Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Be Kind
6/18/2026 7:02:32 AM
One of my longer posts, but I promise, there’s a point. This is it: Be Kind.
It’s now been about 10 weeks since I entered the hospital following a stroke.
Good news first. Less than two days after returning home (two weeks after the stroke) I didn’t need to use a walker. I’ve been doing Pilates, yoga, barre, a mix of chair and standing cardio (no jumps or turns across the floor!) strength and stretch training. Even in the hospital, in bed, I was doing ballet floor barre exercise and a few Pilates exercises.
In odd news, I’ve developed a weird craving for French fries…a food I hadn’t eaten for probably ten years. At least they’re vegan (at least the ones I get are :) While I’m on the vegan subject, pointless as it is, I find I get angry, thinking that, although I eat a diet considered healthy, I’m “paying” for a fall I took thirty years ago and knowing there’s nothing I can do to change it.
I’m incredibly lucky and blessed. The friend who lent me his walker had a stroke about seven years ago. He told me it took him four months just to start feeling his left side again. Scary.
I DO have issues. My head is heavy and off center. Foggy. The best way to describe it is like living with a constant hangover, without the nausea and headache. Out of focus. I don’t drive because I don’t want to have an attack and cause an accident, which ticks me off because of the lack of independence. There are some physical things with my gut that are off. It’s kind of funny, but I occasionally just snort. And I can’t “finish” a sneeze, which is surprisingly aggravating.
I’m unable to walk the dog because if we’re joined via leash and if she sees a cat…I’m on the ground and she’s in Cleveland still chasing the feline. Thankfully there’s a yard, but she misses that daily trek through the neighborhood.
I still have to cook. I’ve always hated to cook. Since I try to stay primarily raw vegan, it’s mainly salads or smoothies but that means chopping and prepping and washing and there are times I miss those nice people bringing trays to the room in the hospital! Thank heaven for Instacart and delivery so I don’t have to rely on anyone else to be the food gatherer.
Vacuuming, using a light machine, stops after one room. Scouring the bathroom or cleaning out the fridge are tasks for “the future.” I tire easily.
I can edit books I’ve already started, but am currently lacking that spark of creativity to continue with something new. Thankfully my reading comprehension stayed the same. (Thriftbooks loves me).
Even when I know I should be happy to add a dance move to a cardio session, I think, “why am I bothering?” Possibly the fact that when I dance I feel more like Peter Boyle than Gene Wilder (and if you don’t get the reference, rent Young Frankenstein )? I walk like Boyle, too, which means I lurch. But there are too many days, getting up at all, I think, “why am I bothering?”
What bothers me at times is a feeling that there’s a lack of understanding among the world at large that I truly DID have a stroke. It’s been one issue after another since getting home. Constant house repairs. Non-existent trash bins (six weeks of no service now) after paying four weeks ago. Calling the trash provider numerous times when invoices (I’ve already paid) show up, but the bins don’t. Sending an exorbitant ambulance (SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS for one 20 minute trip?!!) to my healthcare agent and asking if there was something to be done about paying what I owed after insurance (there wasn’t). Yeah, it’s all probably selfish and petty but I still can’t push aside the annoyance.
I keep wanting simply ONE day that’s absolutely hassle free.
I’m writing this, not to whine (and I apologize because I’m sure it sounds like it!) but as a gentle reminder to everyone to remember that just because another person is putting up the best front they can after an illness or injury and pretending to the world that they’re just fine, it’s most likely three times as bad as they’re making it out to be. Take a beat and remember things have changed.
And HERE’S the point. Be kind. Help anyway you can. Try not to add to the burden if at all possible. Let people who are struggling to get better from whatever the problem is, that you realize healing is often not a fast process and it’s okay if they’re not who they used to be two, three, six months later. A year later. Two years later.
Be kind.
