Update

Three months have passed since my last blog. Much has happened and I am still working on recovering from last July's stroke. Some days have been very productive and others full of challenges.
Nevertheless I keep plugging along.

I have had quite a battle with the French embassy regarding witnessing  my signature on paperwork to sell a house outside of Paris. It seems that the employees there do not take their jobs very seriously. As a result, I had to make three trips to convince the consulate general himself that this was to be done according to the law after my "notaire" returned the paperwork twice! This is a hassle for a normal ambulatory person but for me: car sickness, having to walk up a hill, dealing with a bunch of incompetent and rude persons (and yes, all in French as their English is not as fluent as my French)...  It was a most demanding challenge but I won in the end. Actually, we made the round trip in one day by the third time and I marched up the hill of that great fortress by myself!  A side note: I have to pay 75% of the value of the house and its contents in addition of various fees to the French govt. YES

The garden has produced well and now it is time for fall planting. Peter is becoming quite knowledgeable as he isn't too far from my side when I take on this job. He has erected supports for my vegetables, helped me organize my shed so as to make my work easier, turned over the soil when I could not..

We have also undertaken renovating all of my flower beds. After eleven years in the ground, my 69 plus variety of day lilies needed either moving, dividing, or eliminating. At he peak of the season in July, I need two hours each day to deadhead. Since many of the beds are on hillsides, I had to revaluate their location for ease of access. It is most difficult for me to walk between plants on uneven ground. I never lost my balance but the repercussions were worst than those of the various PTs that I attempted. All is well during the actual process but my nervous system rebels shortly afterwards by clamping down on my right side. Only a good night' sleep can alleviate it somewhat. So as the last bloom has gone, each plant is moved. I am limited to one or two a day early in the AM as the sun and heat are not welcomed by my brain! We should be done by winter! Of course, this meant  lifting many bulbs and curing them until the fall. After all, one doesn't want an unbalanced flower bed! They will be replanted once all of the perennials have be moved. I have to consider color and height. Yes, I am as fanatical about my plants as I am about my dancing or cooking. But you know what? It is this extreme focus that gets me through this tough journey of mine.

Health wise, I am doing well considering. I managed my blood pressure without drugs for nearly six weeks during which time my dizziness/loopiness was much better. Then about July 1rst, it started gradually rising. I'm back on a fairly low dosage of Losartan but am suffering the consequence. My present GP is not helpful by being part time three days a week and on vacation once a month. I am what you call "high maintenance." I am going boutique primary in two weeks with the brother of an old friend. The problem is that he is not so young but that has its benefits- experience.

I have heard back from Dr Yuri who is to start a new study in 2016 and I am on the list.

As far as dancing, I am hoping to do a showcase the second weekend in October. Slava and I have been working on this since this winter. Believe it or not music and dancing eliminate the sensations in my head (until I stand still). My biggest challenge is the traveling to the studio and of course dealing with night time hours. So tonight, Peter and I are going dancing for a short time to gradually increase my being able to have this come to fruition. Wish me luck.          

10 months later

Winter was long and spring was slow coming. It was cold and rainy! As a result, we were not able to start finishing the garden project on time. Finally it was done and I could walk on the level paths. All but the corn and winter squash are in. I'm proud to say that I was able to plant most everything by myself! My two men did finish the raised beds. While they were working on those, I was scraping and raking in the aisles level. I have regained a good deal of strength. Yet I still battle the dizziness and now, rigidity and spasticity on the whole right side. This does slow me down.

Now that we have not had any rain since Easter, everything is beginning to look dry. I find it more difficult working in the sun. And I keep thinking of more projects to do! So we decided to hire a contractor to build me a paved walk to my garden just around Easter time. I had been promised it would be finished in a couple of weeks! Ha ha! Do you have any idea what's like to deal with the landscaping contractors who only work when they can fit you in between their big jobs? There were pavers, sand, stones, piles of dirt, and workers littering the backyard for nearly 6 or seven weeks. On the days that did not show up, we waited around for them! On the days they were here, we had to make sure that the work was what we ordered. And every day they worked, there were at least several mistakes, some fairly severe. I am nearly bald now from pulling out my hair but I must say, it turned out really well with a great deal of supervision from me!

My dear friend Karin has continued to come once a week to either help me inside the house, or to help me in the garden, or in my perennial beds. Although I can do a lot more by myself than last September, I could never completed by myself. Of course hubby and Darren have helped also.

My dancing continues to progress with Slava. Since we do not have a competition on the horizon, we have the luxury of studying the basics in detail. And we have discovered a number of "ha ha !" moments. We are fixing all the glitches in the waltz, The foxtrot, and the tango. Since I have a lot of residual from the stroke, it takes a fraction of a second for my right side to respond to any of my thoughts of moving. We will keep the quickstep and VW on the back burner until I recover all of my balance and speed.

