A "stroke" of bad luck, maybe.

[Siggy]

So sorry, If it's not been already mentioned, read up about how Walter Trout managed after a major stroke.

 

[RichardW]

Are you familiar with Pat Martino? World-class jazz guitarist, who after surgery for a brain tumor not only forgot how to play but couldn't even say the word 'guitar.' He taught himself all over again and achieved world-class level a second time. It can be done.

Best of luck in your recovery and I hope relearning the bass helps!

 

[Benj-jammin]

Good vibes sent your way from NC! Take it a day at a time, bass bro.

 

[kobass]

Best of luck with your recovery! Wishing you many more hours of bass playing bliss. Give it hell!

 

[prowla]

Bad luck...
...great attitude!

 

[sabre79]

Sorry to hear this. Best of luck, brother.

 

[mrjim123]

Good luck. Hopefully it all comes back to you soon.

 

[BassyBill]

I had a stroke at the beginning of the month, a clot in my cerebellum.

It was a "big-un," but fortunately didn't completely cripple me, though my left side is totally jacked-up. Most frightening thing that has ever happened to me by the way; I knew exactly what was happening to me, and couldn't do jack about it.

I got sprung from the hospital last week and grabbed a bass almost as soon as I got home to see where I was.

Well, I'm in my 60s and have been playing since I was 12 or 13, and it pretty much reminds me of the first time I picked up a bass.

OK, maybe not that bad, but I have zero dexterity, speed or strength.

Guess I get to learn again. Perhaps now is the time to weed out some of my old bad habits, and work on weaknesses in my playing I have always known I had.

Should be fun...ish.

I had a stroke about eight years ago. It caused permanent damage to my eyesight, balance and mobility. I had to take early retirement from work at 55 and these days I’m confined to bed 24/7. I can just about stand but I can’t walk. My bass playing now, after 45 years as a gigging bassist, is like what it was when I had been playing for maybe a month.

Sorry for being unable to offer more positive news. But at least I can empathise with your predicament.

 

[retslock]

I had a stroke at the beginning of the month, a clot in my cerebellum.

It was a "big-un," but fortunately didn't completely cripple me, though my left side is totally jacked-up. Most frightening thing that has ever happened to me by the way; I knew exactly what was happening to me, and couldn't do jack about it.

I got sprung from the hospital last week and grabbed a bass almost as soon as I got home to see where I was.

Well, I'm in my 60s and have been playing since I was 12 or 13, and it pretty much reminds me of the first time I picked up a bass.

OK, maybe not that bad, but I have zero dexterity, speed or strength.

Guess I get to learn again. Perhaps now is the time to weed out some of my old bad habits, and work on weaknesses in my playing I have always known I had.

Should be fun...ish.

My father had a major stroke so I have some inkling of what you are dealing with. I wish you all the best in your healing journey. I believe with the right kind of attitude and therapy there can be very substantial recovery.
I’m a firm believer in the power of the mind and one very constructive way it can be utilised is with visualisation. Not so long ago you had the capacity to play and if you put your memory to work and visualise your hand doing what it used to do you are giving your brain the instructions and the path for it to follow to recover your dexterity. Do this as often as is convenient and do it with as much detail as you can muster. The more detail the better. Close your eyes and let yourself relax. Breathe slowly and calmly and see in your mind your hand doing what it used to do. Be deliberate and committed in your plan and intent. The body wants to heal itself and you have the tools to help it do so.
Best wishes and may you in time be the player you once were. Your hands are capable. It’s the neural pathways that have to be reconfigured.

 

[marchone]

It’s the neural pathways that have to be reconfigured.

The brain will reroute neural pathways around the damaged area as much as possible. Residual deficits in the hands and other extremities can impede progress or even prevent it in some circumstances. For instance, since my stroke I can never use a pick again. But if that’s all I lost I’m a lucky man.

My wife just asked me of there was a Stroke Club on TalkBass. I should start one. Ha!

 

[CosmicRay]

Best wishes on your recovery, although you seem to have already taken the most important step - determination.

 

[EBierke]

Jean Millington, the exceptionally fine bassist from Fanny, had the same thing happen to her just a week after the group had recorded "Walk The Earth" in 2014(?) Her entire right side was and still is paralyzed. Probably not what you want to hear; you sound like you fared much better than she, but she is so optimistic about herself, and is in fact right now this very moment on tour with the group traveling around the country. She uses a wheelchair and everyone helps her through the day and they all make it happen. There is light at the end of tunnel, keep your hopes and goals high and you will succeed!

