Sleep and Shoes

On Thursday I made a comment to Heidi about my sleep and she told me I should post about it. So, I will.

I had a strange sensation waking up Thursday morning, and it took me quite a while to figure out what it was that was different about getting out of bed that morning. I went to bed at the usual time the night before, my alarm went off at 6:00 AM as it does most weekday mornings, yet something was different this morning. As the day progressed, I was finally able to wrap my mind around what That difference was.  I had gone to bed, fallen asleep, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up to my alarm.  That has to be the first time in over a year that I have slept that soundly through the night (yet it was the way I often slept prior to my stroke).

I spoke in a previous post about how difficult it was to turn my body over to a new position in my sleep and that I couldn't sleep on my left side because it was so hypersensitive that I couldn't get at all comfortable.  Well, obviously this past Wednesday night I was able to make it through the night without waking up to change positions numerous times throughout the night. That is really an exciting thought (even though I have woken up to change positions the past two nights as usual). It gives me hope that I am making more small steps toward improvement over time.

I did experiment with trying to fall asleep on my left side about a week ago too, and was able to get comfortable enough to start my night of sleep that way.  I know it really happened, because I had to comb out the crazy bed head from the opposite side of my head that morning.

 
Enough about sleep.  Let me share with you a little bit about shoes.  I have been running in the old pair of shoes that I had run in for about 8 months prior to my stroke as I was training for my first marathon.  These shoes are about to be retired soon (you will see why) but have been fine for running on grass and even for my running as I transitioned to running on pavement the past few months.  I had noticed the uneven tread wear about a month ago, but a few days ago I happened to look at the bottoms of my shoes again and was amazed at the difference between the left and right foot.  So, I decided to take pictures of them and post them for you so you can get a better idea of just how different my running is on that left leg.

Here is the shoe from my right foot (the one that was NOT affected by the stroke).  Notice that the black tread of the shoe is worn quite evenly over the whole shoe.  This is especially evident on the front of the shoe as the yellow rubber underneath is exposed over time.

Now check out the shoe from my left foot.  Notice how uneven the tread-wear is on this shoe. The outside of the shoe (bottom in the picture) is really worn down, even to the point of the white layer starting to show through, while the inside of the shoe shows very little wear at all. This is due to the fact that my left leg does not extend fully with each step causing me to land on the front of my foot rather than the heel.  My foot also tends to twist with each step causing me to land on the outside of my foot rather than the center.  So, I know what it's doing wrong, but I can't figure out how to make it right.

That being said, I do have some exciting news to share.  I have been running with Anthony on Saturdays following his coach's regimen.  These have been what he calls his "short days" running up to 4 and 3/4 miles. Well, earlier this week he mentioned that his coach had changed the weekly schedule and was now making Saturdays his "long day" instead and that he was to run 10 miles this Saturday (today).  So, we plotted out a nice 10 mile course and set out with one of his classmates at 9:30 this morning and ran 10 miles.  I did it!  I wasn't sure if I could, and I was prepared to drop out and walk if I had to, but we ran as a threesome for the first 9 and 1/4 miles until they pulled away from me for the finish.  They finished in 1 hour 25 minutes and 29 seconds, and I finished another 36 seconds behind them for right around one hour 26 minutes.  This gives me real confidence to keep on running!  God is so good to me!

As a follow-up to this, I have to tell you that walking has been especially difficult for me today due to some pretty extreme fatigue in that left leg.  But it was well worth it.  =) 

 

Happy New Year and a Milestone

Here we go on a new year and I am excited about the possibilities, especially after my accomplishment this morning.  This is another one of those small things that is really BIG for me. Big enough that I am going to refer to it as a milestone in my stroke recovery.  My task this morning was to trim my fingernails (a seemingly simple task) which has been one of my greatest ongoing challenges post stroke.  Trimming the nails on the left hand is not difficult, but when I switch to trim the nails on the right hand the task becomes daunting.  One of the exercises I worked on in occupational therapy at English Oaks was to use a tweezers to pick up small pegs and put them into holes.  That was a frustrating task and I learned to put the tweezers in my right hand to see how to do the task "naturally" and then try to mirror that with my left hand.  Well this trimming of the nails has been the same kind of daunting task and I have had to apply the same right hand strategy over and over to figure out how to "naturally" hold the nail clippers to clip the nails on my right hand.  Over the past year I have experienced lots of failure at this task as the nail clipper slips all over in my hand and refuses to behave, but today I was able to mirror the grip of my right hand quite successfully and complete the trimming task quite efficiently.  The feeling that the trimmer might slip out of my hand was constantly present, but with slight adjustments I was able to carry on through the task successfully.  Yea!

My good friend and fellow teacher, Karen Rossi, has been such an encouragement to me.  For years she has been studying and advocating applying brain research and exercises that build pathways in the brain to education.  She got really excited about Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's story of recovery from a major stroke (an interview with Oprah).  Karen bought and devoured the book, My Stroke of Insight, and enthusiastically passed it on to me.  I have been reading it over vacation and can hardly put it down.  It gives the reader a whole new perspective on life and who we are as human beings.  It also is an incredible picture of the amazing healing ability of the brain.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone.  One of the things that kept Jill pushing forward in her recovery was focusing on what she could do rather than what she was unable to do.  So each little step along the way was an encouragement to her to keep on working toward recovery.  I have found this same thing to be true and really appreciate it when people take note of something that I am doing that I was unable to do a while back.  The progress is so slow now that it is easy to get caught up in the belief that there is no more healing taking place, but I know that is not the case.  Jill knew the same thing and says that she finally felt completely recovered from her stroke after 8 years!  That may sound discouraging to some, but to me that is so hopeful because it reminds me that this process can continue on for years to come!  Yea again!

Here are a few other things to celebrate:

Yesterday I went out to trim a couple of bushes that had grown too high and ended up spending a few hours pruning some major shrubbery.  I had lost my interest and or ability to do this kind of task well, but as of yesterday am excited and feel capable of such tasks.  Yea!

I have been doing some running with Anthony over Christmas vacation and have joined him in running up to 6 miles!  on pavement!  That is quite an accomplishment and has given me great hope>  It is still really quite awkward and takes a lot of concentration (my left heel will strike my right leg every so often if I don't concentrate on really placing that left foot well), but I am finding that the longer I run, the more my leg loosens up and seems to run in a somewhat more natural gate.  Yea!

Sleeping is getting to be more natural and turning over to reposition myself in the night is less of a problem.  Yea!

Jacob bought me a couple of video games for the Wii that are less dependent on me using the fine motor skills of my left hand.  Now I can almost keep up with those boys in Mario Kart racing.  Yea!

There is so much to celebrate and there are so many new possibilities as the new year unfolds. I hope that you have a chance to look back at exciting progress and look forward to endless possibilities as you look forward to the year(s) ahead as well.

God bless you all!