Post a Comment
More Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
• Commercials and Diversity - Sunday, September 27, 2026
• A Second Remembrance - Saturday, September 12, 2026
• Legacy - Thursday, August 27, 2026
• The Founding Fathers...Good and Bad - Tuesday, August 25, 2026
• The Saga of the Printer - Saturday, August 1, 2026
• What do you want? - Monday, July 20, 2026
• Playing Detective - Tuesday, July 14, 2026
• Mick, Mick, Speak English! - Monday, July 13, 2026
• Bills and Bins - Thursday, July 9, 2026
• Father Joe - Wednesday, July 1, 2026
• Land of Confusion - Tuesday, June 30, 2026
• Do What You Love - Thursday, June 25, 2026
• Crayons and Flight 800 - Monday, June 22, 2026
• Be Kind - Thursday, June 18, 2026
• Words - Tuesday, June 16, 2026
• Pride and the 10 Commandments - Thursday, June 11, 2026
• French Fries and The Full Monty - Wednesday, June 10, 2026
• More scams - Tuesday, June 9, 2026
• Ferris Wheels and Color - Wednesday, May 20, 2026
• The Journey Continues - Thursday, May 7, 2026
• I'm so Confused ! - Thursday, April 30, 2026
• Tales from the Floor, the Hospital/Rehab and Beyond - Sunday, April 26, 2026
• The Oldest, Established, Permanent, Floating, Work-in-Progress in History - Tuesday, March 31, 2026
• Past Time to Fix Things - Sunday, March 22, 2026
• Holding out for a Hero - Thursday, March 19, 2026
• When Fear Wins - Monday, March 16, 2026
• The De-evolution of Humanity - Wednesday, March 11, 2026
• What Do You Want? - Monday, March 9, 2026
• Do No Harm - Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Hope in a crowd of strangers - Sunday, February 22, 2026
• Sweet Cream Ladies and a Valentine's Card - Sunday, February 15, 2026
• No regrets - Friday, February 13, 2026
• Give Peace a Chance - Thursday, February 12, 2026
• Four for Texas - Tuesday, February 10, 2026
• A nation of sociopaths - Thursday, February 5, 2026
• Moondance...When Characters Take Control - Friday, January 30, 2026
• Clansey's Point of View (Moondance) - Friday, January 30, 2026
• The Why - Monday, January 26, 2026
• Frightened for the Children - Thursday, January 22, 2026
• Beauty - Tuesday, January 20, 2026
• Elements of Hate - Sunday, January 18, 2026
• Julio - Wednesday, January 14, 2026
• Reality - Monday, January 12, 2026
• Dancing to Care - Saturday, January 3, 2026
• Jake, L'il Boy, and Houdini - Wednesday, December 31, 2025
• Hope for 2026 - Tuesday, December 30, 2025
• Propaganda and Disinformation - Monday, December 22, 2025
• All I Want for Christmas - Saturday, December 6, 2025
• Illegal Orders - Tuesday, December 2, 2025
• Pick up the Pieces - Reunions and Stevie Nicks - Saturday, November 29, 2025
• Fake Promoters Upping the Game - Tuesday, November 25, 2025
• Scarecrow's Dream: And the Ghost Fell in Love with the Dead Man - Sunday, November 23, 2025
• Cold Wind to Valhalla - Naked Actors and a Minstrel in the Gallery - Sunday, November 16, 2025
• Another Scam - My Author Friends Beware! - Thursday, November 13, 2025
• Legacy of Silence - Spooky Houses and Hot Air Balloons - Saturday, November 8, 2025
• Chia Seeds - Powerhouse Protein! - Thursday, November 6, 2025
• Another Batch of Kolaches and a Pack of Tonys - Sunday, November 2, 2025
• Kolaches and Mozart - Aria in Ice - Tuesday, October 28, 2025
• Great again...WHEN? - Saturday, October 25, 2025
• Sweet Dreams - How They're Made - Friday, October 24, 2025
• In the year 2050 - Wednesday, October 22, 2025
• Deadly Deja Vu - In Time for Halloween! - Tuesday, October 21, 2025
• What is Your Bridge Too Far? - Sunday, October 19, 2025
• The "Making" of Remake the Song - Friday, October 17, 2025
• Paris Nocturne: Inspiration - Saturday, October 11, 2025
• Haunting Melody: Inspiration - Monday, October 6, 2025
• Silence is Unrelenting - Friday, October 3, 2025
• Inspiration: Hot Stuff - Wednesday, October 1, 2025
• Why the Hate? - Saturday, September 27, 2025
• Ghosts, Wandering Here & There: Inspiration - Wednesday, September 24, 2025
• Shall we Dance? - Sunday, September 21, 2025
• Children Should be the Priority - Wednesday, September 17, 2025
• Moronic - Saturday, September 13, 2025
• Alleged - Friday, September 12, 2025
• Fanaticism and Empathy - Thursday, September 11, 2025
• "Review Packages" - Monday, September 8, 2025
• GO VEGAN - Saturday, September 6, 2025
• Creepy- with a Side of Intent - Monday, September 1, 2025
• P.O.S.S. (Perfect Older Sibling Syndrome) - Saturday, August 23, 2025
• Pushing Back On - Monday, August 18, 2025
• From Compromise to Inspiration - Sunday, August 17, 2025
• Ptiching to Authors...A Nearly Daily Annoyance - Saturday, August 16, 2025
• A Discussion of Literary Agents - Friday, August 15, 2025
• Reach Out and "Touch" An Author - Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Here, There, and Everywhere - Wednesday, August 6, 2025
• Reviewing the Situation - Monday, August 4, 2025
• Music and Movement (In a beach read!) - Sunday, August 3, 2025
• Remake the Song - coming VERY soon! - Saturday, August 2, 2025
• Writers Who Care - Tuesday, December 20, 2011
• A WRiters Work - Monday, December 5, 2011
• Tell Me a Story! - Tuesday, October 25, 2011
• A Gentle Ghost Story - Sunday, October 9, 2011
• I Got a Name - Part Two - Saturday, April 16, 2011
• Self- E and POD versus Trad - Wednesday, March 23, 2011
• More Dialogue Tips for Writers - Friday, March 18, 2011
• How I Spent Spring Break (A Cautionary Tale) - Wednesday, March 16, 2011
• I got a Name - Friday, March 11, 2011
• Want to help name a book? - Tuesday, March 8, 2011
• Spring Break - Break! - Saturday, March 5, 2011
• Dialogue Tips for Writers - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
• Writing Tip - Singing -Keep it OFF the Page - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
• Respect - A Writing Nudge - Friday, February 11, 2011
• To Stupid to Live? Ouch - Wednesday, February 9, 2011
• Writer's Tip - Know Thyself - Tuesday, February 8, 2011
• "Risky" Business - Sunday, February 6, 2011
|
