No One Addresses This “Activity of Daily Living” During Stroke Rehab

Sex Will be a Challenge But It’s not Talked About

Recovery from a stroke involves training to return to some kind of a “normal” life. I spent six weeks in a rehabilitation hospital learning how to walk and take care of myself. I had a baby eight weeks after the stroke. Occupational therapists worked with me on figuring out how to breast feed the baby without the use of my left arm. There were tricky therapy sessions on attempting to change a diaper in the same way. I learned how to dress myself. We did some kitchen training. I had psychotherapy to treat depression. I worked on improving my cognitive skills in “speech therapy”. I was not cleared to drive again until I completed an intensive driver rehabilitation program. There was nothing offered to prepare me for the massive changes I would face in my intimate relationship.

I had been married for 13 years when I had a massive cerebral hemhorrage during the sixth month of my second pregnancy. Our marriage was pretty typical with many of the usual ups and downs. We had weathered a few major bumps in the road, but nothing prepared us for the thermonuclear fallout from having a massive stroke at age 35.

When I was discharged from the rehab hospital, I naively expected my life to become normal again…