THE FOUNDATION OF MY RECOVERY
It is very difficult to relate the impact that visualization has had on my journey back to normalcy. After my third stroke I was lying in a bed in intensive care with only some movement in my right hand, my left side was described as flacid by the doctors. It was also noted that my left hand would eventually close and become rigid.
I spent the time available worrying about my future and what life would be like if the doctors were correct in the prognosis. It wasn’t a pleasant future, I started looking at the index finger on my left hand trying to move it, I worked on it for hours with no result. Late one afternoon I was tired I dozed off and was in the middle of a dream about looking at my right index finger land then moving the left one, the dream was vivid and in color. Some time later when I woke up I looked at the right hand in my mind I saw my left finger move and the finger moved, the movement was slight – barely visible – but it moved…
I was elated. I kept working on it until the entire hand had near normal movement but very little strength. With lots of time and a smart phone, I began researching my discovery. I found some information about professional athletes. The way some approach a golf swing or a baseball batters swing, visualizing the swing from start to finish – even seeing the ball stop where they planned it.
It took time and a lot of effort, but I incorporated the concept of visualization into every aspect of my recovery. There are times when people watching me assume I must be napping! In actuality, I am visulizing a movement or series of movements.
When I meet with stroke survivors that suffer from aphasia, I relate how I learned to speak by visulizing childhood songs and then singing them. Happy Birthday, Mary had a Little Lamb, as long as the song was in your mind before your stroke, you probably could sing it. It’s only a start, but it was my spring board to near normal speach and I have had some success teaching this technique.
Think of it this way. Your brain is where the damage occurred and very often little is done to rehab your mind. Stroke survivors start out with mental baggage; guilt, anger, depression, etc., and before much happens physically, the mind has to reconcile and that’s as big a challenge as the physical side of recovery.
I have used meditation, yoga, reading, crossword puzzles, card games, computer games, anything to engage the mind, the more you exercise and challenge your brain, the faster and better your recovery will be.