This is wonderful, she's lucky to have you.

You sound like an amazing husband to her. I am sorry either of you have had to go through this experience, but I am very glad she has someone who loves her as much as you do.

You sound like a great guy, OP. Best of luck to you and your wife; hopefully this thread can provide some encouragement/support as you get through this.

Thanks again, everybody--appreciate the encouragement.

Wife CIMT:
2 hours block placement and reaching. Did very well with foam, so tried wooden blocks. Did fine with those too, so tried 1 pound objects. Not bad on those. Best results on those kinds of things. Then tried piano and typing--that was not good.

Had to cut short to go to mechanic on the way to the office. Cracked doohickey thingamajig. She's going to try texting me lefthanded on iPad for the rest of the day.

Guess I overslept this morning, and have officially lost the breakfast smoothie battle. For now on she'll make her own except on weekends. Partially, this is so I can make an extra big &hearty batch which will be my dinner on the drive home as well. Gives me a little time to relax, believe it or not I'm managing to make my green smoothie taste good with surprisingly little fruit.

Wife'll have PT & OT today, plus planning to work with the new home parallel bars & biking. Abbreviated CIMT this am.

I'm going to do some more of that euphoric massage-ball stuff and hopefully some upper body exercise.

Thanks, whenever I find myself, say, seriously considering culturing my own leafy green vegetables so I can get rid of the oxa-something acid (which I've never heard of before) which allegedly prevents nutrient absorption--all with the purpose of just making a nutricious smoothie, mind you--well I just sort of assume I'm getting loopy and appear desperate.

And there have definitely been times where my head is screaming, "Make it stop! Just make it stop!!!" But for the most part that was only the first 5 months or so. We knew, collectively, nothing about strokes before we were told she'd had one about a weak after the fact (and surgery). With these types of brain surgeries, evidently, it takes days to fully discern which symptoms are transitory and which are actual long-term issues.

Thanks.

#2: That's a great idea! It's not that I dislike the one we found, but this is def not her specialty. There was certainly value in getting my wife to meet with her in person, too. RD specializing in stroke recovery sounds like a thing that should be out there somewhere.

#3: Again, basically foaming at the mouth in bliss while doing this SMR thing. Can only imagine it will get better with a lacrosse ball. Hooray for Yugoslavia!

Subscribed.
Since you mentioned lent, I will say a prayer for you and your wife.

Thanks, no I've never watched Breaking Bad and doubt I ever will. So, by all means spoil away. Anything other than Justified, S4.

It's tricky because sometimes the best most positive day can just thhhhpt and end like ****. Usually a little thing, too--very counterintuitive to me. It's like if the Cowboys won a tough playoff game 31-28 by playing well throughout, but Dez Bryant gets hysterical in the postgame about how Tony Romo *slightly* underthrew him on a play in the fourth quarter. There's a sheer moment of terror after you spontaneously start laughing, afraid she'll take it the wrong way and totally go to pieces...and a sigh of relief when she starts laughing with you.

That part was probably worse before her left hand started moving. For 3 months it was "if" and then it became "how much". Hope that all makes sense. Maybe Terrell Owens?

So turns out wife had all 3 therapies today--good thing we slept in and abbreviated the morning work.

Wife therapy:
OT, PT, & Speech.
Ot focused on using her left arm to brace body while leaning to the left or reaching with the right.
PT focused on locking & unlocking left knee under control--they said next time they will put her in "the cage" which seems to involve bungee cords and athletic movements kind of like a real toned-down version of Thinderdome and they've never had an adult skinny enough to use it before. TR Friday.
ST gave lots of homework.

Wife exercise: 20 minutes stationary bike--1.8 miles.

She got nauseaous today for the first time in a weak. Unfortunately, can not take a nap no matter how hard she tries. Skipped parallel bars.

Holliday exercise: tennis ball & foam rollering...nom nom nom. Squat thrusts w/ 75 lb sandbag hoisting from dide to side in between 6 x 10. Walked 1.5 miles in 22 minutes at lunch, juggling about 20% of the time.

Tomorrow we've got a neurologist appointment in the am to review medication weenings and progress. No therapy until Friday, I think.

