Catching my breath

It couldn't be a more perfect day in Eindhoven for sticking close to home and porch. The sun was behind the clouds at waking hour but it is now the perfect, slightly cloudy day. Our temp is at 54.9F, the laundry is out to dry, dog walked and it is a house of rest and relaxed activity today - blogging, Rice Krispy treat making (after I had finished off a batch of CC cookies last week I decided I needed to keep some kind of desert on hand), dish washing, and TV watching.

Nico has gone on a work call to make an estimate on a garden so I've taken the opportunity to review my week.

Thursday therapy
In fysio, we did a new type of balance test. It's hard to explain everything we did but it was interesting, as usual. One of them had to be the funniest test I had taken yet. Titia actually put a lampshade on my head and made me stand barefooted for 30 seconds. The best was the old where-is-my-leg test. First, I laid on the bench and closed my eyes. Then Titia moved my (bad) right leg into a certain position after which I was supposed to match that position exactly with my (good) left leg. This was to see if my damaged left brain had regained its ability to sense where my leg joints and muscles. I took this test two times in the early months of recovery and each time it was a shock to see that the position of my legs didn't match. But on Thursday, they matched perfectly. Joy, rapture, I have a brain again!

In oefenbad, I am really making strides with swimming on my front. I even got a thumbs up from the life guard/coach woman. She gave me my first lesson at which time she looked pretty doubtful. I swam until I had no more minutes left.

In fitness, I avoided using my quads as much as possible as they were still aching from the squats. At the end of the day, I finally got back on the three-wheel cycle (two wheels in front). The seat was too low and, wouldn't you know it, that made it hard on my quads. Figures.

Music practice
I've had a couple tries at playing the guitar again plus trying to find my old singing voice. You know that old saying, "use it or loose it" applies to these two skills as much as anything. As I've gone along in this rediscovery, I've found both losses as well as gains - loss of rhythm but, if I play with a strong hand, quite loud string vibration. And with my voice, I've lost some strength but heard some interesting new trills. Funny, ain't it?

Friday: Another office visit and woohoo, shoe shoe!I went into the office to pick up my iPod from Juul and had a few visits with people I hadn't seen for few months, some since before my stroke. It was good, still strange but, after more than two hours, exhausting. I even had the pleasure of meeting someone new, the mother of one of my friends at work who has been keeping tabs on the blog. I'm sure we'll be meeting again soon.

Though I was tired after the office visit, I took the time to do a bit of shopping and shop snooping. The best snoop by far was a shoe store called Intersko just across from my old office. It is for people who go for comfort versus fashion or, as in my case, need walking shoes with removable insoles. The service person gave me a small catalog which happens to highlight the shoes which have removable insoles! So far I've found 16 pairs that appeal to me but mostly I just hope for a pair of sandals that will work. Love my Nordics but gotta get ready for summer weather.

Saturday: flea market and birthday party
After walking the dogs Saturday morning, we made our way to a flea market being held on the sports grounds adjacent to the park. There were yard sale prices and, for less than 5euros, my scoot was loaded to the gills. My favorite take-homes were three cappuccinos cups, a glass storage jar, a lap tray for use during couch lounging, and two outdoor cushions for my metals chairs (though they need new fabric).

Nico and I visited with his family yesterday at a party for his mom's mom who was celebrating her 95th birthday. Though she now has dementia, she was bright, engaged and provided endless enjoyment to her children as she discovered something new in every moment.

I especially enjoyed a conversation I had with Nico's aunt who works as an occupational therapist - often with stroke patients - in Florida. One thing she confirmed for me was that "foot drop" is difficult to recover from. But, having also recently read the same book by Jill Bolte Taylor, she also said it's worth working hard to try to recover movement.

All in all a great few days. A great day to you, too.