I have basically left all of the doctors at Johns Hopkins except for a neuro-ophthalmologist Who actually listened to my symptoms and discovered that both of my eyes are tracking at different times, hence, all of those strange symptoms I have had since day one. Amazing that it took neurologist number seven (from a different hospital) to discover my problem! Try crossing your eyes and living that way…do you focus well? Do you feel drunk? Do you teeter totter around? I do! Some days are better than others; but the more skills I acquire and the more I do, the worse I feel. Yet if I don't push, I do not gain ground! Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

Dr. Brown, finally the man who can answer my questions at Sinai Hospital, did say that any challenge to the brain is going to create a lot of noise, meaning a lot of misfiring which results in spasticity. Lovely...

I have read two books by Norman Doidge and I have watched dozens of programs on remapping the brain, plasticity. I have learned that there is a Doctor Who is conducting a study at Madison Wisconsin in terms of quieting the brain so that it might re-organize itself – heal itself. He has had great success in his trials for 30 years. He is an ex Russian. So far, I have asked three doctors to recommend me to his lab to be part of the study. Wonder what my chances are!

And meanwhile, I entertain a little –usually for lunch and afternoon. I will occasionally go out to a friends house for dinner, a very early dinner. But unfortunately, I still cannot travel very far as I get carsick from dizziness.

I looked normal on the outside but man oh man do I feel weird inside. And I have to work so hard to look normal especially as this rigidity is progressing. well let's keep our fingers crossed that I will be accepted into the studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Ups and Downs, excitement

Well Thanksgiving and the holidays have come and gone with all the preparations and excitement. Thank goodness, I was able to carry on our tradition of hosting the feasts. Perhaps I cut a few corners, such as serve Thanksgiving at the kitchen table. I have a large kitchen. For Christmas we actually ate in the dining room but the menu was curtailed of some its many courses and the guest list was much shorter. Still, it was decent. No one complained.

This is not to say that they were not difficulties for me. I still had to force my sluggish and painful right side into submission in order to carry out my tasks.  Then, there was the issue of tiredness and the usual blood pressure control. But I carry it all out.

As far as the blood pressure is concerned, I believe I finally have it all controlled without pharmaceuticals! I do not recommend this to people who do not understand herbs and supplements and meditation. It takes a fair amount of experimentation and research. Most doctors are totally opposed. But now, I am free of those nasty side effects that caused so much loopiness and so much discomfort that it actually made my blood pressure rise! 

I still have a fair amount of vertigo and lots of pain on my right side due to spasticity. It remains to be seen how much repairwork the brain can do. Things are getting better, but man it's not a piece a cake.

Slava continues to come to my studio to instruct me in dancing. I am very pleased with the progress but still unable to practice by myself due to lack of contrabalance. I do go downstairs every day to run, or let's say attempt to run.  At times, I feel like my whole right leg weighs a ton. Is a great effort to push a little more each time, but I am up to four times around without stopping. In the old days, it would've been comical to think I could only run four times around. Believe me it's quite an achievement these days.

Our son Darren has a new friend. This relationship is working very well. We are extremely happy about it and we love Kendra who is kind and patient.

Another bit of news is that we had to put our little Cleo to sleep. She was 17 years old, very arthritic. It turns out she also had a mass around her heart. She walked into her life one day as I was working in the garden. Someone had dropped her off, as many other animals had been since we had a barn and horses. Peter and I were about to go to a competition and figured she would be gone upon our return. No, she was waiting at the door for us. We open the door and she walked right in as she had always lived there. Our other cat and our Jack Russell accepted her immediately.She was so thin, shaved under the belly to the neck, revealing some recent surgery. She was very clean. No parasites whatsoever. So she became ours for the next 13 or 14 years. We will miss her.

Yes, these past few weeks certainly contained a lot of excitement for us. and on top of that, one of our greatest friends suffered a heart attack in the middle of her showcase with her instructor! Thank goodness three physicians were present. With hard work they kept her alive until the paramedic came to revive her with the paddles. Yes, she had flatlined. Unbelievably so, she has come through gloriously, even after quadruple bypass. The problem is that she is already going to be dismissed from rehab after only two weeks! I would have liked to be able to help her more but I'm not strong enough yet. Peter and I have visited her and seen her progress. I asked several of our friends and hers for a contribution to buy her an air iPad. Peter's has helped me so much in my recovery that I was certain it would be useful to hers. Most people came through. A couple however, showed their true colors by completely ignoring my request for a small donation. Amazingly, it was ignored by those who should be at the forefront. No more said. Yes, all this excitement did not suit my blood pressure too well, but I managed.

Then there's the issue of my dress maker who has owed me money for a dress she sold nearly a year ago. Tune in later for the latest news.