This is the year that I am hopefully going to FINALLY publish the book that I have been writing for the past 10 or so years. "A Stroke of Power: the holistic approach to stroke and brain injury recovery" is getting a ton of work put into it and I have been making some huge progress. The chapters are all coming together and the research is being done that is going to help me to share my theory on the "WHOLE-istic" approach to stroke and brain injury recovery with the world. 

It is my dream that...
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Something big is coming. 

I am writing a book! It is on my theory for stroke and brain injury recovery from a "WHOLE-istic" perspective. I will be sharing information about what I feel are three big things we need to focus on if we want to heal from something like a stroke - nutrition, fitness, and mindset. These three things all work together to help us create a balanced, healthy life. 

I have been working on the mindset portion of the book a bit for the last few weeks, and I wanted to share a...
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I have been going to the gym regularly (3x per week) for months now, but my limitations make a lot of things that I would like to do there difficult. A great example of that is planks - I have difficulty with getting up onto my toes, as my affected leg gives out every time... until today. During today's really-quite-tough workout, I somehow managed to do FIVE 30-SECOND PLANKS, on my toes, near-perfect form, and I can still (kinda) move afterwards. 

I am shocked and SO PUMPED! I could feel that...
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Well guys, I am really quite happy today. It has been more than 20 years since my second stroke, and it looks like I am STILL improving, even after all that time has passed. 

I peeled THREE oranges completely with only my affected hand today (right hand). I haven't been able to do that since I was a teenager. 

Victory is mine! Just keep believing that recovery is POSSIBLE and recovery is CONSTANTLY HAPPENING, and then just watch what happens. 

I think that the other thing that has been helping m...
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I can feel the ground underneath my affected foot today.

I don’t think that you all understand how significant this is… when I had my first stroke, which was a side effect of cranial radiation treatment that I had to have back in 1997, the first thing that I noticed was that I couldn’t feel the ground under my right foot. The radiation treatment had caused brain swelling, which in turn caused a progressive stroke on my right side. First the nerves in my right foot stopped communicatin...

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Did you know that, as of this year (2020), it has been 22 years since my first stroke? Geez, it's been nearly 20 years since my second stroke! And as hard as that is for me to believe, there is a lot that I have learned in that time and a lot that I have taken away. 

For example, one of the first things that taught me after my first stroke was regarding stairs - always step up with your good foot, and step down with the bad". This stabilizes your balance and helps you accomplish the steps with...
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The Special AVM Research & Awareness Fund will be fundraising at the Christmas Bazaar at Viva Retirement Residence in Mississauga (the Christmas Bazaar at Solel Congregation of Mississauga, 2399 Folkway Drive, Mississauga, ON) on Sunday November 5th between 11am and 4pm! Come on out and browse the show, shop for Christmas gifts/decorations/more, and check out our fundraising table... we will be there with our Kneeded Angels, as well as a variety of warm and fuzzy (and homemade!) hat and scarf...
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As another week draws to a close, I was sitting here reflecting on the things that I managed to get done and what I accomplished this past week (and during the month of February as a whole). This month has actually been absolutely incredible when it comes to my physical recovery! I can now lift more weight, do more reps and accomplish so much more than I ever dreamed in the gym. I am actually doing well in school and really understanding and learning the material (which is sort of a new exper...
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This time though, it isn’t literal (I had a couple of brain hemorrhages back in 1998 and 2001, for anyone who doesn’t know). This time, the thing that is blowing my mind is actually the power of that very organ.

I had a pretty serious stroke right after that last brain hemorrhage, which I am still recovering from. But for the past few years now, I have been working on teaching my body to remember how to be functional. This is accomplished through some pretty intense visualization tech...

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