A Serious Wakeup Call

--This entry is dedicated Katy Dagenais, Colleen Baliga in Physical Therapy  and Debbie Peters in Cognitive Rehabilitation. Image from https://movementum.co.uk/journal/falling When I first got back after having my stroke I was never really concerned that I would fall. It had never really crossed my mind. From time to time I watched other patients at CNS go up and down the stairs and from time to time I would try the stairs.   I wanted to walk very badly.  My driver Laura could attest to this fact. CNS was very careful with my recovery.  They never pushed me to if I was not ready, but I was not concerned with falling. When I first had my stroke I wanted to walk--I wanted to walk so bad that I shoved my walker in a corner and did what Bruce and Gerald refer to as wall surfing. If there was a wall I could lean on I was glued to it.  Every time Bruce and Gerald would walk down the hallway I did not  want them to catch me leaning on a wall, so I straig...

The Brotherhood of Brain Injury Everyday starts the same way. My wife and I start each morning with a blood pressure check, and I check my blood sugar. I choke down a large handful of pills and then I have breakfast--a yogurt and some milk. Usually my wife and I make my lunch before she shuttles me off to the "Center" when the shuttle arrives. I usually share some kind words with the driver who has warmed up to me and as I've told the wife--I unlocked her.  For a long time she didn't say much. We usually go to Hurst where we pick up Mr. R-----.  I cannot stress the importance of being on time--even my fellow patients have come to expect the shuttle. Mr. R---- is an older gentlemen who expects the shuttle to be on time. His house is beautiful with a front yard complete with foliage and a whimsical looking oak tree which has a face on the front of it--I call that Old Man Oak.   When we leave I watch as Old Man Oak disappears in the distance and topiary of Mr. R----'...