Meeting Up WIth Dean

Dean from Deans' Stroke Musings and I met in person last week. He was up  in Manitoba for the Winnipeg Folk Festival and we arranged to actually get together. On Thursday, Dean came to The Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba to meet up with me and our local  group. I think he had quite the tour of Winnipeg before finding our office. I was really happy to introduce Dean to a few of my friends. He walked into the office and our staff person called out "Linda .. there is someone here to see you!" and I got so excited! We immediately had lots to talk about. It is funny to feel like you know someone when you have never met or even heard their voice before!

We decided to have breakfast on Friday and to continue our conversation. I was going to be back at Stroke Recovery early Friday morning for adapted Tai ji so we just met down the street from there at a nice breakfast place. We had a VERY long brunch but time really seemed to fly. A little longer and I think that between us we would have solved all the problems of stroke research and rehab today. We talked about blogging, camping, music and how to fit me for a kayak.

Dean, it was such a treat to meet you and have the chance to get to know each other!  Only 12 more months until the next Folk Festival!

I Completed My Occupational Therapy!

 Last week was my very last Occupational Therapy appointment.

I have been with my occupational therapist at the Easy Street Program for just over 2 years now. I have had weekly appointments and I have done a phenomenal amount of homework. I can't begin to tell you all the material we covered and all the information I learned or relearned in this time. I keep saying that I have never really worked or studied so hard before in my whole life. I didn't even know I was capable of working this hard!

I have had a lot of cognitive problems.  At this point I am coping pretty well. My memory, for example, is not the same as it was, but between using memory tricks, taking notes as I go and recording little messages to myself I am really functioning pretty normally. I wish  all my cognitive problems had just gone away or I had "recovered" but the fact is I have recovered a bit and I have learned a lot of adaptive strategies.  I know that I will still keep coming up with different cognitive problems in my life but we have worked on developing the skills and techniques to allow me to solve my own problems in the future.

 We have been picking up the loose ends and making sure I was in a good place to move on with my life. We did a few more cognitive tests to check on my status as well as other evaluations and we worked on those last few worries. I now have some future plans, like job rehabilitation, and possibly even going back to college. I can keep working on developing my current strengths and learning to be the best I can with where I find myself now.


During the last month my therapist had one last project for me. I was to gather up all the occupational therapy notes and handouts from the past two years and get them organized into a resource binder that I can turn to in the future. The second week I came up with a very long list of all the different skills we had worked on, and all the different goals we had identified.  The third week I went through the previous list along with my actual papers and I tried to make categories for the papers. For week four I had my binder organized, but it became obvious that a little more refinement was necessary and I added an extra category and printed out an index page and added labeled dividers between the sections.  My binder has my handwritten notes, it had jokes, and quotes. It has handouts and worksheets and list of questions I had written out to ask my therapist. Yes, it is a resource binder, but it is also a diary that reflects so much about me and my struggles over the past couple of years.

The last page of my binder has photos of my front steps we had to show the therapist why I was having trouble getting in the house. At the beginning of this journey I would sit on my walker crying at the bottom of the stairs because I was unable to get into my own house. That seems so long ago in some ways and like it was just yesterday in others.

I wanted to give my therapist a little gift.
I photographed a little angel statue in the hospital garden.  I thought it would be meaningful to her and that it would reflect some of the issues I had worked on.  I printed it up and put it in a pretty frame. I knew that she would love it and that she will think of me in the future. I hope that she will also remember with pride what we have accomplished together.

Accessible Overnight Campout

I went on an overnight camp this week with the Independent Living Resource Center in Winnipeg.

The canoe and swimming dock and the group use facility in the background.

 I read about this overnight event  last year, but I really wasn't sure it was suitable for me. Beginner camping skills? Heck, I have as of this week completed 20 years as a Girl Guide leader and have the pins to prove it. I have taken endless training about camping and spent more nights camping with groups of kids that I like to think about.  Why on earth would I need a beginners Guide to camping? At the same time I have been really missing camping over the past few years and I was looking for a a new way to get out there again.

I saw that they were having a day with an orientation to their summer programs so I went to it mainly because I wanted to learn about their picnic and outdoor community walk days. They had a pretty full house and when they discussed  basic camping skills I felt like I had a lot to add on certain topics and thought that I might even be a bit of help at the camp. On the other hand I also realized that there is a lot I don't know about making camping accessible for myself or others. I think there might be interest in the future for SAM members (Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba) to go camping and we regularly have special needs girls in Guiding that we take to camp.

After my recent camping adventure with Guiding I realized that, while I am doing very well with my recovery, I am still not able to carry my own weight at camp and I most certainly could not camp without a lot of support. What else could I learn about camping with a disability? I handed over the incredibly low fee of $25 and filled out the paperwork.

We had about 12 people camping who were "consumers", a few caregivers and a whole lot of staff. It turned out that this is a bit of a staff summer celebration too with some of the staff's family members camping as well.

Transportation was provided to the camp site that is just outside the city limits in a great educational nature reserve called Fort Whyte Alive. 

When I got there I was shown where the "girls cabin" was. It is very nice with 5 bunk-beds and was heated and had electricity. There was a wheelchair ramp to get in and it was not that hard for the wheel chair users to maneuver around in there. The attached bathroom with a composting toilet was another matter in terms of accessibility, but the lodge space  just a few yards away has an accessible toilet.

The fire-pit and central hub for the camp

Once I got my stuff dumped on my bunk I headed outside to sit around the fire pit and listen to a truly excellent guitar player. He played folk style songs for a hour without stopping. ( or peeking at music!)
One of the staffs little 10 year old boys told me that he is working on learning guitar and I told him me too! We agreed that by next year we will be able to play a song or two at the campfire! lol

The meals were good with opportunities to cook wieners over the fire or to roast marshmallows to make smore's.

I went sailing and absolutely loved it.. (balance issues aside--  it was still fun and I can't wait to go again). I rode around on an electric golf cart to get from place to place, toured the nature center and the little gift shop and I even hiked a little bit. I was hoping to canoeing in the evening but it began to rain and was just kind of cold and yuckky so I settled for staying on the deck and watching a few other brave people canoe.

Cabins in background and tent camping was also an option.

I talked to a lot of new people and even traded a few email addys with people that I hope to keep in touch with.
I found it very different to camp with this group compared to Girl Guides or Scouting. In Guiding the kids grow up getting different skills and there is an expectation for HOW things should be done. It is great to have our "Scouting Skills" but it is nice to see how the other side does it for a change. It was wonderful to be the participant for a change and not the person who has to be up worrying about broken tents or getting breakfast started. I am definitely going to try and go again next year.

 Below is information from the Independent Living Resources Website:

This Camping Trip is for People with Disabilities:
• Who want to learn or improve their camping skills
• Who want to have a fun time and participate in activities
such as sailing, hiking, setting up a tent, cooking, camp
safety and fishing
• Who want to sleep lakefront in a tent or accessible cabin
• Who are able to follow the Independent Living Philosophy
and can direct their own care 

(two days, one night)
Location: Fort Whyte Alive
Cost: $25