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  • Thank you for sharing.

    Reading this, I'm reminded of the idea that we should all care about accessibility, because barring death or radical advances in restorative medical technology, we will all rely on accessibility tech in some way eventually.

    Besides what is listed here, have you observed anything that your coworkers or managers can do to help accommodate you? i.e. Is there a version of this for folks working with stroke-surviving software engineers?

    by anonym29
  • I feel like any such advice would also be good advice for protecting the health of any of your staff.
    by ehnto
  • The accessibility field is pretty mature, with useful and thorough guidelines like WCAG. But many people in the software industry either ignore accessibility completely, or think it's "only" about the blind, slap some alt text on images, and call it a day.

    We should try to do better.

    by elric
  • Most of the advice is good for pre-stroke persons too. Might even avoid having one.
    by GianFabien
  • I think it is good advice for everyone.

    Pre Texting, Pre Email in the 90s I believe this kind of work was normal. All this self motivated, hyper context switching jobs we all do are relatively new compared to human evolvement. And we see the tax on us.

    by oaiey
  • I have not had a stroke, but a few years ago I noticed my eyesight was getting strange. There were many other things including a very fuzzy brain, and wanting to stay in bed for weeks. I thought I was just sad until the eyesight issue.

    It turned out I had Advanced Neurological Lyme disease. It took a couple years to recover from it. I also have Cluster Headaches, one of the most painful medical conditions known to science. Losing my the ability to think clearly, was worse.

    As someone who uses my brain for work, the depression that arose from losing my mental faculties was very significant. I searched TFA for depression and did not see a mention. If anyone is dealing with a neurological issue like this, I would imagine that second order effects like depression are common, correct?

    by consumer451
  • I think these are also good strategies for anyone who suffers from mental illness/burnout.
    by fennec-posix
  • ADHD...
    by ngcazz
  • All of that and parenting. Notifications off, camera off, WFH to the max and keeping the journal of where you were before attention was hijacked by the usual suspects.
    by Muromec
  • Which tips would you apply to burnout? Because certainly AFAIK, you don’t really get legal protections from burnout
    by y-curious
  • I haven't had a stroke but I did get a nasty tropical mono when I was young. You never quite recover from that one. I've got ibs since. My stomach just gets tired and stops. My mental focus feels the same. I sleep 9 hours a night, often 10 and I'm still tired.

    I feel I always have less stamina than other people.

    So this list is close to what I have always preached.

    Time as in energy is my most precious resource.

    Don't let processes suck the life out of you. They're there to serve the people not the other way around.

    by keyle
  • Gut directed hypnotherapy has worked wonders for my IBS. The research on it is really solid and was recommended to me by a registered dietician. The one I followed is called Nerva. Might be worth a try for you.
    by simonbarker87
  • > HEADPHONES, blinders, and 'No'. Eliminate unwanted inputs at the earliest point of entry.

    Open-floor offices, non-stop emails and chat messages, several meetings scattered throughout the week and the day.

    This kills productivity and increases stress and fatigue for people that need to concentrate to work on complex stuff. There's also the time you need to properly switch contexts.

    by boobsbr
  • The word "blinders" really stood out to me in this. Does anyone have a recommendation for something that is literally like horse blinders but for people? I genuinely feel like my peripheral vision is "too adept" and overwhelming sometimes. If I cup my hands around my temples and over my brow, I feel a sense of calm. Trying to find a real product that does this - but I suppose I could just try to prototype my own with an old baseball hat or visor that has some vertical pieces on the side.
    by whalesalad
  • I had a stroke roughly eleven years ago. When the stroke started, I got really creeped out. I was in an elevator and I thought a stranger was reaching around me from behind to grab me. It was my right arm. I cracked a joke about it, I didn't know it, but I wasn't soeaking. Just mumbling and making creepy gutteral noises when I thought I was laughing. Then the face droop. Followed by my right hand becoming locked in a fist. It took months on rehab to get it open. And it lost a lot of function.
    by wedgel
  • damn, sorry friend. Must be terrifying to feel your body essentially betraying you.
    by wonderwonder
  • Interesting to see all the people in this thread who had a stroke. I had a mild and then moderate cerebellar stroke within a 7 day span about two years ago. I remember being on the stroke neurology floor of the hospital with a lot of bed ridden people who had also suffered them. I know because, within 24 hours, I was doing hourly walking laps with my nurses because I was bored. In other words, I was one of the lucky ones. Within a week I was back at work — not because I felt pressured to by them, they were completely understanding, but because I had no more symptoms that were experienced simply because I was sitting down to work.

    I also see some advice about listening to your body after the fact, which I fully agree with. In my case, without going into too much detail, the stroke might not have happened if I had listened to my body beforehand, as it was caused by an injury I could have prevented.

