Several times during my outpatient therapy sessions I inquired about water therapy. I was told my stroke was too severe for such therapies. I was walking with a walker or a cane and walking in water appealed to me. I figured the boency would allow me to work on my stride without the mechanical aids.
My local community center has a pool with a circular design with flowing current as an added challange. The water level was 3 1/2 feet deep so I acquired a belt with floats that would allow me a measure of safety.
I began walking and it was quite a challange the first few months. I found walking with the current would test my balance and walking against the current developed strength. I would use the pool two to three times a week and my balance and walking stride improved dramatically. I soon stopped using the walker, and relied soley on the cane for balance.
My workouts expanded to include hand floats and paddles increasing the work load, I also started doing yoga poses and stretching.
I grew up in a home that had a pool in the backyard and learned to swim at a very young age, so it was seamed natural to me that my next step would be swimming. The first time I put my face in the water the panic was overwhelming! I fought the panic and tried to make what I hoped would be a swimming stoke, neither side of my body did anything resembling anything I remembered as swimming – this was going to take time.
I held onto the ladder railing as I lay down in the water kicking my legs. It took months and a pair of swim fins until I could lay on my back and do the backstroke. The left side had strength and range of motion limitations, but I stuck with it and I was swimming the backstroke.
It was natural to start freestyle swimming, my arms had become strong moving backwards. Moving forward was a new ball game and it was almost like starting over, except my legs were working and my kick was strong.
I was proud of my efforts and my confidence exploded into all areas of my stroke recovery. It’s been three years since I began my water therapy and I now swim one mile five days a week. I typically start my workouts with the swim.
Often I am asked If I learned to swim as a child, my answer is yes, but I can honestly say I learned to swim at 60 years of age.
REFUSE TO BE HELPLESS.