Hi, James!  Retitling the second half of my answer to 2A:

AH>  I need input from folks like you to give me ideas, and
AH>  inspire me to stick with it....  :-)

JB>  If I'm your inspiration, it should be quite a convoluted
AH>  read. <-|


          That's okay.  If other readers aren't saying much, we can just
carry on with a number of different topics as we have been already...
[chuckle].



JB>  The knowledge I have is a hodge-podge of things picked
JB>  up from martial arts, but mostly yoga.


          Dallas & I have also picked up a few ideas from the martial
arts but know very little about yoga.  Hmm... maybe that's something we
could do during the summer holidays.  I'll take a good idea from just about
anywhere....  :-))



JB>  It was serving me well until I ran into this nerve
JB>  situation. Post op, I never regained flexibility.
JB>  It is a muscular tension you are dealing with there,
JB>  right?


          Essentially, yes.  Nora couldn't walk at all for some time after
her stroke... then she was able to walk only for brief periods with a
splint which limited movement in her ankle.  The result was a shortening of
certain muscles in the back of her leg.  Now that Nora is aware of the
problem she's motivated to fix it, but we're proceeding with caution in
order to avoid injury....  :-)



JB>  I would try anything yoga related, or ti-chi. [SP?}


          The three of us took a short course in tai chi before Nora's
stroke, on the theory that the relatively slow pace would suit us quite
well.  It did. We found the sequence of movements difficult to remember,
though....  :-)



JB>  Not so much getting her to jump around in the park,
JB>  as I suspect that is not an option, but when some of
JB>  the movements are isolated, they can be a great way
JB>  to loosen things up.


          Agreed.  We do a little routine when she's getting up & going to bed
... I rotate & bend the ankle, partly under her direction.  She also
goes to a massage therapist (shiatsu and/or conventional) once or twice a
month....  :-)



JB>  It drives her crazy when she sees me do some of the
JB>  weirder yoga moves I've picked up, but they feel good,
JB>  have no pain component for me, and are efficient. (The
JB>  most important part for me.)


          Important for me too, since I have to do a lot of the work....  :-))



JB>  "Ya, but am I doing anything I shouldn't?"
JB>  "Unless it hurts your (This and that...)"


          I imagine you're probably on the right track, then!  Pilates is
just one method... there are other methods, and what your sister prefers
may or may not suit you.  Even if she tends to offer pat answers and/or to
emphasize what she knows best, it seems to me she wants to help & can
validate your choice(s) when you ask the right questions.  I'm reminded of
the post-op advice given to us by a surgeon at BCCH.  When I asked if there
was anything Nora shouldn't do he said if she did any such thing it would
hurt & she'd stop doing it....  ;-)



JB>  Complain as I have about our health care system, at
JB>  least it is publicly funded and available.


          Uh-huh.  Although we are still paying for a lot of things
ourselves, we didn't have to cough up $200,000 for treatment when Nora had
leukemia... as some of our modem buddies did... and we didn't have to pay
for hospitalization when she had a stroke.  We can apply for help with
certain therapies too.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+