“Lean to the Left!”

Politically people think I’m a very leftist liberal. For me it depends upon the issue. Talk about the environment and I’ll talk about conservation. But on that issue conservation is considered liberal, not conservative.

When it comes to eminent domain I take a stronger property rights view – more conservative.

When it comes to marriage I say less government. Typically calls for less government is viewed as conservative but not when it allows those of the same gender to marry each other. Many hold the view that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Fine. But the basis for that perspective is about religion and not constitutional equality. If government is going to be in the marriage business then it needs to be equal. If churches don’t want to recognize same-sex marriages that is their right based on the Freedom of Religion. But why must we have government involved? Let’s unregulate marriage. Liberal or Conservative?

This week I was told to “lean to the left.”

Not from someone discussing politics, but my physical therapist. This month I’ve been in outpatient therapy at the Rehabilitation Institute of St Louis, located near BJC. So when my therapist told me to lean to the left I grinned and did as told.

For those new to this site, I had a stroke on February 1st – not quite nine months ago. My left side was completely immobilized. 100% out of commission. I returned home on April 30th. Since coming home my balance and walking has greatly improved. I still use my power wheelchair to go distances more than 3 blocks but I walk when I can.

One of the things we are working on in therapy is to get me to trust my left side more and more. My hip & knee are still weaker than they should be so exercises are aimed at strengthening them. I have a tendency to depend too much on my right side – leaning that direction so my right leg carries more of my weight than my left.

So I need to lean to the left.
A full recovery where you can’t tell I had a stroke will still be measured in years. But my progress this past six months has been great. In therapy I’m getting the instruction I need to take me the rest of the way to a full recovery.

Here are some of the things I can do now that I could not do when I returned home from the hospital:

• Walk with a more even cadence.
• Take normal showers standing up.
• Get up from a seated position without pushing myself up from the chair with my right arm.
• Put on a jacket while standing.
• Use my left hand/arm to turn on/off light switches, turn my deadbolt lock, open my door, push elevator buttons (some require more pressure than I can exert), carry light unbreakable items, rotate a small object in my palm, and flip someone the bird.

Now that I’m doing more I really have to be even more careful not to fall. Doing things like turning on/off lights is not effortless. I can’t reach around a corner with my left — I have to be in front of the switch. It is amazing how the brain can reprogram itself. Me seeing my left hand be useful is helpful in this reprogramming process.

Some things I still cannot do:

• Carry a glass or plate of food with my left hand.
• Carry anything weighty with my left.
• Get seated on the ground/floor and get back up again.
• Take a bath (I prefer showers anyway but I like the occasional bath).
• Type with both hands. I’m at 20 words per minute with my right only.
• Two-step (course I couldn’t do that well before the stroke).
• Ride a bike or scooter.
• Open the driver’s door from the inside or put down the windows with my left hand.
• Open many doors with my left — many require a lot of force — more than I have to give at this time.
• Raise my left hand.

The trick is to just keep trying. Sometimes it takes me a bit, certainly longer than just using my right. But I have to learn to lean to the left.