It seems logical that I would want to be focused on nurturing my body after having a stroke. First and foremost, I really don't want to have another stroke. (Statistics show that 1 in 4 people who had a stroke experience another stroke in their lifetime. I don’t want to be another statistic.) I have too much to live for - opportunities to help others again, spending time with my children and their spouses and helping to nurture my granddaughter.
Also, although I have more challenges with my communication issues as a result of the damage to my brain, I also have some physical issues, such as Central Nerve Pain and neuropathy in my face and right hand.
The doctors don’t really know why I had the stroke. It happened right after routine surgery. I believe it was caused directly from the surgery and the medication that they gave me. But I'll never be able to prove it so I have moved on. It is classified as cryogenic, with unknown cause. So now I'm more aware of my diet, hydration and, of course, exercise and physical activity.
Today I will be telling you about how I nurture myself with exercise and physical activity. This is an area that I am still working on. I have never been an athlete nor even been physically active in the past. While working with my psychologist, I did an activity, My Wheel of Life, which basically had me examine the parts of my life that are important and rank them as satisfying or not. We also tied these aspects of life to my core values. Health, of course, was one of the categories. This was one area that I wasn't really satisfied with. Having a core value of continuing to have fun with family and especially being there for my granddaughter, made health a priority and one which I decided had to be worked on regularly.
I now walk with my dog for a mile most days. I do more housework. When it's nice outside, I try to garden, especially picking weeds. Baby steps for me right now. I would like to incorporate more physical activity in my schedule but I don't know what. I have thought about using my Wii Games again. Those were fun. I have games like bowling and tennis and a dance game.
For a person who doesn't really like or look forward to exercising, do you have any advice for me?
I am not at all an athlete and do not like participating team sports. But I do like the challenge of mastering a physical skill. I took up swimming in my 40s. It took a whole summer for me to learn how to float. Then I added the front crawl and back stroke over the years. Now I can do a little breast stroke. I'm slow as molasses in water and on land. I got a dog 15 or so years ago to walk with me. A first time dog owner and I got a Lab/Border collie. It was a huge challenge. She was super charged. I took her out twice a day. I lost 20 lbs. I lost he…
I don't like to exercise either. I like exercise challenges.
Hey Cheryl,
I'm sorry to hear about your stroke. One thing I learned in my health classes is that walking is the best form of exercise. So, if you're not athletically inclined, I suggest you increase your walking time gradually, until you're walking for about 1 hour daily.
The gardening, household chores, and other things you do will be sufficient with increased walking. I pray that all goes well for you.
I am an avid exerciser-ride a Street Strider every day and walk 5 miles with my dog. And yes, I dance, too!!
Girl, I do not, because I am terrible at it! The only thing I can suggest, from my own experience, is dancing. Because I love to dance, and I know I need to do more of it. Almost every time I have ever been successful with ongoing exercise, on my own, it has been some kind of dancing.