strokefactsforpatients

Having a stroke makes walking an interesting experience. You're off balance. You're feet turn in. They don't exactly raise all that well to step forward and you can fall a lot.

I got so good at falling I started tossing out scorecards every time I bit the dust. Before long my friends were insulting my scoring and calling out their scores, along with tips like screaming to make my score higher.

Some stroke survivors become very stubborn after their strokes. They either decide they'll never walk normal again so why try, or they simply prefer to teach themselves how to walk and avoid physical therapy all together.

The problem with teaching yourself how to walk is this. There was one time my roommate came home and I was all excited that I could finally stand up straight and walk. She grinned, opened my bedroom door, which had a full length mirror attached and said, "Look again."

Dang. I was leaning to the left and my feet were funny.

We can't always tell by feel how we look, that's why we need someone else to help us. If we surrender to allowing a physical therapist to guide us through the process, we can get back to walking so much faster, and the sooner we learn to walk correctly - the less pain we'll feel in our body.

I didn't realise until after the fact how much extra pain walking like a zombie was putting me in. I was really surprised! But when you think about the strain you're putting on your joints, how one side is having to carry the vast majority of your weight - no wonder we hurt.

So if you're one of the stubborn ones - get yourself to physical therapy. Yes, it will hurt like crazy and you'll attach the word "EVIL" before your physical therapists first name within the first 10 minutes of therapy, but the rewards in the end will be worth it.

Never surrender! Never give up!