| While strokes can be deadly, millions of people do | | | | alterations, or significant difficulty in communicating. |
| survive. But the impact on their lives is often | | | | Losing control of bodily function can feel like losing |
| devastating. Stroke can affect quality of life on so | | | | control of your life, with a return to any kind of |
| many levels: physical, psychological, social, and | | | | normalcy seeming an insurmountable goal. This leads |
| emotional. It is usually sudden and unexpected, making | | | | to fear, and a kind of psychological paralysis to |
| it all the more debilitating and traumatic, plunging the | | | | accompany the physical handicap. |
| sufferer into an alien and often terrifying new | | | | So the first goal must be progress itself. Finding your |
| existence. Friends and family members are also | | | | way back to stability and enjoyment will require a |
| impacted & share in the trauma. All who are | | | | great deal of time and patience. Expecting overnight |
| involved face an emotional battle to accept a life that | | | | results only leads to disappointment and deflation. But |
| is changed, perhaps irrevocably, but still very much | | | | by deciding for yourself that you will embrace patience, |
| worth enhancing and enjoying. | | | | and focus on one small milestone at a time, you can |
| The good news is that a huge amount of expertise | | | | derive enjoyment from the actual journey. Once you |
| has gone into the study of improved living for stroke | | | | begin to sense that progress, the greater shining goal |
| survivors and those close to them. Many quality of life | | | | starts to beckon, and you believe that real |
| studies involving physicians, neurologists and | | | | improvement in quality of life is actually possible. That |
| rehabilitation researchers have yielded a wealth of | | | | hope drives you from one milestone to the next, slowly |
| knowledge about improving quality of life following a | | | | creating a snowball effect, lifting you up and away |
| stroke. | | | | from the crippling depression. |
| Whether you are a victim or carer, you may not be | | | | We can see a parallel in the way that sport develops |
| surprised to learn that one of the most significant keys | | | | us physically and mentally. When we play to win, we |
| to survival is hope. This deceptively simple word can | | | | really enjoy putting in serious effort. The tougher the |
| mean the difference between a virtual living death, and | | | | challenge, the greater the absorption, and |
| a life truly worth living. Hope derives from the | | | | concentration. We readily accept the triumphs and |
| awareness of steady, perceptible progress toward | | | | setbacks, so long as we can see ourselves moving |
| regaining and maintaining a workable, and even | | | | closer to the goal. While dealing with the effects of a |
| enjoyable, day-to-day life pattern. | | | | stroke can be a serious matter, seeing it as a sporting |
| But it doesn't always come easily. Stroke victims face | | | | challenge can be an effective psychological booster |
| multiple obstacles that seem to stack up against them, | | | | and help eliminate that inner paralysis. |
| including impaired functional ability, psychological | | | | |