I created this card using Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass distress inks, a Spellbinders die, and two Stampabilities rubber stamps. I added the shine on the die cut piece with a Wink of Stella Brush; it was the first time I used it-so easy to apply, and it added such a good shimmer I think.
Materials Used:
- Strathmore Watercolor Paper, Cold Press, 90 lb. and 140 lb.
- Core’dinations Cardstock, Orchid
- Spellbinder Shapeabilities “Vine Border” die, S4-500
- Stampabilities “Faded Text Background” Rubber Stamp , TR1011 (It’s hard to see, but I stamped it on the die cut piece.)
- Stampabilities “Miracles” Rubber Stamp, DR1132
(I tried something new. I peeled the rubber stamp off the wooden block and put a piece of Grafix Cling Vinyl on the back of the rubber stamp. I put that onto my stamp platform. The cling vinyl and the rubber stamp piece stayed in place when I inked the stamp and stamped the image twice. When I was done and pulled the cling vinyl and the rubber stamp off the platform, it lifted off easily. I might be onto something here.)
- Grafix Cling Vinyl – I found it here: https://www.amazon.com/Grafix-9-Inch-12-Inch-Cling-6-Pack/dp/B002J6CO9I
- Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass
- Ranger non-stick Craft Sheet
- Ranger Tim Holtz Mini Blending Tool/Ranger Mini Ink Blending Foam
- Ranger Mister
- Wink of Stella Shimmer Brush, Clear
- Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (used on the entire surface of the distress inked watercolor paper)
- Tim Holtz Tonic Stamp Platform
- Memento Ink, Tuxedo Black
- Fiskars Procision Rotary Bypass Trimmer (12”)
- Ranger Multi Medium Matte (to adhere the die cut piece to the watercolor paper)
- Faux Pink Pearls
- Ranger Glossy Accents (to adhere the faux pearls)
Machine: Sizzix Big Shot, with two cutting pads, and the magnetic platform.
(Photo Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy)
There’s something I’ve wanted to share for quite some time now. I do believe, that if you might benefit from what I have written, the Universe has brought you to this page. It’s hard to revisit this time in my life because it’s going back to a dark place. But, if my “putting it out there” helps another stroke survivor, it will have been worth it.
On February 28, 2011, I walked into a local gas station to redeem a lottery ticket. I had bought the ticket the day before and had won $70. After cashing it in, I started to feel odd and told the clerk that I just needed to stand over to the side until I felt better. I kept thinking if I could just make it to my car that everything would be fine. I kept telling my legs to walk, but I couldn’t make them move.
About that time, people started to realize something was wrong and that I was having a stroke. They called an ambulance. There’s a memory of being told that my blood pressure was 252/130, but I’m not sure if that’s accurate or not.
I’ve read that relatives of a stroke victim sometimes wonder why their loved one didn’t reach out for help when the stroke occurred. I also read that one person asked the question as to whether or not his loved one actually wanted to live. I do know that there was a disconnect between my brain and my legs-I couldn’t get them to move. There were people around me, so I don’t know for sure if I could have called for help if I had been alone at that time. But, the stroke affected both my right leg and arm. I believe there would have also been a disconnect between my brain and arms if I had tried to call from home.
Through the years, I occasionally would hear about this wonderful shot that dissolved blood clots in the event of a stroke. But, what I’d never heard before was that it was a choice-that the doctor couldn’t administer it to me without my permission. My doctor said it was effective if the stroke had been caused by a blood clot, but not if was caused by a bleed. They hadn’t been able to determine which of the two had caused my stroke.
I was told that a scale determined whether or not they could legally give me the shot. I think it went from 0-10. At the time of the stroke, I was a 0-no movement of my right arm and leg. The doctor asked me if I wanted the shot, but told me that she’d seen people have a reaction from it and had died right after receiving it. (She wanted me to be totally informed.)
The window was closing for the time that they could administer it, so I consented. They had the shot mixed and were ready to give it to me. Around that time, the doctor had gotten through to my sister, Lynn, on my cell phone. Lynn said a prayer. While she said the prayer and I listened, my right leg started to twitch and then move. This movement brought me to a 3 on their scale, and they could no longer legally give me the shot. I believe that God made that decision for me and that there was a divine plan in place when I had my stroke. I was among people who could get me the help I needed, not alone. And, it turned out that I had a bleed and not a blood clot.
I realize how lucky I am to just have survived that first night. Instinctively I think I knew that brain cells were dying and that I needed to keep my brain active. I was having trouble focusing my thoughts. The only thought I could come up was a waterfall. Through that long night, I kept picturing a waterfall flowing and moving.
