A year ago my world turned upside down. My husband had a stroke and was hospitalized for months. Every day I visited him in hospital. He wasn’t the man I married. Even though I knew him so well, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. He couldn’t walk, eat by himself, or dress himself. It was so demoralising for him, I could see it in his face. I could barely watch him.

I never thought that he would make the recovery that he has. Intensive physiotherapy has helped so much. Everyday it looked like he was being tortured, but in reality the wonderful staff were helping him regain his life back.

Today, he has been home for a couple of months. He can walk a little. I can understand what he is trying to tell me. He still has huge problems, but he is so much better than I thought he could ever be.

I am glad it is getting warmer. I bought him a mobility scooter, which he loves. He tends to just go to the park, which is only about a mile away. He sits and watches the world go by. He says he prefers it to his electric wheelchair. He says he feels safer and more in control. He says he feels more like it is a vehicle that he is riding and not an extension of him, which is what the wheelchair made him feel like. I go with him sometimes, and can easily walk beside him. I would get on my bicycle and go with him but to be honest there is a hill on the way to the park. It’s easy in his scooter, but I don’t fancy cycling up it!

Things at home are not easy. He has a carer that comes in to help twice a day. She helps him get washed, dressed and up for the day. Our house now has more mobility aids than I care to count. All of them help him do the everyday things that he and I used to just take for granted. From beakers with lids to drink out of, and cutlery that is specially designed to help him not to drop and actually eat his food. We have a bath lift for the bath and he relies on the grab rail on our bed for help getting in and out. His tablet dispenser is simple but it helps him take his own medication instead of me always having to remember what pill to take when.

All in all life is totally and completely different to a year ago. Our priorities have changed. Now we live for every precious moment. My only worry now is that he doesn’t use his scooter to go to the pub to watch the World Cup!

Author: Marilyn