From Stroke to Strength - Week Two
It was just after completing the last of four 200m sprints as I was stretching my right hamstring, I moved to work out the left side then noticed, it wouldn’t move. I lay panicked for a few seconds before hobbling over to Greg, my trainer, and managed to get out the words, “I think something’s wrong.” Greg’s face immediately showed concern as he could tell something wasn’t right. Before I could even realize what was happening, I was being rushed to the hospital. My name is Phillip Arrington and at the age of 27 I had a stroke.
I must admit, as I laid in the hospital bed for my 4 day stay, there were doubts in my ability to recover. Would I ever be able to golf again? Could I ski, lift, or run? Somewhat disheartening, the doctors were unable to give me a direct answer to any of these questions.
According a study completed in 2004, less than 0.5% of the population under 30 years old has had a stroke. With such little data on how to treat cases like mine, I was instructed to attempt the activities I did prior to the stroke, within reason, and hopefully my body will recover. At the end of my stay, after countless tests the doctors were unable to determine an exact cause of the stroke.
With all this in the past, I am now working toward retraining the left side of my body.
The extent of the damage to my brain had destroyed motor skills learned over 27 years in a few seconds. As the time has passed since that eventful March 26th I have progressed from barely being able to walk or type a text with my left thumb to where I am today.
Imagine falling asleep on your arm, but instead of waiting on blood to return to the limb, I have to work my body to help neurons grow. That day, life hit the reset button on my left side. Knowing the uphill battle I was facing, Anders has been there to help me focus on returning from the incident stronger than ever. He graciously visited with me in the hospital and has been in contact almost every day since.
From day 1, I’ve been working on walking normally, dexterity of my hands, and general control of my body. Anders has helped me ramp up the training to running, lifting, and pushing myself to get back the motion I had lost. I liked having a trainer before to help correct the minor errors in form for some lifts, but now, I have had to learn how to squat, lunge, and jump correctly all over again.
In just a few weeks since the stroke, I’ve been golfing, hiking and tossed a football. Some of the more finite motions are still a bit shaky, but I’m confident with my work ethic and Anders experience as a trainer, I’ll be back to 100% in no time.
