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!