I  found myself in the hospital and  I remember thinking, well I should be out here soon, as I didn’t like hospitals.  N OT… well, things got worse and I could not move.  This was very frightening to me, since the worst injury I had suffered to date was a broken leg.  Yes going back on writing this is very hard.  I had to recall events that were very hard for me to go through.

The hospital checked me in and took me up to a room.  My whole right side was frozen as I could not move anything.  They had  me on my back, and I couldn’t even  rest.  I am a side sleep person and that was most uncomfortable.  My family came to see me and all felt so strange.  I just wanted to be out of there and was so angry at myself for having this damned   stroke.

My oldest daughter  came in and pushed me in a wheelchair around the facility.  It was good to get out there.  However, I felt useless.  Now remember, I have been self employed for years and have taken care of myself all that time.  Being confined to a wheelchair was awful.  Just the thought of it made me ill.

I was in the hospital for three days and then they decided to move me into a convalescent home.  Once again, I had no control over what was going on.  The place was nice but full full of old people.  I was told that I was going to get therapy there   so I could work on getting better.  Now, I was 67 years old, and  only about 40 in my mind.

Once again, I had to get used to being in the new place with people I didn’t know.  I was  a very private guy and found it very difficult to allow myself to fit in .  The physical therapy people were very kind and put up with my attitude.  My stroke was truly awful… and I needed help getting  in and out of bed, brushing my teeth, going to the bathroom, and just trying to get around in the wheelchair.  I became determined that I was going to lick this problem.