Mind of my Stroked Brain

  ​ Warning : reading this may affect your belief and affect you adversely. Read ahead at your own risk. ____________________ Couple of days back, I had my bout of hiccups. I have written earlier about my hiccups after the stroke. It is quite bad. This time it lasted about 2½ days. Earlier it used to last longer and more continuous and more intense as well. It has gotten slightly better over the 4½ years. When I am in the "hiccups zone" now, it typically starts soon after I am fed, lasts for about 1½ hrs and stops . Soon it will be next feed time and the cycle starts again. Usually the nurses quickly become immune to it and they get the pattern. However, both my current nurses are new and I had not been in a "hiccups zone" after they had started. They both got replaced at around the same time and did not have the benefit of knowledge from the other person. Naturally, they assumed it would go away as per normal. When they saw it not going away quickly and it was comi

I am unable to swallow anything. Apart from swallowing itself being a problem (anything being pushed down the oesophagus), the bigger problem is aspiration. Even a spoon of water, some of it goes into the windpipe (trachea) causing violent coughing. It's not just me, many stroke survivors have some form of disphagia (trouble swallowing). This is because we (well, most mammals I know), have the food pipe and the windpipe opening up at the pharynx (back of throat). Alternatively, if they didn't merge, it would be simpler no? I wonder, Why did this happen? Even a simple thing like getting hiccups? Why does it happen? I mean, i know how and why it physiologically happens. But what advantage does it give in evolutionary terms? It doesn't help in "fight" or "flight". It doesn't even help if you want to hide!  So, why was it needed this way?  I imagine it would by a struggle when evolving. So, Why did the characteristics survive the lens of natural or arti

When i was out of surgery, my neurosurgeon told my wife that I'd have a lot of hiccups and balance issues because of where i had the stroke. The hiccups have been quite a lot. They were so much early on. They also made it to my hallucinations when in icu. When it starts, i know next few hrs is gone and i am unable to do anything else. My personal record is about 4 days non stop. It has gotten better and 3-4 hours every few days now. It has reduced in duration and frequency, except more intensity. Actually i dont know if its stronger or i just struggle more as there is on less hole in the airway to manage it.. but I'm hopeful it'll get better over time with the trend line... The balance is an issue I've had from day 1 as well. Its hard to describe.. i cant move an inch, but feel like I'm falling all the time. The closest i can think of is feeling of getting a kick as described from the movie inception ( https://youtu.be/V9uX_WamuYA ) . It is a milder version ,but the