I finished! by Christie

Two years later, I finally finished my project of cross-stitching a stocking of Kona. I did as I promised of working on it then putting it away from boredom then starting it again later. I think it's a labor of love and it keeps me out of trouble.

 

 

Kona is turning 3 years old on New Year’s Eve and I am looking forward of more years of being together and spoiling the heck out of her. She is the best! I will give her plenty of toys as long as they fit in the stocking.

 

 

 

Read Christie's post about starting this project and how she does needlepoint with one hand here.

Survivors with Movement by Randy

The biggest thing that works for me is helping other new friends that are also survivors. Now after six years from my stroke I now have become a Stroke Survivor Coach. As a coach I work on memory as well as writing, reading, speaking and using movement. This not only is for my new friends, it helps me as well. As survivors teaching is a way of life as well as a way of relearning.

As survivors relearning is a challenge. We work on our recovery everyday. Many of us have had to relearn everything. As hard as it is, young and old survivors keep moving. Everything that has happened to me from my stroke is about my new life. After having a brain injury we do not give up! 

One of the best ways to improve our memory is with movement. Exercise is a great way to work on our memory. There are instructor led in person exercise classes as well as online videos. YouTube and Facebook videos are great resources. 

A lot of these videos have been made on a Facebook page called Stroke Survivor Fitness. There are many people that have been working hard with their movement and memory. Watch them and let us know what you think. We are always open to feedback!

Here are several links that are important.

www.randykernus.com
Stroke Survivor Fitness:
www.facebook.com/strokesurvivorfitness/
Aphasia Paracord Projects Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/aphasiaparacordprojects/
Aphasia Will Not Be Silent Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/610071952466639/?ref=bookmarks

 

Perry's Road Trip, Part 1

I rented an RV with room for my dog and me, sleeping and toilet and kitchen.

Wed -  9/13 

I drove to POA (Pennsylvania ….) Turnpike, police turned  on the lights. I pulled car over.  My speech was like stuttering sometimes and I sometimes had eye contact for officer. The cop said drunk. My stroke, and aphasia card from wallet: “Communication.  I have aphasia a communication impairment.  My intelligence is intact.  I am not drunk, retarded, or mentally unstable.”  Police read (I saw “I am not drunk”) and laughed.  Police car looked in my car, and said “Yes, not arrested”  I drove on.  No cop ticket, thanks to aphasia card in my wallet!!
 
Flight 93 National Memorial – 9/11 was plane.  The museum is where flight and plane crashed.  There is a path. I walked to flight.

Pittsburgh – Primanti Brothers can eat.  I watch the Food Network, and they said Pittsburgh Primanti Brothers can eat.  Peoples and I were taking photos.  A famous personality can stop by, and I was not stopped.

Home? – I see the big city. I don't want to live there.  Pittsburgh, Pa not was stinky..

9/14 – Canton, Ohio

 

NFL Hall of Fame – I am at NFL Hall of Fame, and too many Redskins – like Joe Gibbs, John Riggins, Russ Grimm, and etc.  NFL Hall of Fame was disorganized. 

 

 

 

Home? --- I see the small city, and  is clean the Canton, Ohio.

 

9/15 – Cleveland, Ohio

 

Rock n Roll Museum – I will love the Museum.  The DJ radio was “rock and roll”, and here is city.  The museum is fun!! The museum is organized, and 5 floors to walk across.   

 

 

 

Home? – I see the city, and home is Cleveland, Ohio.  Cleveland was sunny and 70s weather. Soon Cleveland weather, snow and cold. I don't like cold outside.

 

9/16 – Dayton, Ohio

 

National Museum of the US Air Force - They have plane F-15E front yard. (I am computer graduate works F-15 in “E” fly flight, and Ada is computer programming.  But Ada is great large memory, and project can few memory – failure.)

 

They have 4 hangers, and it longer walking.  It has flight, and beginning and now future.  I had fun!!

 

Home? – I see the city, and I not do live Dayton, Ohio.

9/17 – Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway – A huge speedway!! It see speedway museum, and under the speedway is a path to drive and park.  The museum had older cars and present cars.  I had fun!!

 

Home? – I like the city, and home is Indianapolis, Indiana – maybe.

 

9/18 – Chicago, Illinois

 

… to be continued ….

Sandpad Beach Crutch by Christie

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to walk on the beach without a person holding your hand down to the ocean?  Well, I found a solution. It's called Sandpad for people with a disability or a person with crutches. It is a stabilizer for people who have trouble walking in the sand. You attach it on the end of your cane. 

 

In Nags Head, the beach where we stayed was very wide and far away from the ocean. It was difficult to walk on my own without help. Now I am happy to report that I will never leave home without it when I travel with sand.  It also has the ability to be used on snow or ice. Here comes winter because I am ready!

Here is a video where I walked down to the ocean. 

