HOW TO COPE WITH DISABILITY RETIREMENT FORCED BY A STROKE

Stroke information is necessarily somewhat vague and generalised, simply because a stroke can vary in intensity from a mild stroke, sometimes called a 'mini stroke' to a very severe stroke, which leaves the victim unable to control normal bodily functions.

'Stroke' seems to be such an odd way to describe possible death and almost certain paralysis in parts of the body, when normally to stroke is to caress in a gentle way.

I suffered a severe stroke due to a bleed in the brain almost four years ago and the left hand side of my body is still affected to such an extent that my fingers are not of any practical use. My left arm is slightly bent and difficult to move. My skin feels tender when touched. The muscles in my left leg are fairly stiff but I am able to walk with a walking stick, thank goodness. Therefore I was forced into disability retirement.

Since I had to stop working, the disability affected my earning potential as well as the everyday things that were taken for granted. The problem of a reduced income had to be addressed as well as the need to attempt a return as near as possible to a normal existence.

Initial Physiotherapy carried out in hospital enabled me to walk short distances and I was then put on a community rehab programme, mainly to increase my ability to walk, although I am still dependent upon a walking stick.

Here in the UK, only limited resources are available to continue physiotherapy  for any length of time and stroke victims need to continue rehabilitation under their own steam or to use a private Physiotherapist which can be very expensive. For the benefit of readers who do not know, healthcare in the UK is free; goodness knows what would have happened if I had to rely on my reduced income for  private physiotherapy.

Anyway, I don't want to bore the pants off everybody, so I'll just say that I do know that immediate medical attention following a stroke is absolutely essential if any sort of recovery is going to happen. I was lucky in that I was taken to hospital without delay,in fact within fifteen minutes, an action that certainly saved my life. Now, the other part of my rehab is being addressed, that is, to increase my income.

I have achieved this by doing one thing available to sufferers whose mental capacity has recovered enough to use a computer: - Getting an income from internet marketing and after trying various programs, when nothing seemed to work for me, I decided that the following conditions had to be met.



1.  No direct selling.
2.  Inexpensive(  not free, because I don't believe anything worthwhile is free).
3.  Not MLM. (No upline to envy nor downline to cajole).
4.  No meetings or conferences to attend.
5.  Unlimited help and support.
6.  No upgrading to 'Pro' or 'full membership'.
7.  No monthly subscriptions.
8.  Not from a flashy website as these usually reflect the character of the owner.
9.  As far as I could tell, not a 'fly by night' scheme.
10. Not to be run by an internet 'guru'.
11. Definitely not a 'get rich overnight'  scheme.

I happened to reply to several emails which landed up in my junk email folder and on looking through the offers, I decided that two of them might work.

At a cost of only five dollars each, I had very little to lose so I joined both programs thinking thatI would be disappointed but I'm glad to say that my small investment was worthwhile as I am now in a better financial position than before I was forced into retirement.

Brian Labrum