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.
