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A "stroke" of bad luck, maybe.
- Thread starter Salicete
- Start date
I passed the CT scan but they couldn’t get an MRI because that was backed up. I guess I get it. I’m relatively young, passed all the diagnostics and no other symptoms. I apparently had the stroke while I was driving and suddenly it was like I was a DUI. Pulled over and let my wife drive, but we kept going to Frederick and walked around, did the shops and restaurants. I was walking stiffly, but still walking. After the first ER vertigo diagnosis, it was typing that was wrong that prompted me to go back. Apparently I said something different and they admitted me that time. It was just bad timing. I had minor symptoms and the hospital was completely full with COVID cases at the time. I tried to turn it into a positive. I’m eating right, exercising, listening to the doctor.
Wow, sorry to hear about that man.
Glad to hear you're out - I hope you keep healing and the bass playing helps!
Glad to hear you're out - I hope you keep healing and the bass playing helps!
- Jul 7, 2010
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- Endorsing Artist for: Duncan Pickups; Line6, Hipshot, GHS Strings, Somnium Guitars
The fact that you can say, Thank you Lord for another day, wake up and just pickup the bass are all blessings.
So you do have a small advantage of being younger and starting over. Your mind knows what to play so then it's just the body that needs catching up.
Pray you have a quick healing.
So you do have a small advantage of being younger and starting over. Your mind knows what to play so then it's just the body that needs catching up.
Pray you have a quick healing.
Seems like I read that Jerry Garcia had a stroke and he had to get all of his skills back on guitar. So hopefully, you will too!
Man! So very sorry about your stroke! Getting older sucks.
(Not to distract from your thread but last August 2022 age 70, I had a retina stroke in my right eye and have lost about 30% of my vision. Gone for good. The hospital did a MRI on my brain (what brain?) and said that sometime in the past I had a mini stroke in my lower brain. Yep! Time to make some changes in our life styles, isn't it?)
Get well soon! Get them "chops" back!
Man! So very sorry about your stroke! Getting older sucks.
(Not to distract from your thread but last August 2022 age 70, I had a retina stroke in my right eye and have lost about 30% of my vision. Gone for good. The hospital did a MRI on my brain (what brain?) and said that sometime in the past I had a mini stroke in my lower brain. Yep! Time to make some changes in our life styles, isn't it?)
Get well soon! Get them "chops" back!
Major bummer man. Stay positive.
My buddy, 60's also had a major stroke 2 years ago that
affected his right side pretty bad. The PT was crucial to help
him get back to work P.T. and walk OK.
All the best to you.
My buddy, 60's also had a major stroke 2 years ago that
affected his right side pretty bad. The PT was crucial to help
him get back to work P.T. and walk OK.
All the best to you.
Sending strength and love!! Enjoy the process of rediscovery and take it easy on yourself (emotionally) while pushing to recover.
You've got this!
You've got this!
Wishing for the most recovery you can get, Sir. My wife had a moderate stroke in 2013, lost some of her peripheral eyesight in 1 eye, and some short term memory loss (no physical issues). Caused by a heart condition...she's gained a lot back, but still has trouble with remembering numbers and appointment dates.
All the best to you, bass playing certainly is a good thing to do for physical and brain therapy.
MJ
All the best to you, bass playing certainly is a good thing to do for physical and brain therapy.
MJ
Thanks for all the supportive replies, I really do appreciate it.
I found that my deficits, other than falling over ~ a lot ~, I mean bass-related, are mainly with my middle two fingers, one of them possibly from overuse in a non-musical mode, and with accuracy and speed.
Imagine a crappy old car, we have all had one at some time in our lives, that has an accelerator that lags, and brakes that have about zero pad left and a low fluid reservoir. That is how my left arm and hand work now.
I have not had to look at the neck of my bass while playing since I was in my late teens, but I do now. If I want to quickly go from say the third to the tenth fret, not only is there a delay in my hand and arm starting to move, but also I overshoot almost every time, looking or not. That is my brain taking longer to find a new path to get the stop/go messages where they are supposed to go, typical stroke deficits.
The good news, my strength is OK, not perfect, but adequate, and I can fix that. I get a lot of physical therapy, and my therapist was thrilled that I played, and said it was a great rehab tool. She even uses those finger strength spring loaded devices you see in all the music shops for her patients.
Anyhow, I can see marked improvement since the stroke and think I will get a lot of what I lost back over time. In the mean time, less Rush, Yes and Dream Theatre, and more Tom Petty, Cars and Deep Purple...
AND AN APOLOGY:
For years I have mocked all the "Weight?" guys and girls who just had to know the weight of any bass of sale down to the ounce. I thought, "How silly, it doesn't make that much difference."
It does; to some, I was wrong, so I'm sorry for the snarky posts. (Karma sucks. right?)
I found that my deficits, other than falling over ~ a lot ~, I mean bass-related, are mainly with my middle two fingers, one of them possibly from overuse in a non-musical mode, and with accuracy and speed.
Imagine a crappy old car, we have all had one at some time in our lives, that has an accelerator that lags, and brakes that have about zero pad left and a low fluid reservoir. That is how my left arm and hand work now.
