Sunday Stroke Survival: Making Lemonade with my Affected Hand

You know the old sating that when life gives you a bunch of lemons make lemonade, right? I've learned quite a few coping skills since my strokes left me with half a functioning body. When using a cane to walk in my functioning hand, it leaves my spastic, nonfunctioning arm an hand to carry packages and such. I put it to work.

This post is inspired by Rebecca Dutton over at the Home After A Stroke blog. She blogged about how she escapes frustration by making her affected side do.

For example, I had to carry my new brace and new shoe in a bag for an adjustment. I guess I could have shoved both under my affected arm, but I found a drawstring bag works better. I hook the strings on my index and middle fingers to carry it. The contracture of my middle finger is locked into a hooked position. Yes, it's aggravating to get loose, but I managed quite well until that point. This works for when I have multiple small items I have to carry too. I have various sizes of drawstring and tote bags to assist me. The tote bags just hooks on my spastic arm. The spasticity is constant in the arm so it is locked into a 45° or greater angle. A perfect large hook to hang things on.

With the spasticity, my hand us locked into an inverted 90° or greater angle. I have found I can slide my hand into pitchers and crockpot inserts to help me wash them. My shoulder can move, thanks to the Botox injections, to reposition them.

Years ago, I came up with a joke about my arms. My left functioning arm said to my right, nonfunctioning arm, "Why am I having to do all the work? Just what are you doing?" My right nonfunctioing arm responds, "Oh, nothing. I'm just hanging around."

Well, that's not true anymore. I make my nonfunctioning side help the unaffected side. I recently bought a meat package of beef, chicken, and pork, 55lbs total weight. Among these was a  9lb boneless pork loin. Now, a 9lb pork loin of this size roasted for a family of six would be just about right, but there are only two of us here. I decided it would make excellent pork chops for numerous meals. This pork loin had never been frozen and chilled meat is slippery to cut especially one handed. I pit the slab of meat on the cutting board and lifted my affected, glove covered fist on top of the slab. I used my shoulder muscle to put downward pressure on the meat to hold it in place while I cut off 1/2' thick pork chops off the loin. I wear a Latex glove with the finger pulled inside the glove over my fist. The length allows for coverage of my forearm so I can use this too on large portions of meat. I wrapped two in a package for a meal. I ended up with nine meals of pork chops and a 1/2lb package of pieces for another recipe. I did the same with the 8.5lb beef roast for yummy steaks and stew meat. I made short work of the 10lb chub of the 80/20 ground beef chopping it into 1lb sections using the same method. One 55lb haul from the butcher shop provided us with a couple months of meals either in the freezer or canned in my pressure canner for quick easy meals and the cost was $110 or $2 a lb.

These are adaptive life skills. I reduce frustration. I switch I CAN'T with I CAN! What's the other old saying? Use it or lose it! Or, from a stroke survival perspective, learn how to make do.

Nothing is impossible.

Sunday Stroke Srvivor~ Life is Like a MasterCard Commerical

I'm Irish by marriage so Happy St. Patrick's Day. Saint Patrick was the Apostle of Ireland and March 17th is the date of his death. He was purported to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland, but that's a myth. Ireland has never had any snakes.Betcha didn't know that!

 As any self respecting Irishman would know. Even I who am Japanese and only Irish in name knows that. I lovingly call my DH (darling hubby) my leprechaun because now he stands five feet tall and he's a magical alien. But that's another story.

On today of all days, while I'm busily preparing cabbage rolls in Guinness gravy,  Colecannon, and chocolate-mint mini cupcakes in the shape of leprechaun hats, I look at another holiday that my stroke forever changed.

Leprechaun hats

Cooking one handed is the pits. I make do, but as a trained chef, like I am, its ridiculous. Sure I have my rocker T knife and now an Ulu, and my cutting board has aluminum nails in it to hold the things I'm cutting, but compared to how I added little touches that added special touches...forget about it. I'm too pressed for time and energy to do it justice.

Savannah St Patrick's Day

I won't be cooking for a crowd again any time soon. It's hard enough cooking for just my husband and myself. All my children make the trek up to Savannah for the parade and the partying. Savannah is a huge St. Patrick's Day town. This year makes the 189th extravaganza and everyone gets involved. Not me, uh uh. I'm smart. I stay as far away as I can. Think of it like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I'm just and old fuddy-duddy at heart. I have been for decades.

Is it worth all the effort to make corned beef stuffed cabbage roll and Colecannon for just the two of us? Some traditions die hard. The recipes are from my husband's great-great grandmother. That's a lot of years. So many holiday traditions fell by the wayside this year and I couldn't let this one. So yeah, I guess its worth to see the smile on my hubby's face and him roll his eyes back in sheer pleasure at first bite. It makes the now three days of prep time worth it.

That's the thing. Even handicapped by a stroke, some things of your old life are worth learning how to do it again. Granted it may nor be exactly the same process as before., It may take twice as long to accomplish. You might have to use adaptive equipment. But it is doable. But the key is having the heart to do it.

I think that's one of the reasons I recovered some things faster than others. I didn't focus on me. I used my husband's care issues as priorities. I rehabbed with my heart to motivating my brain.

It  sort of reminds me of a MasterCard commercial...

• Stroke hospital bill $36,000
• Rehab therapy and splints $9,600
• Medication to prevent another stroke and treat this one annually $2,400
• Seeing my husband smile....Priceless

The only thing holding you back is YOU!