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Topic: Woe, Inspiration, and Neuroplasticity |
JB Bobbitt
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2021 10:03 am |
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Breeze through the "Woe" and "Inspiration" parts. Read the "Neuroplasticity" part, it's relavent to playing.
Woe: I had a stroke; today is the 4th anniversary. I lost much strength, dexterity, and tactile sense on my left side, I can no longer fret a flat top.
Inspiration: I'm a lucky man. I had great health care and recovery resources. I built my lap steel and it feels good to "play" and learn. You members in this group are an inspiration.
Neuroplasticity: It is real; I attest to that. The stroke affected a small part of my brain, took it down to something akin to "base level". From that level, improvement is initially quick and obvious (see "lucky man", above). From that reduced level, during recovery and the months of PT, I swear I could feel or sense the actual re-routing going on in my brain. The metrics the PTs use showed the progress, but there was nothing wrong or broken in my skin or muscles in my arm and leg. It seemed that I could feel improvement in real time, while I stood tapping my toe on tile squares or trying to stand on one leg. I get the same sense of progress, of "something clicking", when playing my guitar. The doctors and therapists strongly emphasized neuroplasticity. They know ways to measure progress, and ways to improve progress, the same way a personal trainer knows how to work with a bodybuilder's or athlete's muscles.
The application: Practicing is essentially the same process, but without the initial deficit. Duration and frequency are important; repetition is key, the same way it works with muscles during weight training. The therapists were very aware of "plateaus" in recovery progress. The rule was "If you hit a plateau, change something." For PT exercises, that meant: change the exercise; change the order; do it backwards; work on something else for a while and come back to it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
-jbb
_________________
"Time is an enemy"
-Bob Dylan |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 11 Jul 2021 12:16 pm
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Great story JB. More good luck to you. "If you hit a plateau, change something." That's going in my book of quotes.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 11 Jul 2021 12:26 pm
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Great story JB and an inspiration to all that read it. I am so glad to see you got your lap steel built and playable. I was wondering how it was coming along......nice job...you and the steel. 
_________________
Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40 |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 11 Jul 2021 2:45 pm
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Great story, and congrats both on progress and attitude!
About 3 years ago, I thought I had a stroke--my left arm was paralyzed as was the left side of my face. No strength, no feeling. Very scary. After MRIs, nerve conduction studies, EMGs and so forth, it was determined that mine wasn't a stroke, but was an inflammatory condition brought about by autoimmune CNS issues. I went on a treatment of CellCept, and after a few months most of my left side recovered. That's also the time that I started playing a lot more steel (even though I couldn't really hold the bar--had to come up with contraptions), since I couldn't play banjo or guitar any more.
I'm back to about 90% today. I can sort of play guitar and banjo, but I can hold a steel bar without problems. I was very lucky.
Stroke scares me more than about any other condition. Comes out of nowhere and can do terrible things. I'm glad that you're managing to work through it successfully. And with that good attitude!
Dave |
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Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 12 Jul 2021 3:09 am
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| I'm in the club, sorta-kinda. I broke my neck two years ago, resulting in median and radial nerve damage in my left arm - kinda like Carpel Tunnel Syndrome except all down the arm, not just after the wrist. Fingers are still numb. That's when I started to play lap steel and dobro more, I can fret a guitar now, but only for a few minutes. I also had, as a result of the same accident, a pretty major brain bleed that needed surgery. I describe the effect as a sort of slow motion stroke, I lost function on my right side over a period of a few weeks. 90% came back literally on the operating table (I was awake)when they reduced the pressure on my brain, but there is a nagging loss of function that is almost hard to describe. I lost some hand-eye coordination with my right arm, I stumble walking with my right leg. But I'm here to complain about it, so I don't, and I take what there is and keep on playing, just like you guys. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 12 Jul 2021 3:58 am
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On a related problem, I have peripheral neuropathy caused by chemo. It affects my hands and feet but more so my feet. Hands, I just don't attempt speed picking licks anymore. Feet is different and affects me more with Pedal Steel. Sometimes they just feel like lead weights, sometimes sore and sometimes almost numb. Pedaling sometimes is a chore and even sometimes I pedal on instinct alone.
Bottom line we learn to cope with whatever limitations we have, whether temporary or permanent.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Slim Laurence
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 15 Jul 2021 9:02 pm
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What an inspirational thread!
| Brian Evans wrote: |
| But I'm here to complain about it, so I don't... |
Epic.
I hope I can truly absorb the full content of that sentence. |
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