My physiotherapist was at UCT Private Hospital and she has given me information about how I was on admission and what we did in treament. My whole right side that was affected by the stroke.

• I had impaired sensation of the right upper limb and lower limb. There was no pain at that stage.
• In my right upper limb (this included my hand, arm and shoulder) I only had enough muscle power to lift against gravity; I could not lift against any resistance.
  
• In my right lower limb (this included my foot, leg and hip) I could manage to lift the limb when resistance was applied but there was still weakness present.
  
• On the left upper and lower limbs I had full muscle strength (could lift five times against full resistance).
• My sitting balance was poor and I always fell to the right side.
• While standing, my balance was extremely poor and I always needed constant supervision. When I started walking I constantly needed one person to hold on to, to remain upright and to prevent myself from falling to the right side.
• Decreased proprioception in both right upper and lower limbs (I didn’t know where the joint or the limbs were within space).
• Absent protective reactions in standing and sitting. If pushed over, I couldn’t try to stop myself from falling.

• I battled to turn independently to the left hand side.
• I required assistance to get from lying down to sitting up.
• I could not climb up the stairs due to the fact that I had poor balance.
• I required a wheelchair for the long distances.
• Endurance for me was extremely poor and I got tired very quickly.
  

• To improve my balance and co-ordination my therapy focused on:
  - Balance and protective reaction in sitting and standing.
  - Staying upright against resistance.
  - Balance on one leg.
  - Walking sideways and crossing legs one in front of the other and then behind.
  - Walked on the toes and then on my heals.

• Hand-eye and foot-eye co-ordination:
  - Catching and throwing the balls while in sitting (the balls were coming from different directions).
  - Kicking a ball while standing – balls coming from all directions.

• Strengthening exercise:
  - Used weights to improve the general strength of my right upper and lower limbs.
  - Squats.

• Pilates:
  Towards the end of my stay in hospital I did pilates and core stability exercises using a pilates ball. This  helped to increase my core stability, endurance, co-ordination and general strength.