My Health – the diary of my recovery from a major brain haemorrhage

I suffered a major brain haemorrhage in October 2008 and you can follow the story of my recovery. If you want to start at the beginning scroll down to the bottom and work your way back up. Since then it has been a long journey but gradually the emphasis has moved to fitness and optimism.I can now also write about general health and fitness issues here.

27/05/2010 Dull days won’t pull me down
More good news from the hospital means that dull weather can’t depress me.

24/05/2010 Bluebells and Foxes and Good News
Good news from the hospital celebrated with bluebells and foxes.

17/05/2010 Something strange is happening to me
It feels really strange getting better.

10.05/2010 The eyes have it
It is all in the eyes.

29/04/2010 Water water everywhere
I am drinking water but no coffee for 24 hours.

27/04/2010 I discover the wonders and dangers of my new heart rate monitor
Heart rate monitors are wonderful.

16/03/2010 Like David Beckham, I am taking it easy
I am putting my feet up but not hanging up my boots.

17/02/2010 I visit the eye hospital and see that I am still not well
I went to the eye hospital about my double vision and saw those brain scan images.

20/01/2010 Tea and sympathy
I have a set back.

15/01/2010 I am on the road to fitness
I have a fitness test and my personal trainer agrees that I am getting fit again.

17/12/2009 I meet Riccardo my personal trainer
I have my first session with my GP referred personal trainer.

15/12/2009 I get back to aerobic fitness
The neurologist says I can start aerobic training again.

13/11/2009 I see double these days
I go to the eye hospital about my double vision.

04/11/2009 I go to a speech therapist
I visit a speech therapist who teaches me how to swallow.

01/11/2009 November arrives in a spirit of calm
I celebrate the first anniversary of my brain haemorrhage inside an MRI brain scanner.

30/10/2009 The first anniversary of my brain haemorrhage
It is a year today since I was taken ill and now I have a poetry exhibition to mark the day.

28/10/2009 The healing powers of poetry
Poetry can help at times like these.

26/10/2009 Looking demons in the eye a year after my brain haemorrhage
A year now since my brain haemorrhage and I wonder how long it will be before I am totally recovered.

23/10/2009 Singing lessons are now part of my cure
I am now having singing lessons to help in my recovery.

16/10/2009 Drug Free!
A year after my haemorrhage I am off anti-seizure drugs.

12/10/2009 Getting my priorities right
I am taking stock and organizing my life to help my recovery.

24/09/2009 Kungfu and massage are opposite sides of the same thing
Kungfu and massage are helping my fractured spine.

22/09/2009 Woke up this morning…
Autumn is coming and I am still not better.

17/09/2009 Now open your mouth I want to put something down your throat
I go to the voice doctor.

15/09/2009 Italian Opera on a rainy English day
Italian opera just might help.

11/09/2009 I am back on the medical round after the summer break
Back to the doctors after the Summer break.

08/09/2009 Martial arts have guided me back from my brain haemorrhage

12/08/2009 Shall I sing you a song?
My singing voice has been changed by my brain haemorrhage.

11/08/2009 Brain haemorrhages sure take the ginger out of a pleasant day
I am not exactly under house arrest but I can tell what it must be like.

10/08/2009 Feeling better but getting frustrated
Brain haemorrhages are no fun.

20/07/2009 I have started looking into the future
I find some hope when I meet a puppy.

09/07/2009 My veins want to keep hold of my blood
Yet another attempt at giving my blood for blood tests.

05/07/2009 How big is a glass of wine?
I go to a party and have to consider my neurologist’s advice.

02/07/2009 Does size matter? Ask Tom Cruise
I have been to the bone consultant about my fractured spine and I get cut down to size.

29/06/2009 What my consultant says about my latest brain scan
I have been back to see my neurologist who has the results of my latest MRI brain scan.

26/06/2009 Eight months after my brain haemorrhage
It is eight months now since my haemorrhage and time for it to go away.

28/05/2009 What does it feel like getting better? Crap!
I am getting better apparently well you could have fooled me.

