Why do I need a walking stick

Thank you Sue for the nice words and the encouragement

Thank you for your comment Ian.  Hope all is going well with you 

How  interesting as like you I do not have any physical signs of stroke but I have impaired balance. Thank you for posting your blog and it must have been awful when you were flying and I will be wary of flying when I get the courage to fly. 

Toni, reading your comment  made me think about how sometimes when I say to people I had a stroke they say but you don't look like you had a stroke.  I have asked them what does someone who had a stroke look like.  They often say but you can talk and your face isn't drooping.  I also get stared at when I rock up in my car and although I have a disabled sticker, I don't appear that I have any kind of disability, until I try and get out of the car and star walking, that makes them look away.  Good luck and all the best

Thanks and best wishes to you. One of the things I love about EnableMe is how we all get learn the vagaries of each person's stroke experience.

Toni your blog really touched me with the issue of flying. In two weeks time I fly to Brisbane, my first long flight since the stroke.. I will be with my daughter who has booked a wheel chair as she is aware I cannot walk up the steps or walk the distance out to the aircraft. I wonder how I will be as I cannot sit for too long before the stiffness sets into my body. I feel a bit of a rogue as my Stroke signs are of the invisible kind.  I have taken my time in deciding to take the trip to visit many years. I am excited.    Jenny

Hi Jenny, I hope your trip goes well. I would recommend making  sure you get to the airport with plenty of time just so that you don;t strees yourself as I find this can exacerbate things and give yourself some recovery time once you land especially as you don;t know if teh flight will affect you. 
Have a wonderful time and let us know how it goes 

Toni x

Hi Ian

I've just started a writing a blog about my experiences so it will be interesting to compare how our flying experiences are similar and dissimalr

Toni

Hi Toni and MeiF

Toni that would be very interesting about your  flying blog but I will have to get courage to fly.

I would also like to commend MeIF on the return to driving,and doing the shopping and positive attitude and for starting this blog that has turned out slightly differently to what MeIF probably expected. Thankyou.

Hi IAn, Yep, that's me :)
Toni

Hi Toni, I tought so. I had a cerebellum stroke as well

Ian

Thank you all so much for the discussion on my topic.  It's great to hear others experiences especially because we are going through the same thing.  Like it's been said, no one really knows what we are going through unless  they have been through the same ordeal.

A couple of weeks back i shared a negative experience I had when a horrible lady exclaimed out loud, "if she wasn't so fat she wouldn't need a walking stick". This happened while I was doing my shopping.  I politely told her to keep her opinion to herself because she didn't know what I was going through.  At first I was shocked because I have never had an experience of this kind before but sadly I felt sorry for her, she must have a nothing better to do but walk around the shopping centres looking for someone to make a  negative comment about ( unfortunately I was her victim on this day).

I wonder if anyone else experienced anything like this?  

Hi Mel, How awful for you. You really have to question the entitlement some people feel to pass such judgment. I've experienced some negative comments when I've parked in disabled parking spots. The two worse incidents were made by employees of where I was going so I contacted their bosses. 
Keep getting out there!

Toni

Thanks Toni for your message.  Nothing is going to stop me from getting out there however bad it maybe I will keep my head held high and keep on going.