Hi @nicki7

Sorry to hear of your husband's stroke, keep affirming to him that there is life after stroke. Sounds like he is at that 6 months after stroke period, from what I have read this is called the chronic period, and the recovery can really slow down or plateau. This is when you really have to go to work to facilitate the neuroplasticity. There are literally thousands of us out there that are fighting this fight. I am 65 and I had a moderate to severe cerebellar stroke in September of 2019, I was very active prior to this, teaching Spin classes, fly fishing, rafting, bow hunting, biking. etc. My stroke certainly took the wind out of my sails, it significantly affected my balance and coordination. I also have experienced the apathy your husband is going through. Unfortunately, in my case anyway, there is no easy cure, it just takes lots of work. Many days I don't feel like doing anything, but if I just get out there and stop feeling sorry for myself, everything slowly, emphasis on slowly, starts to get better and then you begin to see a glimmer of hope. See if you can find something, anything, that he might be interested in, and help him get set up to do that. Key to anything working for him will be baby steps at first, start and increase slowly. I know a lot of this seems pretty obvious, but sometimes you just have to hear it anyway. I have read several books on stroke recovery, "Stroke Rebel" and "Stronger after Stroke" are two good ones. Another one that really helped me come out of the after stroke funk was, "The Obstacle is the Way" by Ryan Holiday, this is not about stroke recovery, but mainly about dealing with all the obstacles that life puts in our paths. It's about Stoicism, and references some of the great stoics like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, etc. It is a quick read and was very helpful for me. If he is not up for reading, might be good for you to read, or even see about getting something on Audible so he can just listen. It will be work for both of you, just get him going on something and he will thank you in a year or two.

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