 

[marchone]

Jean Millington, the exceptionally fine bassist from Fanny, had the same thing happen to her just a week after the group had recorded "Walk The Earth" in 2014(?) Her entire right side was and still is paralyzed. Probably not what you want to hear; you sound like you fared much better than she, but she is so optimistic about herself, and is in fact right now this very moment on tour with the group traveling around the country. She uses a wheelchair and everyone helps her through the day and they all make it happen. There is light at the end of tunnel, keep your hopes and goals high and you will succeed!

Chris Dreja, original member of the Yardbirds, had a series of strokes in 2012/2013 that forced him to retirement from the band.

Something barely mentioned in this thread is the tremendous value of a timely tPA injection when having an ischemic stroke. There’s a 4-hour window for maximum efficacy. Some physicians will not administer the shot for fear of misdiagnosis and malpractice. If it is a hemorrhagic type the shot can be fatal.

 

[Matt Dean]

I dig your fighting spirit... may your fingers and your brain create new, funky neuropathways!

 

[Salicete]

So sorry to hear this!


That sounds super scary. What did you feel? How did you know? Asking for an old and feeble friend, definitely not me.

I felt insanely dizzy, and then if felt like somebody about 10 times my size grabbed me by the back of my head and threw me to the floor with all his might.

When I hit the floor, my left side didn't work at all.

I knew enough about the symptoms of stroke to know what was happening, as I was fully conscious and lucid.

Oddly enough, what ran through my mind at first was, "Well, this blows...I never saw myself going out face down on crappy brown-shag carpet..."

Then the not wanting to die on crappy brown-shag carpet instinct kicked in, and I was able to crawl in my right side out into the hall and call to my wife ad son for help, so it all worked out, sort of.

 

[marchone]

I felt insanely dizzy, and then if felt like somebody about 10 times my size grabbed me by the back of my head and threw me to the floor with all his might.

When I hit the floor, my left side didn't work at all.

I knew enough about the symptoms of stroke to know what was happening, as I was fully conscious and lucid.

Oddly enough, what ran through my mind at first was, "Well, this blows...I never saw myself going out face down on crappy brown-shag carpet..."

Then the not wanting to die on crappy brown-shag carpet instinct kicked in, and I was able to crawl in my right side out into the hall and call to my wife ad son for help, so it all worked out, sort of.

You were lucky. I was alone. But I had an iPhone I could call 911 so EMS came in 10 minutes flat.

 

[Salicete]

Sorry this happened fellow bassman, I truly hope you get your abilities back the best they can be.
Curious if you got the covid Vax?

No. I did not.

Not for any reason other than I had gotten COVID twice by the time the shots were available, and I'm a believer in natural immunity, which as it turns out, has some validity.

 

[JRA]

Should be fun...ish.

even if it's work, having success will be some kind of fun! hang in, heal --- glad you're with us!

 

[Wesley R]

Sorry to hear about your stroke, that sucks. Kudos to your response approach!

Says it all.
Hang tough

 

[Salicete]

Had a stroke last year, end of February. Symptoms were mostly flu-like so I figured that it was just COVID-19 catching up with me. Went a couple days and went to the ER, they told me it was vertigo, take this med and call an ENT. A few days later, I was typing and had a major loss of coordination. That's not vertigo. Went back to the ER, this time they admitted me and an MRI later, left temporal stroke. But I was getting around a lot better than they thought I should be doing. Undiagnosed high blood pressure being the likely culprit. I've since dropped ~ 60 lbs and totally changed my diet, exercise almost daily and have the blood pressure under control. Don't avoid the doctor like I did.

Anyways, the bass-related part. I could play at about the level of a kid that has been playing for about a year. But I knew how to play, my balance and coordination was affected. When you are teaching yourself how to play and both the student and the teacher, lessons go quickly and within a few weeks I was back to about 90 some percent of normal. Another few weeks and back to the old ways. Maybe a few more occasional clams, but those go away quickly as well. I don't know where you are in your recovery, but the body has a way of quickly healing and forming new pathways. Hang in there and don't be too hard on yourself.

Side note - I wonder how many undiagnosed strokes happen out there. Since I had mine, I see the zombie walk and recognize it.

Same boat, in a way.

I was at the ER within 15 minutes of the stroke, but they immediately diagnosed vertigo, and just drugged me unconscious to stop the puking. Did I mention I was puking non-stop?

No clot busting meds given, ever, no CT scan until 5-hours later. Apparently they didn't want me puking on their pretty new CT scan machine. They did the scan later on and missed the (big) stroke.

Since I was either unconscious, or puking, they could not send me home like they wanted to.

It was a ER only, not a hospital, as I live on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where medical services can be limited. They sent me to Easton hospital, and my wife nagged the ER doctor to do a MRI nd CT scan, which was not done until 8 hours later, when surprise-surprise, they saw the stroke.

At least they didn't send me home.