Well I've eventually got some time to do this, apologies for the long delay. We had the first meeting at Tesco's cafe and it went ok, lots of room for improvement but if I was able to help one person that would be great. Was able to advise on driving again and what you have to do. For those that don't know here's what you do. You have to notify DVLA as there are several medical conditions that are notifiable by law and this is one of them. It would negate your insurance if you drove and then had an accident and hadn't informed them. Le them know and then they get in touch with your doctors and the specialist to have more information, they then send you details of an assessment centre, mine was in Birmingham! So I rang them and arranged one at a centre closer to me. It was several months away so I had driving lessons in an adapted car so I could get used to it and used to driving again after 19months of not doing. It certainly is a good idea to do if you've had any length of time not driving. The centre which you have your assessment with can advise you of names, adaptions and numbers so you're able to contact instructors. I found them very helpful. It should be noted that this is an ASSESSMENT and NOT a test. They isuue a report to the DVLA who with therir medical reports make an assessment of your driving and make a decision. This bit took them ages. I got a letter after 4 wks to say it would take them 9 weeks to make a decision then after a further 8 weeks a letter came to say it would take them another 6 weeeks to let me know. At this point I emailed David Davis my MP and told him. Miraculously I got a letter saying I'd passed the assssment and they had reviewed the medical reports and I could drive. I carried on having lessons after the assessment until I got the letter so my driving didn't stagnate again and go of the boil.

The personal trainer has been great with a change in excercises to strengthen  different muscles. I can't rave about the benefits enough. Just recently on twitter there have been reports about personal trainers making a big difference to stroke survivors improvements even after 3 yrs. On Monday I saw two friends , one from Devon and one from Derby who I haven't  seen since last June and they could see a huge difference. I knew things were getting better and they just confirmed that.  We had a super day. We had lunch at Betty's and our pud at the chocolate house together with lots of laughs, as usual.

We've been to try my daughter's prom dress on with the shoes so we can see what needs to come off the length.  They've rung for us to collect it and try it now the hem has been done. She's now under pain of death to remember the shoes lol.

Now I've done these excercises with the personal trainer, I can now bend down further and I'm walking much straighter and taller. Give it a go!

Sally got me to complete the forms for a CRB check and I filled in the forms to be a volunteer and I know the 2 friends I used for references have sent them back. The budget annoyed me when he mentioned a change in the day to day living component of PIP, thank goodnes hes decided to u-turn on this. It makes me so mad that he even thought of it, to pick on the country's most vulnerable! Thank goodness he's changed his mind as I had visions of having to use some of my enhanced mobility pay of PIP to make up the shortfall. That meant losing the car or losing the personal trainer! It made me wonder what the point was of improving. 

Keep going with the excercises however small they'll make a difference! Happy Easter folks, hope you have a good time and lots of choccy eggs. OK so I know it's unhealthy and not good for us stroke survivors but once a year is surely ok and eat bits in moderation. Bye!

Hello everyone hope you're all doing ok. My daughter's gone for an interview at Askham Bryan today, her Dad's taking her. Since Sally's visit I've filled in the information on the volunteer form and the group's going ahead in the cafe at Tesco's on the 15th March a 11:00am, great. We'll see what's going on and hopefully it carries on. Sam my trainer came on Friday and there's no stopping her or me. I managed to walk 4 times round the lounge with just 1 stick and from the front window to the lounge wall opposite a distance of about 4m and from the porch door to my chair a distance of about 4m without any sticks. Woohoo!! I also walked outside from my gate to my neighbous gate and back with only 1 stick 3times getting faster each time. Yay! I can now get in my car with my left leg first if it's near the kerb! She really has worked wonders and it's definitely beneficial to have your own personal trainer at the same time as you do your physio or even after.

It's my daughter's birthdaycoming up and she'll be 16! Her Dad and I have got her an iphone 5s and a BT sim card. I've also got some other bits too. 16!? Can you believe it? 

 Keep doing those excercises. You know it makes sense and I'm testament to what can be achieved with determination and stubborness. 

First let me apologise for taking so long to update this site. Suffice to say I've been busy which is a good thing as it shows I'm doing more! I've had the usual visits from the personal trainer and that has proved to be so helpful. It's worth considering that ordinary people with no disability and not on an excercise programme walk on average 500 steps a day. Those that are stroke survivors only manage 450 steps a day, so it's worth doing something however small and insignificant it sounds. I've bought an extra walker to have in the house so that when the weather gets better I can go outside for a walk. So get off your bottoms and walk.

Yes we went to pick up the dress but couldn't as my daughter forgot her shoes so we were unable to check the length and have to go back in a couple of weeks. It fit her beautifully though. Still no luck on the transport front. She says she'd like to go in an Aston Martin (her mother's daughter lol) but that cost £360! So she'll have to think again.

Today I've had a visit from Sally of the Stroke Association. Great meeting for the last year there has been nothing for stroke survivors to go to to pass on their stories or experiences, so in 2 weeks time we're going to meet at the Tesco's cafe for a coffee and chat. Let's see how it goes. We want carers to come too as it could be beneficial for them to see how people have improved with time. Hopefully in future we'll advertise it etc have speakers and a raffle too. I've plenty of ideas and so has Sally so let's hope it takes off. She also wants me o fill in the forms to be a stroke volunteer! So that's great news as she obviously values my help and knowledge etc so watch this space. Remember to check out the selfhelp4stroke.org website for really useful tips on everytthing from eating healthily to emotional support etc. Remember to do your excercises little and often is better than not at all!