43 is way toooo young to have a stroke. I hope you are on the mend, without to much residual damage by the stroke. Although April wasn't that long ago.
Aquariums are amazing therapy, they help to clear out the cobwebs. I have a family of disabled. Casey as I said has Aspergers Syndrome, he was diagnosed at 4 years old. His Mom, Megan, my daughter has Fibromyalgia, IBS, And GAD. And I've had 5 low back surgeries and 1 hernia surgery. So our 4 tanks are well watched on a daily basis.
The PWC (partial water changes) can be a pain at times but it's well worth the extra pain, to have healthy happier fish.
What kind of fish do you have? And how big is your tank/tanks? Do you have any photos? If so, please post.
For now I have a 55g in Casey's room with 14 Mbuna and a BN Pleco and a 10g QT with 4 Black Skirt Tetra. And In he living room we have a 55g Angelfish tank with 2 Koi Angels, 2 Gold Veil tail Angels and 2 Half Black Blushing Angels and 1 12" gold Common Pleco that we will be returning to the FS to re-home and trade for 3 long fin Albino BN Plecos, and a 10g with 16, 6 week old known fry (could be more) and 2 Green Dragon BN Plecos.
As you can see our hands are full but in the long run it makes my house a calmer home for all of us.
We are thinking of adding a 29g breeder/fry tank, in my room. Since our fish seem to keep having more fish.
One would think that working in a zoo would be a fun low stress kind of job, apparently not
You are in our prayers for a full recovery, from your stroke.
Fully recovered from stroke. No permanent damage. It was caught very quickly. I was at the hospital inside of an hour.
Not working at the zoo now. Haven't been in that field for about 12 years. My stress comes from somewhere else altogether. My daughter has been diagnosed with a serious anxiety disorder. We have been through inpatient treatment. Between that and the fact that treatment ate our finances alive, I have just come apart at the seams. It's been the roughest year of my life. Money issues and your kids hurting aren't fun - much less at the same time.
I have a 55 gallon that kinda fell in my lap last week. A guy on Craigslist basically gave it away with filter, gravel, tank, stand, lights - everything. All of the big expenses have been covered for free. I have gotten gravel and water in it. The filter and heater are running. I collected driftwood down at the Mississippi River. I soaked them in bleach and have rinsed and soaked and emptied them several times. A friend at work brought me about 20 pieces of rock today for free. So I'm just getting started. I'm taking it slow and doing it right.