This is all speculation on my part. Your doctor should know a hell of a lot more than I do.
My brain reserve was built up.
by
1. bilingualism
2. new musical instruments,
piano, My daughter taught me 3 years prior but I never got beyond one-handed playing
saxophone, 3 years prior I started this but never got good enough to remember the finger positions after stroke. Its one of my goals now.
3. sudoku, I would do this every night before going to bed, worked my way up to doing the hardest ones in each book. Immediately post-stroke I tried this and couldn't juggle that many numbers in my mind, even the easy ones were off limits.
4. new outdoor activity, 10 years of whitewater canoeing. Providing both a cognitive challenge and exercise created neurogenesis.
My physical condition was great. Three years after the event during a physical my resting heart rate was 54 at age 53. The doctor asked what cardio exercises I was doing. 'None for the last three years'.
I received tPA within 90 minutes of onset of the stroke.
I wrote about this earlier here but this is a little more fleshed out. Video of Denison Falls there.
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/09/3-reasons-i-survived.html
I have to build up my reserve again to prepare for dementia or Alzheimers.
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