Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

Let’s see, a year ago I was underweight, dealing with recurring bladder infections and generally unhealthy. I resolved to get healthier. The good news is that I did. My weight is where it should be. I haven’t had a bladder infection in over 9 months, and I can say that I’m healthier. I’m trying to get healthier, still, but I’m a lot closer than I thought I would be .

So, my answer is no, it’s a little better.

What skills or lessons have you learned recently?

To heal and recover. I’ve been recovering from my massive stroke for 9.5 years, and the thing I’ve learned through the whole thing is patience is not only helpful but necessary so that you don’t go insane . The improvements will happen when they happen. If you do the work and trust the process, recovery will feel closer with each year.

I’ve also learned that if you feel encouraged, you can try something new. This year, I finally got some of my balance back, and it was so encouraging that I tried to walk without my AFO brace and to my and everyone’s surprise, I could. Not only could I do it, but I could walk farther than I expected. If you don’t try, you’ll never succeed.

I’ve included the video of my first time trying to walk without my AFO brace to hopefully encourage some of you to try something new and difficult.

It takes time and effort to heal and recover. Remember, all things are difficult before they’re easy.

What cities do you want to visit?

Now that I’m older and disabled, cities don’t hold the same allure they used to. Luckily, I’ve visited most of the cities I wanted to see. Paris and New York were my two favorites. The smaller places are more interesting to me now, especially because I’m now a wheelchair user, and the infrastructure in smaller places is better for wheelchair users to deal with . Even the difference between Vancouver and at just over 700000 people and Victoria at just under 97000 people feels huge to me. Vancouver feels uncomfortable with the very uneven and crowded sidewalks and impatient drivers, whereas Victoria on Vancouver Island feels a lot more comfortable under my wheels ,even during tourist season . There are even smaller places that I’m looking forward to checking out too, as long as they are wheelchair friendly and if the place has a lot of retirees, it will be. For instance, I enjoy visiting Sidney British Columbia at around 12000 people, which is mostly inhabited by people who are my age or older and there are more than a few wheelchairs and scooters on the sidewalks there,which means people understand better how to exist around wheelchair users and the pavement is smoother and more comfortable to traverse. So, if you are a wheelchair user, take my advice and check out the places that have an older population, and you’ll feel more welcome and more comfortable.

Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

I’ve never really cared about what other people say about me, and now that I’m almost 60, I really don’t give a schtup.

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

Honestly, I don’t remember much about the first 10 days after the stroke because I was in ICU and was heavily medicated. What I do remember is a dream I had about being in a coffin, and I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear quite a bit of fuss outside of the coffin along with snippets of sentences, like she was too young and she’s probably better off. The first day out of ICU was when doctors told me that my stroke was caused by a large 4×7cm tumor had been growing in my right atria for 20 to 25 years and apparently a piece of it had broken away and lodged itself in my brain and it was inoperable. Heart surgery was necessary, but the neurology team and the cardiac team couldn’t agree on the timeline. They argued back and forth for 3 weeks until I was able to convince my neurologist that the tumor meant certain death and what he was worried about, my having another stroke during heart surgery was not necessarily certain death. So take the tumor out! With every beat of my heart, I was risking death. So, the surgery was performed. After the surgery, I immediately felt so much better, and everyone who saw me said that I looked like my color was better than before. It took 10 days to heal from the surgery. Currently, I’m coming up on 9 and a half years since my stroke, and I’m still trying to overcome the physical issues resulting from it . Thankfully, I’m still seeing improvements, so we have yet to see just how much recovery will happen, but I’m hopeful that it will include a walk around the block.

Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

To both

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

People who use their brains in order to help the world. Whether it’s to better our understanding of the world around us or inventing things that make us healthier for longer, I’m in awe of science minded individuals. Unfortunately, I don’t possess that mindset, I’m more the creative type, which is nice but not as important to the world .

Sure creatives keep us entertained and allow us to see beauty in unusual ways, but I would much rather earn a Nobel Prize than an Oscar or an award for photography.

The sad thing is that more people can name an Oscar winner than can name a Nobel laureate.

We seriously need to start admiring intelligence again. Not doing so has gotten us into some bad situations. I wrote a blog about this a few years back entitled The Tipping Point, in which I discuss the phenomenon included below.

The Tipping Point

What’s your favorite cartoon?

My favorite cartoon is Pinky and the Brain. The story of two mice, one silly and not so smart with a cockney accent and the other who has a genius IQ and is bent on world domination and sounds eerily like Orson Wells . The humor comes from The Brain being thwarted at every turn by Pinky’s insane stupidity, and it doesn’t disappoint. My favorite jokes are after The Brain asks, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky? ” Pinky’s responses are always hilariously wrong 😂.

What could you do less of?

I could and likely should spend less time interacting with my tablet. My excuse is my brain gets bored without it.

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

Just a few months ago, I walked for the first time WITHOUT MY AFO!

Since then, I’ve increased the number of steps to 60,or 30 forward and 30 back.

My ability to balance has gotten better, too, with daily practice. I’m doing ballet barre exercises in order to strengthen my partially paralyzed leg, and they’re strengthening my bad ankle and foot as well.

All in all, it’s been a physically positive year starting with the resolution to get healthy and ending without my AFO brace walking 60 steps. I’m looking forward to seeing more improvements next year.