Stroke recovery is most definitely an uphill-both-ways (and sometimes backwards!) slog. From the afflictions it leaves, to the emotional scars it imposes on loved ones, it is not for the weak of heart. But there is good news…

To my friends, I always give the advice “Don’t be so hard on yourself!” or “Speak to yourself, the way that you would to a friend.” So why is it so hard for me to take my own advice? Why is it so hard to forgive ourselves?

Have you ever been so overwhelmed that you took refuge in a safe place?

The simple definition of recovery is a return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength. I suffered a multitude of set-backs from my stroke. From non-fluent aphasia, agraphia, emotional regulation disorder, impaired cognitive functions, sensory integration disorder to right-sided hemiparesis. I have spent the better part of the last year and a half working on my recovery.
But I’m not there yet.

I can remember those months, after surviving my stroke, as some of hardest, darkest days I have ever experienced in my life. To say the simplest of words cost me an extraordinary amount of effort. I would like to share with you these listening tools that enhanced my recovery, expedited it and made it more pleasurable.

From a stroke survivor’s tool box, written for you.

I have been there.... where you are…. slogging thru the days. It has taken me a long time to understand that without finding your recovery groove, your sweet spot, your true passion, you can get lost in a never-ending mountain of to-dos.

Sometimes I think my marriage had a stroke

4 fundamentals to live by during your recovery

I have become a master of the black or white. There are no in-betweens for me. You either see a well-put-together master of disguise or a shockingly, unraveled woman coming apart at her seams. I am definitely broken.

After suffering a life-changing event, here are 7 steps I found to help mend the broken fences of my soul.

3 Steps to finding your stroke-recovery mojo:

#1 Take a Break

#2 Reconnect with Your Goals

#3 Set Yourself up for a Win

It sounds simple, right? To put it into action, to get back your stroke-recovery mojo or to just get you re-focused on your path read along.

I wish someone had clued me in on these: 3 self-advocating TIPS on how to MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR STROKE RECOVERY. (Especially the first one.)

When I hit my first stroke anniversary in February, I had feelings of elation.

I had made it so far!

Then the weeks passed by and I could feel my steam lessening with each day, trudging up the slippery slope of my recovery. I found it was work that was beneath me, in some ironical way.

My wedding picture caught my eye today. It left me wondering, had we known the future, we would have still gotten married….

Five kinds of people I've met thru, or because of, my stroke recovery