A small, but, big victory

For many people they may not think the following is a big thing, but, for someone who had a stroke and their caregivers it is a wonderful thing.

For the last week Jane has improved her dexterity and strength in her left arm and hand such that she can easily clean and make a new pot of coffee and to unload the dishwasher.  The first is nice, but, the second is huge to us.  Her left side was impacted by the stroke and she has balance and mobility issues still.  She is doing exercises for the arm and leg and over time the strength, flexibility and balance has been coming back.  With the dishwasher she has to bend over to lift dishes and utensils from the bottom rack, pivot and walk across the kitchen to put away the clean dishes.  While the glasses are done right handed she is using the left hand to lift and store the plastic cups, small pots and the dishes.  The first time she did it she called me at work to let me know what she could do.  It was a huge psychological boost for her and she felt that she was contributing more to helping out around the house.

For some time now if I partially prepare the meal and place it in the refrigerator and have the slow cooker on the counter she can prepare simple hot dinners.  It is more than just making meals, cleaning up, she feels that she is contributing to the house work and not dependent on others for everything.

Sometimes it isn't the major things that is a major victory in your recovery, it is the smallest things we do used to do every day and have taken it for granted.  The stroke has taken being able to many simple things away from Jane like making a pot of coffee and doing dishes, but, slowly over time she has started doing those little tasks again.