I have not had to look at the neck of my bass while playing since I was in my late teens, but I do now. If I want to quickly go from say the third to the tenth fret, not only is there a delay in my hand and arm starting to move, but also I overshoot almost every time, looking or not. That is my brain taking longer to find a new path to get the stop/go messages where they are supposed to go, typical stroke deficits.
The good news, my strength is OK, not perfect, but adequate, and I can fix that. I get a lot of physical therapy, and my therapist was thrilled that I played, and said it was a great rehab tool. She even uses those finger strength spring loaded devices you see in all the music shops for her patients.
Anyhow, I can see marked improvement since the stroke and think I will get a lot of what I lost back over time. In the mean time, less Rush, Yes and Dream Theatre, and more Tom Petty, Cars and Deep Purple...
AND AN APOLOGY:
For years I have mocked all the "Weight?" guys and girls who just had to know the weight of any bass of sale down to the ounce. I thought, "How silly, it doesn't make that much difference."
It does; to some, I was wrong, so I'm sorry for the snarky posts. (Karma sucks. right?)
Well its been a while. Seems I am one of the lucky ones.
Aside from a slight limp on my left leg when I'm not paying attention to "how" I am walking, and s slow left middle finger (which has actually kept me out of a lot of trouble whilst driving...) I have been able to almost fully recover.
I do have an aural delay which is really weird.
Ever go to another country and speak to someone who speaks your language, but with a heavy native accent? You sort have to let what they said rattle around in your head for a bit, then the light pops on and you can put together what they said?
That is me every time someone speaks to me when I am not fully engaged in a conversation. Walk into my office and start talking before I see you and have time to kick my mind into gear, and I'll look at you like you are speaking a foreign language, which to me, you sort of are, really weird. Makes me look like a real dolt sometimes to people who don't know me, as I look back slack-jawed and silent, but if that is my biggest stroke complaint, I am truly lucky.
On a relevant topic, the relearning how to play is going really well. I don't quite have all my speed and flow back, and may never get it, but I have definitely been able to clean up some sloppy habits I previously had.
I used to avoid using my left ring finger whenever possible, because it just felt clumsy, now fixed, and have defeated my occasional-baseball bat grip altogether.
My left hand is definitely more precise, just a bit slower. For some reason my feel for where my left hand "is" on the neck (without looking, and we ~all~ look from time to time...) has improved, to a weirdly high degree, and I have absolutely now idea how or why.
Overall, I can't complain.
Aside from a slight limp on my left leg when I'm not paying attention to "how" I am walking, and s slow left middle finger (which has actually kept me out of a lot of trouble whilst driving...) I have been able to almost fully recover.
I do have an aural delay which is really weird.
Ever go to another country and speak to someone who speaks your language, but with a heavy native accent? You sort have to let what they said rattle around in your head for a bit, then the light pops on and you can put together what they said?
That is me every time someone speaks to me when I am not fully engaged in a conversation. Walk into my office and start talking before I see you and have time to kick my mind into gear, and I'll look at you like you are speaking a foreign language, which to me, you sort of are, really weird. Makes me look like a real dolt sometimes to people who don't know me, as I look back slack-jawed and silent, but if that is my biggest stroke complaint, I am truly lucky.
On a relevant topic, the relearning how to play is going really well. I don't quite have all my speed and flow back, and may never get it, but I have definitely been able to clean up some sloppy habits I previously had.
I used to avoid using my left ring finger whenever possible, because it just felt clumsy, now fixed, and have defeated my occasional-baseball bat grip altogether.
My left hand is definitely more precise, just a bit slower. For some reason my feel for where my left hand "is" on the neck (without looking, and we ~all~ look from time to time...) has improved, to a weirdly high degree, and I have absolutely now idea how or why.
Overall, I can't complain.
I am glad you are recovering! Stokes are some scary sh*t! Had one 4 years ago, thought I was going to have to retire early. Made a fairly full recovery, but continue to live in fear as I travel for a living and spend a lot of time alone in hotel rooms. All the best, rock in brother. By the way to all who have had a stroke, we’re the Doctors able to tell what caused it? Mine said he “thinks” it was cholesterol and high blood pressure. Wish he “knew” what the cause was.
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I get it, that cloud never really goes away. I sort of need some elective surgery and just can't bring myself to do it, because I'm pretty sure a clot from a surgery just before the stroke took me down.
Best wishes luck Willie5!
Sucks regardless, right?
All I can say is don't go to UMD Medicine if you think you are having another. They tried hard to kill me.
Not to hijack the OP’s thread, but did you do a lifestyle change? I lost 50#, am now Whole Foods plant based and work out daily. Cholesterol and BP are better, so much so Dr eliminated all meds, I still take a baby aspirin daily, but that’s it.
Yeah, I lost 50# or s too but I'm battling weight gain this winter. I don't know, it's like a hibernation instinct when it gets dark early and starts getting cold that I have to battle hard. I cut out caffeine as well. That was putting my BP up 40 points or so.
There's a lot of wisdom in this post. Thanks for taking the time to share it -- and I'm sorry that you had to earn it the old-fashioned way.
I used to weigh 400 pounds and took 9 pills every morning, mostly for BP.
I got bariatric surgery and lost over 200 pounds back in 2017. Had I not, I would be long dead, so yup, weight loss can be a huge factor. I take no BP meds now.
I would suspect more stokes come from hypertension than clots, but that is just my uninformed opinion.
