Tuli mu struggle; Physiotherapy will get us there.

The only proven way out of a stroke is Physiotherapy and I have previously written about it. Now in simple speak, Physiotherapy is like speaking to the damaged nerves and there are specific range of exercises designed to achieve the objective. One important thing to note is that stroke is a case by case basis so it doesn’t help comparing yourself to others. Here’s a simple analogy of a cow and a lion. Acow eats grass to survive but if a Lion tried eating grass,it would definitely die. What works for me may not be what works for another.

Now the reason I believe in physiotherapy is because of the fact that I had significant improved as early as June 2017 and then the regression happened. You know that extra Fall where all the progress is erased, you feel like giving up and ask God that atleast he should have called you at the first instance and you just sleep. Now I always believe in one day at a time but one day becomes a week,then a month then years. All that comes with anxiety and I slipped into depression. Like Jesus, I reasoned that the pain was too much and wanted to LEAVE this world. I was given antidepressants because it was that bad.

One of the worst things you can get is self pity because it has never helped anyone. Hillary my brother told me these poignant words, : Patience is part of recovery’

True to his words there are small miracles that are beginning to happen and it is important to value Progression no matter how small it is.

The clenched fist; Now stroke alters the communication between the brain and the muscles. Just do a simple thing as you read this,clench a fist with one hand and now let your fingers free. Have you said anything to the hand? But you have communicated to the muscles and you are in perfect health. Now with a stroke the fingers curl up in a fist because the brain cant communicate with the hand muscles and if unattended to,it leads to Sparsticity and contractures and this is why I go five days a week such that communication is made to the nerves. There is a thin line between adult disability and a stroke so you gotta keep on keeping on as you go through physiotherapy. Now when I tried holding the walker, the left hand could not hold and grip and an assistive device was recommended,a cockup splint was recommended and it keeps the hand in a functional position thereby enabling it to grip.

Now as I write, the fingers have uncurled and the left hand can now grip although the grip is still weak. So when I say that it’s a miracle,I know how it was I even thought that it would never grip again. Another thing while walking is that I had a foot drop. This is when the feet cannot wholly touch the ground and this is due to the muscles and tendons. A while ago, on the recommendation of a physiotherapist, I got some assistive devices to help with the foot drop and these have been helpful as the angle between the ground and the foot has reduced

Now those are the small miracles Iam talking about. The reason I say so is because I had lost hope. Hope is a good thing perhaps the best of things and no good thing dies. Though hope is frail, it never dies. And finally, unlike Liverpool,I shall walk alone.