June 2025 Update - 9 months Post-Stroke

Hello, family and friends.

Yes, it has been quite some time since I last blogged about my progress post stroke.

There really hasn't been much to say. Any progress has been so slight, that time and distance have been necessary to realize it. Today (almost the end of June), I realized that I can type with my left hand instinctively again. It isn't the rate that I once had, but I don't need to "think" about where the keys are any longer. Yay! And this is the same with using my left hand to move or lift something. I am back to instinctively reaching for something. Of course, my body quickly reminds me that I don't have the strength or dexterity that I once had, so I have to then concentrate OR use my right hand, but it IS better than a month ago.

The research says that the first 2 or 3 months are critical, and that MOST stroke patients won't progress further than wherever they are after 12 months. BUT, I have seen a few articles that state that there can be improvement even years after a stroke. It is minimal, and again, so slow, but I am not going to be "stuck" at whatever level I find myself at this coming September/October.

I still get the muscle spasms. Those don't seem to be going anywhere. Since I am taking an anti-seizure medication, I am going to have to learn to live with them. I am still over-emotional. Or should I say, EVERY emotion, good or bad, can lead to teary eyes and the down-turn of my mouth. A few seconds later and I can talk and change my facial expression, but it is alarming to people who haven't seen this with me. Oh, and I cannot sing like I used to be able to sing. I have lost half of my range...a quarter on each side of the register, and that bums me out! I WANT to sing in the van, but there are times when I cringe listening to what comes out. My vocal chords seem to tighten up, so I am unsure if that will ease with practice or time, or if I am now just someone who used to be able to sing. It staggers me what I used to be able to do 15 years ago that has been taken away by this tumour and all its complications. 

I have been doing well with driving. However, now that my kiddo has his Learner's Permit, he is quick to point out any and all mistakes or bad habits I have. LOL!  At least I know he is aware of what SHOULD be done! He's doing well. We have been taking long drives all over the Fraser Valley; we went to Whistler in April, and he managed to drive from Chilliwack to Squamish; he left the twisty part to me. He does fine driving in the urban areas of Chilliwack and Abbotsford, and we drove to Aldergrove once, but he gets nervous once we get into Langley. And he doesn't want to brave Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, or Vancouver yet. Maybe later this summer? We'll see...

I am not losing any weight any longer...I haven't for months now. But I am losing hair...my son calls it shedding. That's a sign to me that my body is no longer in survival mode. 
It happened after my son was born (that took about 10 months), it happened 3 weeks into radiation in June of 2021, and then again 6 months later, it happened 8 months after my emergency abdominal surgery in 2022, and now it is happening 9 months after the stroke. Maybe if I tweak my daily routine a bit, the weight will now start coming off again. 

I have also recently noticed that my balance has improved. I still use a walker, but sometimes I can use only a cane again. And every now and then I lumber around without either. My knees are getting worse and worse, and any leg exercises I do are causing inflammation. So, I still use the "rollator" around the house and out and about. I use my scooter if I have to go into a store, as I did back in 2019 when we drove across Canada that summer, before all of this...

So, what about that meningioma mass in my head? "Useless" as it was dubbed five years ago...

As far as I know, it hasn't grown since the radiation. It was stable August of 2024, and I am waiting for my annual MRI to find out if there are any changes. It is still pressing on nerves and negatively impacting my life. I can barely hear out of my right ear, and I find myself automatically turning my head to hear during a conversation, or choosing to sit across and to the right of someone so that I can hear a conversation better. The threat of pain is always there.

Over the past few months, the pain has slowly been replaced with numbness, which was the intended result of the ablation last August. It took ten months, a stroke, and new medication (Lamotrigine), and now, finally, the electrical shocks are gone; I haven't had one since before Easter. 

My eyes definitely were darting from side to side by December, this is called "nystagmus", so I didn't progress further to the recommended dose of the Lamotrigine. I didn't want the eye symptoms to worsen. After a few weeks on that dosage, the eye darting slowed down. To be replaced with eye twitches. I have always had these, but they started to occur daily. And at the end of May, I started to get ocular migraines every two or three days. These episodes don't have any pain, but the zigzag oscillating patterns do stop me from reading, driving, watching anything, until they go away after 20 or 30 minutes. I usually sit back and listen to music or an audio book until it is gone. 

This morning, I realized that I was "comfortably numb" enough that yes, I could handle a long overdue dentist appointment! So I have scheduled a cleaning for next week. Fingers crossed that this doesn't trigger the shocks again!

Okay! That was a lot to cram into one post. If I missed something, leave a comment below. I hope to get back to weekly or bi-weekly blogging now that I have added my parents to this blog.