The problem with making a good recovery is that one is often fooled into false sense of well-being which lures you gently into your pre-stroke lifestyle.
Extending and meeting my small goals each day gave me the confidence for an ambitious plan. I made a plan to travel by train to a school where I had taught chess and spend an hour or so with the children and volunteer parents who had faithfully kept the lunchtime chess club going in my absence. They had also been the first of many
to send me a hand-crafted 'Get Well' card with precious messages that had lifted my heart in the early days of my recovery. So, armed with goodies & gifts, and accompanied by my daughter, I made the journey with great optimism and excitement. The warmth of their reception exceeded all expectations and between hugs, compliments and beautiful flowers I quite lost track of time and my diminishing energy.
My previous routine at the school would have involved climbing and descending 12 flights of stairs to the top floor, conducting a lunchtime club after rearranging furniture, then following with 2x one hour chess lessons delivered to 30 children in each, resetting the room then rushing to catch my train back home.
Today, I had none of the strain, as the school had kindly facilitated the club in a ground floor room and the volunteers had carried all the equipment down - just for me!
AND YET! I could feel my self trembling at the end of my session, not with emotion or excitement but with sheer exhaustion. The walk back to the station seemed longer than ever before and we missed our train back. Fortunately I had a list waiting at the other end but upon reaching home I collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion and did not rise until 4 hours later.
Looking back on the day, I have no regrets, much joy and a valuable lesson learnt. A Reality Check that my optimistic forecast of resuming work 2 months hence is an unrealistic and very ambitious goal.
That a positive mental attitude can only take you so far along the road but it must be matched with physical stamina to complete the journey.
With this in mind, I intend to recruit the help of my consultants and therapists to establish a regime of physical rehabilitation. I shall continue to report on my progress. Hope you wont tire of listening.
I must end with a mention of some more names to add to my list of legendary 'angels'- Ansuman, Emma, Jane & Richard and of course the children of Knights Patten Chess Club for keeping alive my ambitions and aspirations for the chess club and making me feel so appreciated.
Extending and meeting my small goals each day gave me the confidence for an ambitious plan. I made a plan to travel by train to a school where I had taught chess and spend an hour or so with the children and volunteer parents who had faithfully kept the lunchtime chess club going in my absence. They had also been the first of manyto send me a hand-crafted 'Get Well' card with precious messages that had lifted my heart in the early days of my recovery. So, armed with goodies & gifts, and accompanied by my daughter, I made the journey with great optimism and excitement. The warmth of their reception exceeded all expectations and between hugs, compliments and beautiful flowers I quite lost track of time and my diminishing energy.
My previous routine at the school would have involved climbing and descending 12 flights of stairs to the top floor, conducting a lunchtime club after rearranging furniture, then following with 2x one hour chess lessons delivered to 30 children in each, resetting the room then rushing to catch my train back home.
Today, I had none of the strain, as the school had kindly facilitated the club in a ground floor room and the volunteers had carried all the equipment down - just for me!
AND YET! I could feel my self trembling at the end of my session, not with emotion or excitement but with sheer exhaustion. The walk back to the station seemed longer than ever before and we missed our train back. Fortunately I had a list waiting at the other end but upon reaching home I collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion and did not rise until 4 hours later.
Looking back on the day, I have no regrets, much joy and a valuable lesson learnt. A Reality Check that my optimistic forecast of resuming work 2 months hence is an unrealistic and very ambitious goal.
That a positive mental attitude can only take you so far along the road but it must be matched with physical stamina to complete the journey.
With this in mind, I intend to recruit the help of my consultants and therapists to establish a regime of physical rehabilitation. I shall continue to report on my progress. Hope you wont tire of listening.
I must end with a mention of some more names to add to my list of legendary 'angels'- Ansuman, Emma, Jane & Richard and of course the children of Knights Patten Chess Club for keeping alive my ambitions and aspirations for the chess club and making me feel so appreciated.
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