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Introduction
My life has been a journey of
personal growth. Experiencing a stroke and its impact on my life has
been the most recent part of my journey. Over the months as my abilities
improved I recognized I had a unique perspective of looking at my
recovery. As a therapist who experienced a major stroke I was learning
first hand about how to get better. When I realized I had an opportunity
to put into practice all my background of counseling and personal growth
I was excited. By the time my ability to write returned I had audio
recorded my experiences. I had a story to write. In the early weeks
of the stroke my family often felt uncertain how to
respond. Like most families in a crisis there was no correct way for
them to care for me. They had no roadmap to follow. Soon they each
started using their personal instincts and strengths. They had to make
major decisions in an unfamiliar environment while they were questioning
what might happen to me. The hospital records indicated how well my
family worked together. I have included some of my family’s personal
responses in the book showing their individual approaches in a
team effort. Each stroke is a unique experience. A
common reaction is to feel helpless. My family’s attitude was to look
for any subtle cues of my responding and acknowledge them in some gentle
way. The early chapters illustrate some of their creative ways of making
contact with me. It was in these little personalized gestures I knew
they were there for me. As my awareness increased possibilities
were more complex. My higher-level mental skills were returning. In the
later part of the chapters my stories show this shift. The chapters
illustrate my direction of changes rather than a linear flow. Each chapter represents a significant
theme that I experienced time after time. The stories illustrate my
progress over four years. The book is a composite of my experiences. I
have primarily been on a path of marveling and enjoying what I
discovered along the way. Healing is still going on. I have not arrived
at a destination. When writing became possible I wanted it to reflect my abilities at various points of time in my recovery. I was not a cognitive adult when many of my experiences occurred. My interest has been to write in a way that reflected my capabilities at a given time. I have only edited where it is necessary to make my story readable and with minimal grammatical changes.
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