I did the therapies (occupational, physical, and speech) in the hospital. It was learning to walk and (in a way) to talk again. The therapies continued for four months after I left the hospital. It was once believed that a stroke survivor only improved and healed in the six months following a stroke-and that was it. I was told by the medical staff that there’s a different outlook now-that there is no window of time for healing; that it continues on.
I do know that improvements are more dramatic during the six-month window, so they’re more noticeable during that time. But, I have been healing (and continue to heal) and improve since the stroke. It just isn’t as noticeable. It kind of slips below my radar and then I realize that a particular thing has gotten better. One phrase I would use, especially in the beginning, is “This is where I am-right now.” That gave me the encouragement that tomorrow the outcome of what I was trying to accomplish today could, and most likely would, be better.
I’ve heard from many sources how important it is that stroke survivors keep their minds actively engaged-I know this to be true. I started pinning to Pinterest after the stroke and now I have about a gazillion boards. I created this website after the stroke. Because of the stroke, it was difficult and frustrating. But, I did it. I discovered my love of creating handmade greeting cards after the stroke. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, I’ve learned to make the cards, like learning all the different mediums and techniques, came afterwards. I’m a believer that anything we can do to keep our minds active, no matter how small it seems, is so very important.
I’m not going to discuss the challenges I still have as a result of the stroke because I think it would be human nature to compare. I remember, the medical staff told me that every stroke is different. To me, that means, if you’re a stroke survivor, your journey would be different than mine. But, I decided a long time ago that I can’t change what has happened. I can only do the best I can (right now) and make my life the happiest and the fullest that I possibly can. I’m choosing to be happy and to keep moving forward, not looking backwards.
One thing I’d like to mention…if you had a stroke, all short-term memory problems might not be coming from you, especially later in your healing process. I would be feeling really good about (what I perceived) to be progress in my short-term memory. Then, I’d talk to a particular friend. Almost every conversation, at least two or three times, she’d say “I told you that. Don’t you remember?” I’d have absolutely no memory of it and feel like I wasn’t making all that much progress. I felt kind of defeated.
Then she called one day, and I said, “I can’t talk right now. I need to be somewhere soon.” She said, “o.k, talk to you later.” I was 100% sure, no doubt in my mind, that was our entire conversation. It lasted about 2 seconds. The next time she called, she said something that I couldn’t remember -she said she had told me it the last time we had talked. BINGO, no she hadn’t had time to do that. As we talked, I realized she ‘thought’ she had told me. When I brought this to her attention, she said, “You’re right.” She’s a dear friend…if she says she’s already told me something now, I just think-maybe not MY memory.
To the caretakers, doctors, nurses, and therapists, I would say that you might not realize how important you are to stroke survivors (and I would also say Thank You!!!). We are at our most vulnerable that we’ve ever been, some maybe for the first time in their lives. And, imagine every little thing that we do being 100 times harder to accomplish, while at the same time struggling to figure these things out because of our diminished capacities. Little things were big things to me. I remember one day in particular in the hospital, I felt like just giving up. I walked to the bathroom using my walker. For some reason, finding the soap to wash my hands seemed insurmountable. I was SO tired. I looked on the sink. My daughter had bought a soap dish and placed the soap inside for me, so I didn’t have to search for it. At that moment, this meant the world to me. Things that seem little or insignificant can be huge to us.
I want to thank my family. The love and care of my family made my “today” and future possible. I was amazed at my sister Lynn’s patience, while I worked through my fears and found myself again, and her love; and also for her being there for me since Day 1. And my beautiful, intuitive daughter, Reshia, who knows when I’ll need something long before I do. Her love and tenderness helped me through those long, difficult days and nights. Lynn and Reshia worked as a team to provide me with the best possible care. I would not be at the point I am today, and be able to live independently, if not for the care and love of sons Jeremy and Keith, Reshia, and Lynn and Randy Sipe.
One last thing I’d like to mention…when I had the stroke, my brain forgot how to fall asleep. I was prescribed sleeping pills. I had just been released from the hospital and was at home. I was in the bathroom flossing my teeth and was frustrated because it was so much harder to do now. My daughter was in the other room, heard me make a frustrated sound, and came to investigate. At that moment, I fell asleep standing up. She caught me in her arms as I collapsed. If she hadn’t been there at that exact moment, I’m sure I would have hit my head, when it was most vulnerable. My angels were all around me that day, as well as my earth angel, to keep me safe!
Love, Diane
P.S. The spacebar on my laptop today was NOT my friend. So frustrating! My word retrieval skills weren’t the best either, and my cat stayed in the other room.