 

The link if you would like more information: http://www.thesandpad.com/howtobuy.php

Stroke Survivors Live Life by Randy

Survivors that live life after having strokes. It is amazing to understand and learn how life changes after a stroke. Recovery is how it works.

 

Often there is permanent changes as a result of a stroke. My permanent change is having aphasia. By the way let us know if you have aphasia. If you have aphasia it is a language disability. This disability sucks! It breaks us. It challenges us. It takes our words. The most important part of it is our memory is still intact. We now what to say but much of it does not come out correctly.

As the years have passed from my stroke then and now, life does change and it gets better. Believe it or not many of us struggle every day with having aphasia, but we never give up.

 

The struggling with words, it is because my letters are jumbled. For instance a five letter word one to two of the letters are correct however the last 3 letters get jumbled. This is why it is difficult to get the words out. Some times it is like playing charades. I will say it starts with an S and that is as far as I can go with saying the word but in my brain I know the word is Seat. That is just an example of what living with aphasia it like.

 

Fortunately my wife likes to play games so we never give up!!

Stroke is Life Changing by Perry

Stroke is life-changing. 

Right Leg: I drive with my right leg on the gas pedal - no pressure off and on, no feeling on right leg.   When I drive, pressure off and on gas, I start and stop – next period … quick … quickly stop…. Quickly….

(My memories:  The 2 daughters in car seats, their hands holding on the car, and bounce and stop drive --- I had no pressure in right leg).   I walked, like ankle had heavy ball on right leg.  I am sorry!! I felt no pressure right leg!)

Right Arm:  I am typing and write, speech therapists made me practice using my right arm, and it frustrated me!! (it matters, thank you all therapists!)  Fingers can not feel.  My fingers can work a screwdriver and button on/off, small things my daughters help me.  

Brain:  I am thinking brain: “1 + 1. (no answer!! next question) I watch TV, space ship next launch.  I enjoy computer science, programming … what do I do?  (no answer) ….. I eat next dinner? …. I can play racquetball… I can go to restaurants….“  At night, at bedtime, and I want to sleep.  But brain is thinking, and brain can’t sleep!!

I bought sleeping pill (Costco), and I take 10-15 pills at night.  It takes 1 hours, and I am sleeping.  Prior nights, the sleep was 2-3 am, and I was awake.  I had an appointment with sleep doctor, and she said it is sleep apnea (?).  Do you do recommend stroke & sleep doctors to help with sleep?

Stroke is life-changing.

10 Years Alive by Pat

It happened 10 years ago. My wife believed in me. She showed up to Bethesda, MD. She told me that I would make it. She flew from Seattle, Washington to Ronald Reagan Airport in D.C. She got there in the morning of Monday July 9, 2007.

My family, friends, nurses and doctors all said it was bad. This one doctor said I would be dead in a week. The nurses were good. This other doctor came to see me in the morning and at night. He was very good. I don’t remember, I was in a coma for 4 weeks.

I landed at Joint Base Andrews, AF, MD. On the way we stopped in Landstuhl, AF in Germany. I did a “tail to tail.” I was there for an hour. I had come from Balad, Iraq. They did my surgery there took 8 or 10 hours. Before I was in a helicopter from Baghdad.

When you get hurt you have one hour to live. My Thunder soldiers did fantastic!

We were in Dora, Baghdad. I had a new job for the last two months. We always went out at night to make sure we found the bad ones who were setting explosives for the next day.  That night, I had about 10 soldiers along side me on a rooftop. About 10 houses away there were 10 more soldiers from my unit. After a couple of hours we wanted to get water for the soldiers. Two soldiers were going to go to the Stryker, so I decided to go with them.

That day was July 7, 2007. It was in the middle of the night.

The first guys had moved across the roof and were going down the stairs. I was heading to the stairs on the second house and somebody shot me in the left temporal skull. I passed out right away. Two of my soldiers ran over to see what I was doing. They saw that I was passed out. It took four soldiers to dragged me downstairs and put me in to a Stryker. I went to the hospital right away.

I lived. They were so professional. And I will never be the same. My life is differently now. But I can't complain…

If you ever run into these people, give them a hug for me!

Kevin DaGraca, Larry Forrest, Frankie Vasquez, Manykhamph Douangmala, Timothy Antinick, Robert Buller, Jonathan Byerly, Ho Lee, Clayton Kline, Daniel Ward, Phillip Hoss, Daniel Iovine, Erickson Hooper, Sean Burnett, John Kennedy, Garret Meadows, Jeremy Woodard, Jose Alvarez, Jeremy Pattman, Lance Holtgeerts, Chris Kay, Clifford Mills, Jack McClernon, Brian Hux, Todd Tasco, Brandon Kinton, Travis Sparr, Taire Smith, Mathew Sukovieh and Doc Kevin McCulley

RIP Matthew Attalai (Afghanistan 2010)