Surviving 365 days!

Wow, March 2, 2008 will be here on Sunday. Only a few short days away for my one-year anniversary. No, not married, but having a crazy stroke. From what I've read on the Internet about strokes caused by AVMs, or any strokes in general, the likilyhood of them bleeding again is the highest within the first year. After that, I'm still not in the clear, but the odds of another brain hemmorage again goes down little by little. So, I guess life goes on and we pray for the best.

Meanwhile, back in Graham, in order to beat the "no physical therapy" (thank you insurance company), I joined the local gym and we hired a personal trainer named Steve (cheaper than therapy anyway). He takes no mercy on me when I see him 2x's a week. My goal is to work on strength training in order to improve my gait (walking and coordination). I can still get around from point A to point B, but I still have a noticable limp. My trainer Steve and I are working hard to get rid of that. We do free weights, resistance bands, weight machines, the elipical machine, treadmill, and floor excercise to work on my core strength. The other day, he had me doing reverse lunges which made me very sore for a few days. I had to have help from Michael to stand up at home!

Shoes are my biggest challenge. I miss the days of being able to wear cute sandals or even heels. The only thing comfortable and supportive are tennis shoes. Yuck!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. For my birthday, Michael bought me a full day of pampering at a local day spa. I'm looking forward to the massage, tub soaks and pedicure. Then we are going out to dinner.

Let's hope the next 365 days are joyous ones. No more bad news...from anyone...please!