Stroking Out (Literally) (Pt 5)

So I'm ready for TIRR Kirby Glen (Outpatient). Two or three weeks in, I got a surprise visit from Christy, who was subbing for an OT who was out for a week or so. The same day, the person who was in charge of Ch. 13 News sports came in.  He had had a stroke too. It's incredible the humanity that passes through there. Strokes and heart attacks don't discriminate the people they happen to. No, they can happen to anyone, anytime. The secret to dealing with them is not letting them rule your life. Of course, strokes vary due to each patient    My ST is a former opera singer, and yes in the Italian vernacular. Opera is the one thing both she and I have in common, and I'm supposed to learn this Aria by Handel's "Rinaldo." "Lascia Ch'io Pianga," or "I cry," in the English language; which we both sung at my many of my early appointments with her. She wants me to find certain opera pieces that allow me to move my tongue dexterously. Well have I got one for her! 'Largo Al Factotum' from "The Barber Of Seville." 'Make way for the jack-of-all-trades,' is a literal translation. You've heard it in the cartoons and movies. It's another thing to sing it, and in the original Italian. It is fast, and built for baritones, which I am. I've tried  to give her all the help she should need. Tell you how it turns out.  My  signature and writing has suffered with the Ataxia, or involuntary movement.  It had gotten some better since the hospital, but that's just the departure of the ataxia and a lot of intense therapy in the hospital. Well, I didn't have that anymore, so OT at TIRR outpatient worked with me on my writing, especially my signature.  Walking has gotten to the point that I no longer needed a wheelchair, was just coming off the walker, and onto a walking pole, and now I use it only for stability. Pretty good for a guy who six months ago who couldn't cross the room to take care of business and was bound to his bed and the bedpan. Anyhoo, after nearly graduating all my classes, my mom had to have neck surgery, and right away so we took a month off. That was in July. I am still in limbo, that and it was my mom who drove me back and forth from outpatient. Ah, well, that's the life of a star, that is, so far.