Yesterday was a busy day. I woke up at about 7 am and made coffee for my self and a chocolate drink for my 2 year old nephew. He has been with me for almost 2 years now. His parents are both working in the city and nobody’s going to look after him while they are at work so I decided to take him, that was before my stroke. Doing so is a blessing in disguise, having a cute little one (well naughty sometimes ) at home,especially when I got ill has been my therapy. Having him was a good motivation for me to do well with my physical and mental recovery. Since my mom has many responsibilities and has to go back and forth to the city, I have been taking the responsibility of looking after him, from the moment I could walk. Having to feed him, give him a bath and everything about taking care of a two year old boy has been my silent drive to recover fast and I can tell you it worked!!!
My sense of independence and dependability started coming back when I could already feed him. At first, I asked my aunt, who does the household chores to prepare his food, but it didn’t take long until I could prepare it myself with a little help from her. Because my aunt has a lot of chores to do, I didn’t rely on her with the baby. Instead I tried my best to take care of him without bothering her so much. I would ask my 9 year-old cousin to come for help whenever I need to wash him or give him baths. I began to regain my confidence slowly until I could also do some of the household chores. And yesterday, is one of the busy but rewarding days. After doing my exercises, I cleaned my room, gave the baby a bath, changed and fed him, then cooked lunch. I did everything with a very minimal help from someone, which I am very proud of!
So why am I saying this? It is not to brag. I am sharing it for my fellow survivors not to feel down or pity themselves whenever they have no one to rely on. Instead, think of it as a chance to try doing things themselves in the most careful way possible. It is a very effective way to slowly gain back our confidence and independence. Who knows what we can already do if we do not try? If you fail once, never give up! Try again! I never did everything I can do now perfectly the first try, it took me a lot of patience and persistence until I reached this point where I can already give myself a bath and changed on my own. I even put on make up sometimes when I feel like it!I do the groceries when my brother is around to drive.These are little things I can do. Little things that count!
Here’s a picture of the food I made yesterday. I’s called Chicken Adobo, a Filipino food, and I am proud to say, my specialty.
And here’s my little boy Marcus, looking fresh after giving him a bath 🙂
Now,I encourage everyone to make a list of things you can already do. You can leave it in the comment box. I tell you, once you see your list, you will feel proud of yourself! I look forward to reading your comments! Happy listing!!:)
thereslifeafterstroke 