I had often read accounts from other AVM and aneurysm survivors which suggested that large doses of hiking, bicycling, jogging, horseback riding, or even car driving were very beneficial to those of us seeking to recover from the effects of the serious cerebral bleeds.
My problems included facial expressions that were not
right, and these could be seen in family photos, although
mine were probably not as severe as suffered by many.
Could it be that exercises involving motion like those above
were really so helpful? I did not know, but slowly I got
into hiking until I could go on three mile hikes with my
wife.
When I got my driver's license back I found that large
doses of driving were very helpful. It was 2006, I think,
and we went on vacation driving several hundred miles
away, and wife was not feeling well, and I drove all the
way out. It made me more alert and I felt great, and while
there we were photographed where we were and offered
the photo for sale. We were both surprised to see that
I looked back to normal in it. The hours of driving seemed
to have a large immediate benefit and a smaller permanent
benefit. After returning from vacation my photos did not
stay the way I wanted them to, but after vacation the
following year they did stay the way I wanted after I also
drove tons that time. After that no more problems, five
years after my AVM and bleed. And the accounts I read
of others who continued with their bicycling, etc. seemed
to be so much better than the average AVM victim.
As I said in another blog, I asked a Dr about these motion
exercises and he told me that they are good for recovering
AVM patients, because they promote blood flow from one side
of the brain to the other. It worked for me. But only do
this when you are healthy enough to do it, with someone
around who can help you just in case.