Phew, it's too hot. Where's that snow then?

"You look alright? They get it wrong then? Nowt wrong with your thinking I see. How come you use a wheelchair when you can walk?"

Sigh. I get variations variations on those kind of questions too often sadly. Nowadays, I try and change the subject - particularly if in the next breath they mention 'benefits' and how they can't get them, and could I...

Help them fiddle the bloomin' system? Heck no. Despite what lurid headlines you can read, you can't get, well, DLA specifically, without the backup of a string of health care professionals, and regular embarrassing, pokes, prods, high tech and very personal investigations, for as long as it takes.

Benefits are for people who need a little extra help with care, and being cared for. It's the responsibility of the people with a disability, and those health care professionals to keep the benefit payers in touch. When I read about the con artists, I think WTF? Who's prosecuting the Doc then? Did DWP not pull them in for assessment? (which they do, regularly)

Sometimes, you know people are having a dig. There's only one answer. Fine. Have the money, little as it is. But y'can have the bloody disability that goes with it.....

But sometimes, the questions are in innocence, and for those :-

When you have a stroke a part of the brain loses its blood and oxygen supply. The symptoms this causes depends on the part of the brain affected.

Every stroke is different and the effects can vary enormously. Some brain cells are damaged and can recover while other brain cells die so they cannot. In my case, I had a cerebellar stroke, followed by smaller strokes in other parts of the brain over a very long time, and continue to do so.

Many people make a good recovery and have hardly any symptoms. For others the effects are more severe and long-lasting. Which is why there is a continuous assesment. Recovery is most noticeable in the first few months following the stroke, although many continue to recover for many years.

Although there's a lot of publicity aimed at over 50's, it's because people who otherwise had been healthy before 50 can become more at risk later. In 2009, medical science has advanced so much in the last 30 years, we now know that what was once considered a health lifestyle - wasn't.

However, a stroke can affect anyone of any age, and The Stroke Associations campaign FAST, is aimed at the most common symptoms of stroke.