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Another day trip for Mum today. It’s so exciting to see her regain some semblance of her normal life. The wheelchair taxi picked Mum up from the Prince Charles this morning at 9:45 (it’s like Tie Me Kangeroo Down, sport, says Mum, but what’s being tied down is my wheelchair). We naturally decided it was…

Chaos and insanity today as the call came through at about 10am that Mum was being transferred to Townsville – at midday. Bags were packed, Dad and I ran from our respective works to the Prince Charles making furious phonecalls the entire way, and then… the transfer was cancelled as quickly as it had been confirmed.…

The machine is small and it’s connected with a wire to four small pads that you place on the muscles you want to affect. Depending on the current, you can feel the electricity buzzing through your arm. Your fingers twitch and move involuntarily. It’s like an “arm buzz” and, for someone who hasn’t had a stroke,…

The Bells (belles) of St Anne’s are Mum’s old school friends and they came in force today to see Mum and participate in her OT session. As well as Sally McKew from Mum’s teaching days, Sandra (Steward) Ford, Robyn (Washbourne) Bailey, and Anne (Wright) Harridan all had a jolly catch up with Mum in the coffee…

Sundays are Mum’s most relaxing day and, after the excitement of Saturday, she needed a rest. None of the therapists come on Sunday, although Mum does have exercises for her to do in her room and Ben and Max kept her busy with her whiteboard crosswords. Dad’s brother, Russel and his wife, Nola, came down…

Before Mum had a stroke, she left Single Street for a few weeks for a holiday and is now faced with the prospect she may never come back. With the move to Townsville looming, Mum got permission to leave the hospital for an hour on Saturday and to come home. Ben and Max had outdone…

In 2013, Mum had a knee replacement and ended up in Mater rehab with Matthew Ames – a quadruple amputee. Mum was very inspired by Matthew and his wonderful family. After all, as bad as Mum’s knee replacement went, it was nothing compared to what he had endured. Matthew’s family recently released a book called…

The Townsville General Hospital accepted Mum as a patient today so her move is now confirmed. We’re waiting, as before, for a bed and a transfer flight so no news yet as to the exact date. As we all remember well, getting Mum transferred from Mornington took a week or two. Getting an air ambulance…

The Science Weekly podcast recently did an interview with Norman Doidge about the implications of neuroplasticity and his new book ‘The Brain’s Way of Healing’. Although there’s not much new here, it’s still an interesting discussion of neuroplasticity and he also specifically mentions strokes. Link to the podcast here. And take a tour of the other…

Mum’s had a couple of really productive days in physiotherapy this week. Progress may be slow but it’s been very noticeable. When Mum first transferred to the Prince Charles, she needed three physiotherapists to help her stand and couldn’t shift her hips the way she needed to. She also tended to collapse at the end…