Stroke victims often wear an ankle brace on the bad leg. Women particularly hate their ankle brace.
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I was not a patient person before my stroke. I am now. Your view of time shifts as your mind and body reboot, ever so slowly.
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When I'm on a date at a restaurant, I may want to order a piece of meat -- steak, chicken, etc. But I don't, because cutting meat with one hand is a pain.
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Before I had brain surgery, my friend Helen offered to shave her head in solidarity. But the surgeon didn't shave off much hair, so she didn't have to.
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At the rehab hospital, the nurses had a name for a particular brand of patient: "STB," for Stupid Teenage Boy.
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I watched while my friends did extraordinary things. They discovered planets, became doctors and lawyers, started companies, had kids.
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Just before I was discharged from the hospital's inpatient neuro ward, my friends snuck me out of the hospital to go to a party.
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At the rehab hospital, there was a boy patient of about 14 years old. He had been hit by a car whose driver was talking on a cell phone.
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Despite my stroke, I am charming and well-adjusted.
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“Neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to create new pathways — is a crucial part of recovery for anyone who loses a sense or a cognitive or motor ability....I have seen hundreds of patients with various deficits — strokes, Parkinson’s and even dementia — learn to do things in new ways"
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After my brain surgery, I said good-bye to all my friends. I gave up my job. I gave up my apartment. I went to live with my parents, in a different town
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