20/05/2009 My brain scan results six months after my brain haemorrhage
It is six months now since my brain haemorrhage and the MRI scan results are out.

15/05/2009 House Arrest
I now know what it must be like to be under House Arrest.

11/05/2009 My red letter day with the MRI scanner
I have my third MRI brain scan.

15/04/2009 Hot cups for torn muscles
My kung fu instructor helps my pain with some hot cups.

10/04/2009 My visit to the dizzy clinic
There really is a place called the Dizzy Clinic – I’ve been there.

19/03/2009 How do we know if we are getting better?
I think I am feeling better but I could be wrong.

11/03/2009 Back to the hospital for a check up
I am back to have a check up with my neurologist at the hospital.

20/02/2009 I find out that I can have the odd glass of wine
My neurologist smiles and says I can drink wine again.

14/02/2009 My friends are in China learning a new Dog Style pattern
I should have been in China now but instead I am here with a fractured spine but I am still learning kung fu.

13/02/2009 The dentist does his bit
It is Friday the 13th. and I have been to the dentist.

21/09/2009 It is a typical day in my home town interrupted by a DEXA Bone Scan
All would be calm and gentle here if it wasn’t for that DEXA bone scan.

10/02/2009 I get mixed news from the hospital
There is good and bad news for me and the World today.

07/02/2009 I have a full skeletal X-ray
I have to have my complete skeletal X-rayed so I haven’t many secrets left.

06/02/2009 I find it difficult following doctor’s orders
I have been told to avoid stress by my doctor – that is not as easy as you might think.

05/02/2009 I went back to my taichi classes
It was inspiration and frustration when I went back to my taichi class.

30/01/2009 Mahler’s Third Symphony helps cure my World weariness
The World seemed a bad place to be until I started listening to Mahler’s Third again.

29/01/2009 I get that bad feeling in my head again
I have got that bad feeling again but I mustn’t let it get to me.

27/01/2009 Apparently I am lucky that I am left-handed because my brain haemorrhage was in my left frontal lobe
I am told by my neurologist that I was lucky to be left-handed.

26/01/2009 Beethoven’s Fifth and my neurolgist
I try to listen to Beethoven again when my neurologist calls.

24/01/2009 I was going to celebrate my results down the pub so I go anyway
Going to celebrate a friend’s birthday down at my local pub was a kind of therapy.

23/01/2009 I get my results
I have that appointment with my neurologist who tells me what the brain scan revealed.

22/01/2009 I go to my neurologist tomorrow for my results
Tomorrow my neurologist will give me the brain scan results and I have to tell her how I feel.

15/01/2009 I am balancing anti-seizure drugs and their side effects with tooth ache
My toothache is caused by my anti-seizure drugs – there’s an important message for the government there.

12/01/2009 I try to remember the name of that composer
I know his name so well but I just can’t remember it.

11/01/2009 Going for an EEG just ruins your hair
I go for an EEG to test for epilepsy.

10/01/2009 No point in looking for miracles
I look for alternative to miracles.

09/01/2009 How doing my traditional taichi is helping my recovery
My martial arts have really helped through this troublesome time.

08/01/2009 I am on some drugs that make the World seem like a gloomy place
My drugs have effected my teeth so I need more drugs to sort that and I don’t feel happy.

07/01/2009 Alcohol and drugs take on a new meaning
When you are on a cocktail of medical drugs, alcohol can seem a bit tame.

04/01/2009 Trying to listen to music again after that brain haemorrhage
I try to get back to listening to music again but it isn’t as easy as you might think.

04/01/2009 What was the MRI brain scan like?
I had that scan yesterday if you want to know what it was like.

03/01/2009 My second brain scan is going to see what damage was caused by my brain haemorrhage
Going for an MRI brain scan isn’t the most enjoyable of experiences but it is essential.

31/12/2008 My brain haemorrhage changed things in October 2008
I try to come to terms with the consequences of a major brain haemorrhage.

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