I appreciate it Sunny, thank you. I always look for ways to improve my health. After all everyone has that option. We all are different with what we can tolerate and feel. What may work for one may not work well for another. It all depends on how we tackle things. From an early age I experienced doctors for my parents(I was their interpreter) and myself. I learned from those experiences to form my own opinions and help myself. Growing up, I had made the library my best friend in finding information. Today it is so much easier with the internet. Information is at our fingertips and available at any time. My motivation is to feel better and be able to do more. I owe it to myself and my family. Things are not easy for me. I push myself as long as I do it safely. Remember, if things were easy everyone would do it. With my new way of living I try to do as much as I can on my own. Perhaps remaining active has helped my brain to rebuild itself. I am starting to believe what doctors had told me originally were myths i.e. I would regain any physical health within my first year after the AVM. Sure, there is data to support that but what if all the stroke and AVM survivors were told the very same and after a year they gave up thinking it would not make any difference. The data would support a decline. Why is it that we see reports on the news of patients walking within 3 years when their doctors told them they would never be able to walk again. I believe perseverance is a big factor. What do we have to lose anyway? The time will pass no matter what we do so why not be productive in helping ourselves. After all the doctors are not in our shoes to help us with our experiences. Medical information changes through the years so I use their knowledge in order to help myself. As a result, now going on 4 years after my AVM, I am finally feeling better. No doctors gave me good advice. Looking back, the timing of my symptoms helped me tremendously in determining what was the next best thing for me. I am glad to have finally figured it out. Take care of yourself Sunny. You have the upper edge by being in the medical field for 20 years. Oh, you had mentioned about me having confidence in myself. Well, I gain that by trying things. I learn to please myself. By trying(like making meals) I have no one else to impress but myself so who cares if the results are not favorable. One learns by trying. You build on forming confidence in yourself. You can’t build if you don’t try. Toni