Catherine is the educational and inspiring author of "Becoming Comfortably Numb: a Memoir on Brain-Mending" Her website is: catherineallard.ca
One of the best healing pastimes in my evolving stroke rehab over the last 40 years has been my determination to get into the water. And to keep on getting in there ...
As a kid, I used to hate swimming pools. The chlorine burned my eyes and plugged up my nose. After my first stroke, I remember a physiotherapist suggesting that it would be great for me to consider joining a ‘soft’ aquafit class. And I thought, naahhhhh … way too much of a hassle …
But a couple of years after my second stroke, I finally started to come to around. I was in so much pain that I was desperate for some relief. Any relief. Just to be able go beyond the relentless burning from a thalamic stroke that plagues my entire right side so I could think about anything else.
It was gruelling figuring out how I could do it, and manage things like dressing myself and carrying my own equipment. But now, I love the water so much it feel likes I must have been a fish in another life. At first, I used a pack sack to carry my gear. But for the last several years, and after a couple of falls, I started using a cane outdoors. I needed to figure out an easier system.
So I went to Walmart, and found a cheap canvas suitcase with a pulley for $16.95, that I can throw all my wet stuff into. Water stains don’t matter, because I use it only for my luggage to and from the pool. The pulley also anchors me well enough so that I don’t need to use a cane — what a double bonus!!
Now I look forward to a trip to the community pool as a $3.50 spa day. Because in the water, I can be weightless...
Just think about how wonderful it would feel to just float on your back, just breathing and drifting … Taking pressure away from everything that hurts (including your mind) ... If you can’t swim or you’ve never liked being in the water, it doesn’t matter.
Find a shallow pool with warmer water — sometimes they’re called “therapeutic” pools, often at community centres. Many pools use salt to sanitize the water. Doesn’t stink as much, the air is easier to breathe, and the salt helps you float much easier, too.
Therapeutic pools also offer easy stairs with guidebars, access ramps or poolside chairs that can lower you into and out of the water. These pools are much better than expensive spas or pricey athletic clubs with punishing fitness programs that are useless for anyone who has no choice but to find release at their own pace.
Community recreation centres usually have pool times reserved for light aquafit classes or personal therapeutic swims, often with reduced participation.
You don’t even have to join an aquafit class if you don’t want to, either. However, it can be uplifting to be with other people who are there for chronic issues, like you — and be both comforting and motivating. It certainly helped keep me going back to have fun with new, supportive friends when I first started out.
You can move in whatever rhythm works for you. Just keep on doing something, or nothing —as long as it feels good and makes you feel joy as if you’re a child at play. That will keep you coming back.
The hardest and most important thing to figure out will be how to come up with a preparation and exit routine that you can manage.
Many people in wheelchairs can manage amazingly well on their own once they’re in the water. Others have assistants in the water right next to them. But once you’re in the water, it will free up your body — and help support you. And there will far less impact/pain on your joints, like there can be with conventional aerobic activities.
For example, I can’t jog or run on land, but in waist/chest deep water — no problemo!! There’s nothing wrong with wearing a life jacket, either. In a therapeutic pool, you so whatever you need that feels good. If you need help getting dressed or getting in and out of the pool, it might take some effort to find an assistant or personal support worker if you don’t have a family member or friend. But do let everyone know you’re looking for someone, including your doctor - just find a way to make it happen.
There are volunteers who to take seniors and people with disabilities to medical appointments, for example — and heck, for you — this IS a medical appointment!
Many communities have extra social services available for you if you need it. Ask, and if they don’t, they can probably point you to other possible sources. Just getting into the water will be such an achievement!
Just hang out in a corner, if that’s all you can handle. Even better if you can find a warm jet for your bum, back or knees. You may hate it at first, but trust me, with warm water caressing your body, you’ll grow to love it … There’s usually all sorts of water toys to choose from too — pool noodles, foam ‘weights’, styrofoam boards — you can even bring your own stuff. Sometimes I’ll bring my snorkel mask — that can be a ton of fun, negotiating a path between all the underwater ‘kelp’ (people’s legs). I participated in soft classes for about 15 years, until I started feeling poisoned by the chlorine. Then I joined Movati for a few years — an athletic club boasting a salt water pool, sauna, steam room, whirlpool, and hot yoga. At first, it was great. However, the pool was pretty chilly. No access ramps. And it was full of mostly happy, shiny people. Personal trainers who, with little medical accreditation and big fees, have potential to injure you. Not too nurturing for aging seniors or people living with complex issues.
When the pandemic hit, every pool in the city closed. For months. I was in agony. So I got our bathtub yanked out and replaced it with a small jet bathtub. What a relief! Then, I decided not to renew my Movati membership. I checked out the François Dupuis Recreation Centre. Wow. A dream come true…
A totally accessible building. Touchless door openers. Large beautiful change rooms with privacy. Even private shower stalls, with fold-down benches that you can sit on, and gooseneck shower attachments, for reaching those hard-to-access nether regions. A warm leisure pool with easy access. And large cedar sauna (on the pool deck) And look at the view …
François Dupuis Recreation Centre, Orléans, ON Canada has won design awards Whenever I go, I’m in heaven, and I can’t wait to get back for another slice …
I am author of “Becoming Comfortably Numb: A Memoir on Brain-Mending” a detailed account of my 40+ year stroke rehabilitation journey, beginning in 1984 as a new mom, followed by a more damaging stroke six years later; how I went from sobbing in a wheelchair to climbing the Acropolis (on the arm of my husband ) and eventually rebooted my communications career. Ten percent of the proceeds are donated to Bruyère Health, the provider of stroke rehabilitation for Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Through two eight-week rehab hospital stints — they helped give me back a different life — not once, but twice. I’m also a spokesperson for Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation and advocate for people with disabilities and chronic health issues.
Catherine is the educational and inspiring author of "Becoming Comfortably Numb: a Memoir on Brain-Mending" Her website is: catherineallard.ca