Thanks. A long time ago, the roles were reversed. I had full-on spinal debilitation for nearly two years. Bone-on-bone contact and constant agonizing pain sometimes punctuated by...well, much worse. Between the shock, depression, hopelessness, and massive amounts of painkillers it did not take me to happy places or make me enjoyable company, either. Wife took care of me throughout and I've always been grateful and hoped I would be able to come through for her in a similar spot if it arose. It's actually easier for me since she's not being an ***hole about it, either. Plus there are people lending me a hand whereas nobody ever even offered to help her.

I'm very lucky to have her, including making it through the surgery alive. It was a complicated and difficult procedure with major described risks to begin with, and turned out to be much more difficult and invasive than anticipated.

Just writing to wish you and your wife the very best and hoping that she makes a full and speedy recovery.

I'm reasonably certain wife was trying to drive me crazy today. Not sure how much detail to get into, but essentially being quite worried about exactly the wrong things at every juncture today. Arbitrary, irrational, and not productive. Infuriating at times ( like now, can't even ^***ing sleep and I'm exhausted, fml).

We're not going to do everything perfect. Got off track in the afternoon, but still had a good morning. Let it go, Holliday, it's a marathon not a sprint.

Anyway, neuro-doc went OK. Finally made a kale soup in the vitamix that she'll actually eat. Didn't even have to culture any vegetables. She has allergies acting up, pita.

Wife CIMT:
3 hours marbles and puzzles and stuff. Also did some bodyweight support and backgammon.

Wife exercise:
20 minutes walking while watching herself in a mirror. Did a little "capturing momentum" balance work--pa qua warmup type stuff. It was fun. Also did a little tennis ball massage on her for the first time.

Holliday exercise:
12 minute HIIT bike :08, :12. lived.

Wife obv read this post

then remembered what a dick you were and decided to get even.

lol see ya at the next Olympics.

Thanks for puttin this out there Holliday. Followed all of YTF's log without so much as a post, but figure will stop in here and wish you both the best as now following here too. Lots of people rooting for yas.

Thanks. Full disclosure; I'm not a believer or affiliated with any church, but it's all good from my standpoint and I really appreciate the prayers. Personally just grew up in and liked the cyclic element of partying for two weeks in anticipation of foregoing some vice for six. I like the perspective and it makes me feel connected to a community in some way.

My wife has recently started wearing a cross and asks if it upsets me. I'm sure it's possible to feel like *more* of a condescending snob, but I haven't experienced it.

Wife CIMT:
3 hours mostly picking up objects while sitting & placing them on table, & vice-versa. Included new lacrosse balls in the objects. Stacking objects & pouring water into glass.

--I really need to start planning these better.

Wife exercise:
We did more of the flow-y stuff this morning. OTs want us to stretch shoulder upward more. She'll do 20 minutes on the bike again, and said the reason she stops there is her back starts to hurt from the seatback--so there's another item on the shopping list.

Did some against-the-wall SMR, and we discovered that she basically can't feel it unless it hurts a great deal. Probably wait on that one.

Holliday:
None.

Sleep continues to elude me. Got to sleep by 9:00 but woke up @ 2:30 for no apparant reason. Think I'll break my coffeee fast today.

Wife CIMT:
A bit light since she has all 3 therapies today. Started off with a long thorough massage and stretch. 2 hours blocks, marbles, & xylaphone. Lots of reaching and schema adjustment (changing up heights an angles and such). No real weight work, other than some brief examples of putting the hammer down on the xylaphone.

She's obviously more facile and coordinated from two or even 1 week ago. Even better, she has more stamina and it takes longer for the "tingling" in her arm to become unbearable and even non-responsive. Originally it was probably 15 minutes straight, now probably about 35. Less time needed to recuperate as well.

Repeated the conversation about why it's necessary for her to restrain her right hand all day even when I'm not around, as opposed to "trying with the left, then doing with the right"; "Because, in that case, your neurological system thinks, 'Oh, so whenever I need to do that yhing, I just use the right.' and feels no compelling need to adjust. You want to leave the task with a sense of failure and frustration so your neurological system is forced to think, 'Oh no--I will have to re-evaluate and reprogram myself so I can do that task with my left hand in the future.'"