    So if I could give any advice from this place of experience it would be to listen to your body, and try to hear it when your fears and ego are shouting.

    by hotpotat
  • > Interesting to see all the people in this thread who had a stroke.

    Indeed. My first thought was "....just how common is this?"

    by zahlman
  • I know a vascular neurologist who says that the average age of his patients has dropped by nearly a decade in the last five years. Many more "young" (<60) men with minor strokes, and more frequent serious strokes in the 40s for both sexes. He's treated as many under 30 y/o stroke patients in the last two years than he did in the first two decades of his career. He's a few years from retirement and basically completely rattled by this sudden shift.
    by giraffe_lady
  • Stroke survivor here checking in.

    As I understand it, post-COVID a lot more people are having strokes at younger ages, primarily from PFOs. 10–15% of us are walking around with a small pathway between the atria of our hearts, and if a clot happens to form, it can pop into the other side of your heart and get pumped straight to your brain.

    I was exceedingly lucky in that it cleared up on its own after about an hour. I was unable to speak and unable to move so much as a finger or toe on the right half of my body. I was completely incapacitated. They had me in the CT when it cleared up, and I immediately was back to my original self with no lasting defects.

    by stouset
  • For those in workplaces that treat you well. One suggestion that is not in OP: Tell others, explain, expand, give presentations on what you went through. Not only will it help your environment understand WHAT you are doing, they then are also able to understand the WHY. I've had my share of colleagues with afflictions. Your environment must know to understand! Otherwise, you are only allowing them to react to resulting situations, without understanding of the why. Second order benefit is that if people would do this more, general kindness towards how personal situations influence business situations would rise. We need more kindness, from understanding each other. (I understand this is an advice that does not work for those workplaces where HR is the enemy, the boss is their to get you, co-workers are in a free for all for bonuses and promotions. I hope most of us are not in that kind of work situations.)
    by wjnc
  • > I hope most of us are not in that kind of work situations.

    It is unfortunately very common and becoming more common with the rise of PE.

    by MisterTea
  • Strikes close to home. 8 years ago I was in a bike accident that took me out for 4 months. I instantly felt dumber. The headaches became a fact of life, and the need to get out of the house early in the day to avoid brain fog creeping in became a routine.

    It... sucks. I've still progressed my career and made significant strides, and come to appreciate things that I never would have noticed if I kept on my previous trajectory, and while I don't think about it much anymore, for years it ate at me.

    by OsrsNeedsf2P
  • Do you still have headaches?
    by az226
  • Had a stroke 2 months ago at 55, after an entire life (professionally since I'm 16) as a dev. I mostly followed these rules apart from when I got dragged into a project that was sufficiently interesting that I started overworking. 12-14h days.

    Just don't do that. I used to do that just fine and that's why I thought I was OK. I mean, I USED to go on in huge coding benders, did'nt I ? Well apparently not at 55, when the pressure has been on for months instead of weeks.

    Other things to watch -- diet! With the work came less free time, put on weight etc and all the good habits I had built for years, disappeared.

    And the worst bit you can think of is "Oh but I'm so CLOSE to being done, I'll just fix it up later when I can relax". Just don't.

    I lost all sensation on the right side. It is coming back slowly. I can still work, didn't lose speech or mobility or strength, I consider myself super-mega-lucky in that.

    by buserror
  • > when I got dragged into a project that was sufficiently interesting that I started overworking

    This is what bites. I have some really narrow interest areas that I can end up being obsessive about, to my own detriment. We have to be careful.

    Glad you didn't lose mobility and speech! I also feel lucky. I met others in neuro-rehab in far worse situations. For three months I couldn't walk and now thankfully do so with a stick and ankle brace. The hard stuff isn't the stuff you can see visually though. People see my floppy leg, and might presume that's the main thing, but nope. The big thing is the epilepsy, this constant monster present in the background. It's the invisible stuff that's often hard.

    by padolsey
  • Suffered a stroke in 2004 (migrainous infarction). Became half blind. Rested for a good year. Became a photographer for 8 years, then switched back again to software development. From then on, the limits were: WFH only, limit stress, run away from job if things go bad again. Nap if brain feels exhausted. Sleep, more and better. 20 years later (53yo), I'd say I'm doing great! Also fitness helps remind me to take care of the body...
    by weddpros
  • My dad's suffering with aphasia from a large half brain stroke too.

    You give me some hope things will get better for him.

    by typpilol
  • As a migraine sufferer this sounds scary and only today I have learned about it. What was it like? If I may ask. Is there a way to prevent it? I googled it and it seems to appear rather arbitrarily and suddenly.
    by apprentice7
  • > Became half blind. ... Became a photographer

    Impressive.

    by kleiba