, or why you can climb stairs without looking at your feet. Right at the start of my recovery therapy, I would miss items with my right hand by several inches.
You can bet that I worked hard in rehab. I learned to walk again. I learned to climb stairs and did endless exercises designed to teach my brain to recognize where the right half of my body was. I graduated from in-patient rehab after a few weeks and went home. But I was still very broken. I got tired and angry faster. My words kept hiding from me. And I would suddenly just run out of steam without warning. Kirsten, who has been a goddess through all my health crises, has learned to recognize when I need to have recovery time.
But through all of this, I kept inching forward. Stroke recovery isn't something you do in rehab and stop. It goes on every day as you push to get past the damaged areas of your brain. You have to force your brain to rewire itself. It's a long, exhausting process. But it pays off. In the just-under-five-years since my stroke, I've recovered most of my speech functions. I walk with far more confidence these days, although I do use a cane for balance. I slowly started going out more. To the library, to the park, and I even started attending a writing group!
The damage is still there. I still need to monitor and plan my activity levels so I can enjoy my day. Sometimes my words still get blocked out. But I'm doing better. I'm trying to walk every day. I'm able to do more around the apartment. I've even started thinking about part-time work for one of the "gig economy" delivery services like Door Dash. But that's a ways off.
In the meantime, there are changes I can make to improve my health. I'm going to start with weaning myself off Coca-Cola. I was able to give up booze, so I can do this. We can start by replacing Cokes with drinks from Zevia. They make a variety of zero calorie, zero sugar, carbonated drinks. Using natural sweetness instead of high fructose corn syrup or aspartame. They have both a cola and a Mountain Dew clone in their offerings. I'm eager to try those and some of their other flavors.
I can also learn to drink coffee. It's better for me than sodas. I see a lot of creamer in my future. Who knows, in a year I might have a complicated Starbucks order of my own! Gatorade and water can replace my Coke habit. I'm sticking with my fake beer. We've also accorded a SodaStream machine, and there are good options for that in terms of healthy Coke replacements.
Also on the food front, we're replacing my beloved El Monterey microwave burritos and chimichangas with fresh stuff we make at home. Our regular markets sell taco-seasoned turkey in 1lb packs. Buy two of those, cook them up, then split them into 1/3lb portions. Use our food saver machine, and freeze them. When I want a burrito, simply microwave the meat, grab a tortilla, some Mexican blend shredded cheese, and a little extra hot sauce, and I have a good dinner.
Finally, I learned that I can get a free membership at select gyms through SilverSneakers. My health plan (meaning you taxpayers) pays for it. I've signed up, and I've found that Anytime Fitness on Homestead is a participant. Getting back to the gym is an important step for me.
Some people do a Spring cleaning of their houses. I'm doing it to my body!
When I was finally awake and semi-coherent I was told the bad news. I had suffered a transient ischemic attack. I had a stroke. Luckily for me, TIA's are considered mini-strokes, as the blood clot dissolves or breaks up fairly quickly. In my case, my stroke triggered a seizure that caused me to slam my head into the dresser. That may have saved my life.
Sadly, even a minor stroke such as mine can be devastating. I had incredible trouble speaking. My proprioception on my right side was garbage. This is your sense of body position. It's how you are able to reach for things without looking at them, or why you can climb stairs without looking at your feet. Right at the start of my recovery therapy, I would miss items with my right hand by several inches.
You can bet that I worked hard in rehab. I learned to walk again. I learned to climb stairs and did endless exercises designed to teach my brain to recognize where the right half of my body was. I graduated from in-patient rehab after a few weeks and went home. But I was still very broken. I got tired and angry faster. My words kept hiding from me. And I would suddenly just run out of steam without warning. Kirsten, who has been a goddess through all my health crises, has learned to recognize when I need to have recovery time.
But through all of this, I kept inching forward. Stroke recovery isn't something you do in rehab and stop. It goes on every day as you push to get past the damaged areas of your brain. You have to force your brain to rewire itself. It's a long, exhausting process. But it pays off. In the just-under-five-years since my stroke, I've recovered most of my speech functions. I walk with far more confidence these days, although I do use a cane for balance. I slowly started going out more. To the library, to the park, and I even started attending a writing group!
The damage is still there. I still need to monitor and plan my activity levels so I can enjoy my day. Sometimes my words still get blocked out. But I'm doing better. I'm trying to walk every day. I'm able to do more around the apartment. I've even started thinking about part-time work for one of the "gig economy" delivery services like Door Dash. But that's a ways off.
In the meantime, there are changes I can make to improve my health. I'm going to start with weaning myself off Coca-Cola. I was able to give up booze, so I can do this. We can start by replacing Cokes with drinks from Zevia. They make a variety of zero calorie, zero sugar, carbonated drinks. Using natural sweetness instead of high fructose corn syrup or aspartame. They have both a cola and a Mountain Dew clone in their offerings. I'm eager to try those and some of their other flavors.
I can also learn to drink coffee. It's better for me than sodas. I see a lot of creamer in my future. Who knows, in a year I might have a complicated Starbucks order of my own! Gatorade and water can replace my Coke habit. I'm sticking with my fake beer. We've also accorded a SodaStream machine, and there are good options for that in terms of healthy Coke replacements.
Also on the food front, we're replacing my beloved El Monterey microwave burritos and chimichangas with fresh stuff we make at home. Our regular markets sell taco-seasoned turkey in 1lb packs. Buy two of those, cook them up, then split them into 1/3lb portions. Use our food saver machine, and freeze them. When I want a burrito, simply microwave the meat, grab a tortilla, some Mexican blend shredded cheese, and a little extra hot sauce, and I have a good dinner.
Finally, I learned that I can get a free membership at select gyms through SilverSneakers. My health plan (meaning you taxpayers) pays for it. I've signed up, and I've found that Anytime Fitness on Homestead is a participant. Getting back to the gym is an important step for me.
Some people do a Spring cleaning of their houses. I'm doing it to my body!
