I know of a number of people who have had strokes who are capable of moving – walking, light exercise, what have you. But they don’t seem to do much to keep themselves active. Are they afraid? They always strike me as a bit scared to do anything…almost like they think they might induce another stroke. Does anyone have experience and/or insight to this?
I can give you the point of view of two people: my mother and myself.
My mother suffered a slight stroke when she was about 60 years old. It really shattered her confidence in herself, even though she suffered no permanent ill effects. It took her some time to get back into the swing of things, and she still won’t drive a car (the stroke was 10 years ago). It isn’t so much that she thinks anything she does will trigger a stroke, rather she is afraid that she might suffer another one while she’s driving and wreck, hurting someone else in the process.
I had a very minor stroke 2 years ago (I’m now 40) and I have no permanent effects. In fact, I’m probably in the best physical condition of my entire life. I get a slight tremor in my left hand when I get tired or emotional, and I also suffer a little aphasia during these times (aphasia is, among other things, the inability to remember the name of common objects or to have to “hunt” for the word you want to use). I don’t worry in the slightest about anything I do causing another stroke, and I don’t let it keep me from doing anything I want. I do pay close attention to any headaches I get. I can’t describe the pain I felt before I collapsed - take the most excrutiating heachache you ever had and then amplify it by a factor of 100. It was the most intensely, blindingly painful thing I’ve ever felt. Luckily, I blacked out almost immediately - I couldn’t have taken that pain for very long.
Anyway, hope that helps.
A friend of mine from the pub had a stroke at age 60 something. He had/has some right side difficulties with fine motor movement (grip, walking) and his speech has become somewhat difficult to understand. He also has some aphasia.
He’s now back golfing and walking his dogs. He had a real determination to do it and all of us at the pub made it quite clear that we expected him to be golfing with us this summer.
I think it’s just a determination thing - he’s too stubborn to give up his independence or just sit at home.
Whistlepig