If you are living life in the shadow of a stroke, D. C. Roberts might have just what you need to find the motivation to carry on. His advice is not from the perspective of the medical community or from the mind of one of today’s foremost intellectuals. Rather, his vantage is that of a person who has actually suffered through a stroke. Thus, the advice is pulled together from what did and didn’t work for the author. “The unique thing about this book is that, because it is not written by the usual people, it is guaranteed to have unusual information.” And unique is exactly what you’re in for with Dead Man Dancing: A Handbook of Stroke Survival & Recovery.
Sometimes in life, professionals hand out generic advice that makes the process look so easy. But in the real world, these oversimplified suggestions may be impractical, unhelpful, or downright impossible to implement. How much more so this can be true with complicated and individualized medical issues. What works for one person may not help another, so it is with this grain of salt that D. C. Roberts’ handbook should be ingested. He details with impressive clarity and perspicuity his own stroke event. The pages are replete with failures and successes, all colored with his honest feelings, frustrations, embarrassments and triumphs.
What readers will walk away with, besides some tips to implement in their own rehabilitation strategy, is a renewed sense of determination and hope. Despite a cancer scare, a broken hip, an unwanted career shift, and a slow-moving and frustrating recovery, Roberts never gives up. The message for readers? Yes, it is a constant struggle, filled with repeated setbacks, but if you want to move forward and regain some independence, the important thing is to stay the course. Sure to resonate with stroke patients and anyone struggling to overcome a physical limitation, Dead Man Dancing will impress upon you the need to get up and move, work hard on your physical strength, give attention to your mental health, and ultimately take control of your own rehabilitation.
