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| Stroke
Survivor of the Month
- November/December 2004 page 2  Saundra L. Barnes New York, New York Once the paramedics had convinced me to go to the hospital, they also had to persuade me to sit and be strapped into the gurney. I was not a very happy camper with this decision. Once at the hospital they, the staff, said I would be admitted as soon as they got a room prepared for me. This procedure took hours and I was finally admitted around midnight. The nurse on the floor prepared my room for me and brought me a bed pan which I insisted she take away. I would crawl to the toilet if I had to and I did. I felt my independence leaving me and I did not want that to happen. I am a fighter and I fought for my independence at all times. That very morning I started rehabilitating myself by walking around my room holding on to beds and walls for as many times as I could without getting too tired. For the next few days, nurses helped to bathe and dress me. This was very humiliating for me because my sense of independence was taken away. Unfortunately, the whole right side of my body was weakened and partly paralyzed therefore restricting me from bathing and doing anything that required the use of both hands and arms. I was devastated. I psyched myself into not succumbing to my illness, therefore I pushed myself into an exercise regimen each and every day forcing my leg and arm into some form of work. One of my cousins brought me a stress ball that I never took out of my hand. I was so angry at myself for getting sick that I squeezed the ball constantly until I could use my fingers again almost normally. The hospital had scheduled me a week after my stroke for rehabilitation physical therapy which I felt should have taken place sooner. However, with my previous experience in dance I had a week jump on them. I was a model patient determined not to leave the hospital with a limp. I continued to work very hard at overcoming my weaknesses. It was a long hard struggle that I continue to work through. My family and friends were very supportive of me and that helped me not to slip into those deep depressions that began to plague my vulnerability.
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