Ardith Hinton wrote to James Bradley, "Ideas from Wherever"

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

Don't wake Dallas up. We don' need no stinkin' moderators!

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

No one can accuse you of have your head in the sand. One lady was steadfast
with her, "I'm a pessimist, and none of this stuff will help me."
attitude. I
pointed out if she's convinced it *would* help, it would be more likely assist
her. If you approach it with stalwart scepticism, you'll *never* benefit. Boy,
did I have to bite my tongue that time!

 JB>  It is a muscular tension you are dealing with there,
 JB>  right?

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

Good plan! [-: Atrophy is never a nice thing either.

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

I think memory is one of the components it tries to exercise. 

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

I repeat, "Sounds like you have things covered, and I don't have to worry about
Nora..." Nora picked the right mom, by the sounds of things!!!

 JB>  have no pain component for me, and are efficient. (The
 JB>  most important part for me.)

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

 Gots-ta care for the care giver!

 AH>           I imagine you're probably on the right track, then!

Well, it took twelve years for me to get to the right information. That was a
little frustrating, but now that I am at the place I should be...

 AH> Pilates is just one method... there are other methods, and what
 AH> your sister prefers may or may not suit you.  Even if she tends
 AH> to offer pat answers and/or to emphasize what she knows
 AH> best, it seems to me she wants to help & can validate your
 AH> choice(s) when you ask the right questions.  I'm reminded

Sure, but to say one isn't the panacea because "That isn't what they taught me
at school." Don't get me wrong. The isolation practised in Palates is *very*
handy too, and I adopted some of it in a *big* way. As has a doctor instructed
me to do identical movements. They are ALL just tools, and the bigger your
collection, the more you can fix/build. 

 AH> of the post-op advice given to us by a surgeon at BCCH.
 AH> When I asked if there was anything Nora shouldn't do he
 AH> said if she did any such thing it would hurt & she'd stop
 AH> doing it....  ;-)

 Got-ta love THAT for advice!

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

 AH>           Uh-huh.  Although we are still paying for a lot
 AH> of things ourselves, we didn't have to cough up $200,000

 That's quite a cough! Could you imagine being a
working-poor American? "Do you want a house, or do you want to die?" )-:


... Strength avails one not against Akaido. -W. Chirnside
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