I Felt the Lightning

Looking for answers can be as frustrating as the problem you're trying to solve. Getting a firm answer from a medical professional is often impossible because there are more theories than answers for getting better. It's not their fault, there is no one at fault.

Books are a great resource but you will have to read a lot and questions are impatient. Then there's the the Net. Word your question the wrong way with a search engine and the net becomes the World Wide Blackhole! Your brain looks at 128,240,983 words that don't answer any of your questions. Take a rest.

I learned a long time ago to stop searching for the answers in the bathroom, the bedroom, the porch and the garage when I'm standing in the living room. Some answers are closer to you than you think. Sometimes they're simple not complex.

Tom wrote me that he was inspired by my story of recovery. He had an operation that unfortunately caused a stroke. The stroke was a fair price to pay because the operation saved his life. Now he wants the rest of his life back. I'm a big fan of that!

When he was not doing his day job he was playing guitar as part of a group in NYC. Tom wants that part of his life back A.S.A.P. It's hard to play the guitar one handed. So the question was when was feeling making a return engagement to his arm.

I used what I call my Stroke Logic to my own problem with his. In my recovery I exercised all the muscles beside the affected area. My arm wasn't working but my shoulder was so I worked all the muscle right next to the arm. My hope was I'd be sending a signal to the affected limb. At some point it would get the signal and start to move too.

Of course it would be easier to just think that guitar playing is a thing of the past. For me that would be ok because I don't play the guitar. Tom on the other hand ( forgive pun ) played the guitar and I'd really like to hear him play. Stroke Logic tells me to exercise the shoulder to send signals to the hand. That was my advise to Tom.

The next time I heard from Tom he told me he'd been doing the shoulder exercises and guess what, he'd Felt the Lightning! It went shooting down his arm. I can just imaging the smile that burst out on his face the first time it happened. I know the feeling and it's worth the price of admission. It's the greatest feeling on earth!

You Should Write a Book

Always thank those responsible. My thanks to all those who've read my 9 Lives Blog and may I say also there's been hundreds of you. Over 900 and still counting from around the world. I invested nothing in advertising my blog but the major search engines found me anyway.

In the last 6 years people I've met have heard my Stroke Story and with enthusiasm told me to write a book. So of course I didn't but I did write a blog. It seemed to be the easiest way to test the waters and see if I could actually write a story and have it make sense. Beyond that would anyone read it? Apparently you do!

The point of my blog was never to tell a gut wrenching story so you'd know what I when through but how I overcame challenges to get healthy again. The story passes on to the reader important knowledge that stroke survivors and their caregivers can use and modify to help themselves.

People have written me to tell me how much they've enjoy my blog and how it's helped. Questions have been asked and I've tried my best to answer. I'm not a doctor or a therapist but I'm a expert Stroke Survivor which there's no university course for that I'm aware of.

To help even more people it looks like I'm finally going to have to spend some money. Hopefully by this summer my blog now turned into a book will be on the market. In the meantime I'm taking most of the story down off the blogsite.

Any of you with questions please write me. I'll do my best to answer as quickly as possible. I will let everyone know when they can get a copy of the book.

Again Thanks

Jim Pettitt