Tag: Stroke

A place to create…

I have plans.

I want to write a play. I want to write a book. I want to organise my next adventure. And the only way I can sort my head round that, is to create a place to allowed my brain to go free…

So I created a workplace… kinda my office! Now I don’t know why, but to focus in, I need chaos. It didn’t used to be, but since the stroke, I need music or videos; something I also enjoy. Therefore, my old Mac and skateboard video helped me to focus on a new powerpoint for an upcoming conference I’m speaking at.

(And no, thats not Pac-Man on the screen, just a bit of Chomp On This, great video!)

Thus the place has started. I’m working on the first project and, hopefully, will be more of a regular on here!

CTRL+ALT+DELETE

Yup!

I’m back… hopefully, this time I’ll stick around.

Was going to delete all the previous posts, and totally restart again, but what would that help? All part of the process, right?

So, what has changed? Well, apart for my weight, not a lot! Haha! Actually, I am back in ‘Heart Failure’.

I always think this a bit of a shock statement for a this, but I’m not a doctor and that’s what they call it. It just seems a bit BANG… HEART FAILURE. END OF., but I know it’s not they end, it can be fixed. Like a fuel pump in a car, a decent mechanic and sort it with the right tools, and I suppose I’m the mechanic here. It’s all about the ejection fraction, and my percentages is 40-45%. So, not quite in the severe area, but still not great. I’m on medication and, hopefully, will start to get my movement back again. And closing weight again will help!

Still rehabbing from the stroke; trying to start reading again… thon aphasia is rife here. If you don’t know, aphasia is a language disorder caused by damage in a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension.

Next couple of months is rehab, physically and mentally, and speaking at a few conferences. And then… HOLIDAY! More of that in a later post… see you all then!

I know, I know! It felt like I had forgot…

… But I hadn’t!

It turned out that walking the Camino, resting, and trying to write a blog was not going to work for a stroke survivor. I even tried to vlog, but even that was too dangerous for my crazy broken brain.

And so I didn’t forget about the new information of the Camino, I made notes for something new. Something that I have “written “and saved on my computer. Maybe you are read it someday soon.

But a quick update…

Two weeks after I arrived back from Spain, I had to move out of my house. It turned out that my wife was really good and getting our house sold and we quickly had to pack up everything and move out.

We spent some time living with family, while trying to find our new house… which again I say we found one! In fact I am speaking this I to my computer in our new snug place, beside our kitchen.

This is the front of the house… well, it was a few months back, but it’s our home. AND! The three of us are about to become a four! Suzi, Suri (the Wu, our dog!) and myself are having a baby! Yes, I know Suzanne is doing all the work, but A BABY!!! #muchexcite

So, new house, new baby and more to come… and I promise to sort this place out! Most posts, I promise!

Soft Arrow Combat fun day…

The beautiful people at Soft Arrow Combat are supporting my #biglongwalk by helping me organise a action afternoon on the 28th July 2018… at 3pm.

We will be having you all at my father-in-law’s field, down the Old Kilmore Road, a mile or two down from Moira.

The afternoon will be games of soft arrow battles and some decent BBQ… vegan and meat eaters will be happy! (And other dietary requirements, let me know!)

Price for both is £20, kids under 10 year old are free… proceeds will be used to help me on the Camino de Santiago, and all other extra money will go to the Stroke Association.

If you are interested, email me at me@iampaulmclean.com and I will keep you informed! Oh, and I might have some new Camino tees available to buy… but can still be ordered!

T-shirts… let me explain!

So, in August, I will be starting a walk from France, over the Pyrenees, and across Spain. And in the this post, I have explained the reasons why I want to… and now, I have launched this t-shirt:

However, a few people have asked me why? Well, on the 18th June this year, it will be two years since my stroke. And in the last two years, I have wanted to do this quest, but having lost my wage, I had to create a way to make this happen, and this t-shirt is it!

The design is my own creation, a bit of rehab, learning a bit of graphic design (a very simple version, but still!) and my brain made it. The towns on each side are the start and end of the walk; the line is the way of across the map, the route I will be walking! See? Simple.

The t-shirt is a way of friends and family to support me to do this walk, and a way for me to raise the money for the food, drinks and shelter. Any extra support/money left over will make its way to the charity I will be walking for, The Stroke Association.

