Adaptive Garderning After a Stroke

Anti-depressants do not just come in a pill.  I am glad I found a way to garden after my stroke because it makes me happy.  I get to enjoy beautiful flowers every time I come home.  However, each year I forget the tricks I discovered so I took photos and described the steps.

At first I pulled plants out of their containers one-handed.  The moist dirt balls broke apart.  I learned to let the plants dry out a little.  The photo shows a child size spade I slide down the sides of each container to loosen the roots.  


I use a big plastic pot that is lighter than clay.  After I partially fill the pot, I put a ring on top of the dirt.  I made this ring out of a disposable plastic cutting board.  The ring keeps plants away from the rim and gives me something to lean the 1st row of plants against.  A small cup helps me fill the narrow space between the ring and the edge of the pot.  I make sure the plants are touching each other so they grow into a thick ball that prevents water evaporation.  I drop fistfuls of dirt in the small spaces between the plants.  Then I pull out the ring.

I use my hemiplegic (paralyzed) hand to hold the watering can still so it will not tip over as I fill it with the hose.  I use the garden hose to wash off the dirt I have spilled on my concrete patio. 

I lower the pot onto a bench and carefully slide it next to the chair I sit in to watch the sunset and drink a cup of coffee.                                                                                                                        P.S. Rebecca you only need four 4-packs.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night

An OT told me about a client in a nursing home who wanted to get off the toilet line.  The toilet line is for people who have to wait for two aides to transfer them on and off the toilet.  The client wanted to get off the toilet line so badly it took her only 2 months to learn how to use her artificial leg again so she could walk into the bathroom.  This story confirms my worst fears about nursing homes.        I can hear the staff telling this woman she would feel much safer in a wheelchair.  Her story reminded me of Dylan Thomas's poem.

Do not go gently into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

My rage was triggered recently when someone tried to take away my independence.  Women at my breakfast club give small gifts for Christmas.  To make it easier to take the gifts home, I put them in the bag that came with one of the gifts.  The photo shows the hook on the Christmas ornament that kept getting caught on the handle of the bag.  As I was struggling I saw a hand reach across the table.  The hand disappeared when the rage I felt showed on my face.  I should have said "I'm not a young child playing with a sharp knife" so say "may I help you?' homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Cooking is Therapy for My Hand

Cooking is therapy for the hand because many tasks have to be done with both hands.
Below are a few examples of kitchen tasks that force me to use my hemiplegic hand.

The photo shows me holding a Cuisinart container with my hemiplegic hand while my sound hand scrapes out the food that always sticks to the side of the container. 

Two more examples - One hand holds a pot still while the other hand stirs the food.  One hand opens the refrigerator door and the other hand takes food off a shelf.

A stroke taught me a palmar grasp is useful.  In the photo the ends of my fingers are not touching the object or each other.  Why wait until tip pinch emerges when a palmar grasp lets
able-bodied adults to do ADLs that have to be done thousands
of times?



I am not the only one who thinks cooking is therapy for the hand.  OTs at Samuel Merritt University had stroke survivors prepare lunch and clean up (1).  The group that was helped to use both hands during cooking used their hemiplegic hand more often at home than the group who received constraint-induced therapy.  Transferring skills to a new setting is more likely to happen when the practice task closely resembles the target task.    homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

1.  Hayner, K., Gibson, G., & Giles, G. (2010).  Comparison of constraint-induced movement
     therapy and bilateral treatment of equal intensity in people with chronic upper-extremity
     dysfunction after cerebrovascular accident.  American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(4),
     528-539.

Dysarthria is More Than Slurred Speech

I had a stroke in the pons which contains the bridge to the cerebellum which controls coordination.  Poor coordination of my lips, cheeks, and tongue made my speech severely slurred (dysarthria).  The good news is that I never lost the ability to understand what people were saying.  The bad news is that people could not understand me. 

Not being able to control my breathing made speaking difficult.  To speak you have to let your breath out slowly.  At first I would exhale explosively in one big gasp.  I had to take extra breaths to finish even one sentence.            I gradually regained the ability to say more before running out of breath.  It is still tiring to speak in a group because I have to take deep breaths to be heard.  Thankfully people never have trouble understanding me on the telephone.  I speak into an ear bud so I never have to raise my voice which requires more air.

My dysarthria has never fully disappeared.  When I am tired my speech is still somewhat slurred.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com