I'm 80% confident in my explanation--which is suspiciously similar to rock climber talk. At any rate it seemed better than, "Because I said so!" for various reasons.

Most likely we'll just relax and watch the Mets game for a bit tonight. Feel like the new Apple TV is crap, but it seems like the other channels are streaming fine. Oh yeah, and I'll hear what 'the cage' was like.

Holliday exercise:

SMR with lacrosse ball & foam roller. I really cannot describe how good this feels. My poor left shoulder has no idea what it's missing out on, as I have yet to give it any of that sweet, sweet whatever it is. Wife asked if I was having an orgasm this morning.

Quite possibly the best thing I've ever done on 2+2 is start this thread which lead to getting that tip-off! Fantastic!

"Various" leg presses 7 x 6-10 various weights. One-legged squats, lunges w 75 lb, dead lifts w 125, etc, etc.

8" Box jumps 3 x 10
Jump rope 4 x 1 minute or first trip

Curls 5 x 10 40 lb. (actually I've no idea how much that thing weighs)

Pull-ups 2 x 6

7 circuits in about 20 minutes, felt pretty good.

Walking 2.2 miles in 35 minutes, juggling 10% of the time.

Running out to take wife to therapy, needed caffeine and post-workout protein; what a great idea, I'll combine those two functions into a protein caffe latte!

I think with practice, I may even be able to turn it into something a person would even describe as 'edible'. Has anyone else had this idea before, or can I pursue a patent?

man, hitting those spots that were once thought to be out of range and help with a ball, glorious. + endorphins, even better.

you've prob done reading in this area already for what going through in explanation from this morn with wife. there is a lot of recent work in neural pathway rerouting that tends to focus on spinal injuries; that is also applicable to various brain injuries, strokes, post neurosurgery.

Uhhh...not really, but it's on my to-do list! I mean, I really have only studied the brain as an average geek trying to figure out wtf is wrong with me. I thought I had it all figured out, but then I realized it was only a TEDx presentation

Seriously, any recommended books or resources appreciated.

Wow, I can't believe I haven't seen this thread at all. Maybe the tl:dr at the beginning, I dno.

It's great to see someone getting addicted to SMR. Makes me happy but also guilty that I have never finished a much better SMR primer.

I'm getting Kelly Starrett's book on pre-delivery so after I read that and am not planning a wedding and such I will make myself do this. I'm excited for that book like no other.

This is just a guess from all my jumbled readings.
Sections of your wife's brain are like a 1 year old's. It does not have
the required neurons/connections to be able to do simple motions with
certain parts of her body.
Like a baby trying to learn to play with blocks, the more the baby does
it the more neurons grow/connect to make the activity a learned
activity and easy to do. Use the good hand and her brain will not make any new connections.

We take it for granted, but her day is what I imagine It must be like
for a baby learning at 9 months old, except that when a baby cries
from frustration, your wife can articulate exactly how it feels.

Yes, that's reasonable but with a few differences. When the blood flow is cut off to a part of the brain, it dies. In her case a lot of connections were severred. The brain can make new connections, and can be encouraged by basically trying to do the things you used to do. Unlike a baby, there are specific nerves in the brain which have already mastered these tasks but they're just sitting around not getting any signals to act. Likewise there are pathways looking for the right place to send the signal. It takes time, and generally function starts nearer to the body and moves outward to the extremities. In the meantime the brain repurposes the brain cells which aren't being used. The process is mostly in the brain and not muscular--but then it's also a combination of re-mapping severred connections, recruiting and repurposing other previously unrelated brain cells for the task, and even re-re-purposing some of the brain cells which had gone unused so long they were converted. Also, in my wife's case there was a lot of post-surgical swelling in there and re-balancing which further complicated things. And...still a largish tumor distorting the brainstem pathway.

She is now able to verbalize these things. At first she had moderate aphasia, which is a similar physical explanation and leaves a person often saying and hearing substituted words. Maddening, because she would have no idea she was doing this.