Without the work of the Stroke Association and the Speech and Language Therapists, I wouldn’t be writing or typing this posts. I wouldn’t be talking to people and asking them for help. And that is the next step…

But I will tell you about it later.

So, the t-shirts… well, there are two types available: organic and non-organic t-shirts. The reason for the two types is the sizes.

Organic t-shirts
S 36/38″
M 38/40″
L 41/42″
XL 43/44″
2XL 45/47″
3XL 47/49″

These t-shirts are beautiful; soft and lighter, but a good shirt… they will be £15. In this shirt, I am 3XL.

Non-organic t-shirts
S 35/37″
M 38/40″
L 41/43″
XL 44/46″
2XL 47/49″
3XL 50/52″
4XL 53/55″
5XL 56/58″

These are still beautiful; a little bit heavier in weight, but still cotton… they will be £10. In this shirt, I’m XL in size… so, the size range is the reason for two.

The design is one colour (either black or white), on a range of t-shirt colours. Email me for details, or phone me!

Reading… again.

Borrowed from McFinkle.com

Today’s guest writer is Paul McLean.  Batting way above his league he married one of my work colleagues in the early naughties.  Since that point I have enjoyed his friendship and outlook on life.
Paul’s life journey over the last few years has been a roller coaster of a ride and one can take much learning from it. Take it away Paul… 

One Saturday morning, the 18th June 2016, I was with my wife chatting about stories, not book stuff, but videos that can be used to tell a story quick. I was talking about Casey Niestat video he made in Belfast and was turning my body to pick up my phone from the window sill to show it.

I noticed that I couldn’t move my right hand… I was trying to show my wife, Suzanne, that I couldn’t lift my hand to point. I tried to speak, but she was reading and didn’t see what happened. Thankfully, she noticed that my face had drooped and my speech was slurred. In my head I was speaking perfectly clearly, but she couldn’t understand. She rang an ambulance, and the ambulance called told her to try the FAST setup… yup! I had a stroke. I was rushed to Royal Victoria Hospital where I had a revolutionary treatment to remove a blood clot from my brain, a thrombectomy. I was incredibly fortunate, because normally this procedure isn’t available on a Saturday, however, the neurologist just so happened to be in the hospital to pick something up. It was a bit of a miracle!  The doctors told my wife there was about a 10% chance I’d survive, but thankfully I’m here to tell my story.

In the past year and a half, rehabilitation has been a massive part of where I am now. Speech and language therapy still has to be done everyday. JK Rowling and Stephen Fry were a massive part of how I can read better, but if it hadn’t of been for an SLT lady called Jane Allen, I would be useless. Talking, conversations, and thinking were from her learning, and I still thank God for her existence. So, yeah, I can read.

Today, do you know what I miss the most? Reading. Yes, texts and tweets are okay, I can handle them, but a chapter of a book now hurts my brain, and at the end, I have forgotten parts of it. GAH! One book a day was my normal world. Now, maybe a chapter a week, if I’m on fire; not the usual for my current brain. Fatigue is my nemesis now. My brain is like a three year old; too much reading and thinking makes Jack a knackered boy.

Being a 41 stroke survivor wasn’t part of my plan. Language was my job. I like to think it still is, but I have lost so much, and I don’t always know how to get it back. Aphasia has destroyed my love for language and I miss it. An ex-actor and English teacher without language is, well, pointless, which is how, for now, I seem to be!

Aphasia is a communication languages disability; reading and writing and speaking are all affected by it. And, for some people, it hinders their understanding of what others are reading or saying. It’s like of a random dyslexic syndrome cause by a brain injury, traumatic or other ways, like a stroke. For me, the best way for me to explain it is that my brain is holding my words hostage, and I can’t negotiate the release, it has those words too!

Writing this is a piece of art. Not just splashing the paint on a canvas, more like a play; moving the players around the page to create a manuscript. And to make that happen, I need patience. Probably something we all need.

Oh, and if you are wondering how I created this piece, speaking to my iPhone to type up what I say, send it to a computer and getting it to read it back to me, so I don’t make mistakes, and if my brain has find the mistake if it’s there! Other than that, I will work on patience today! The mistakes can wait…And so can the reading!