Saturday, September 20, 2014

Stroke After Stroke: A Rower's Pilgrimage

Publication Date: September 5, 2014

Stroke After Stroke is the personal story of a recreational gig rower who survived a stroke at age 52, and of her relentless pursuit of recovering from the resulting hemiparesis (the loss of the use of her left side) even 5 years later, despite the medical establishment's stance that recovery for her has already ended.

Based on the blog she started 6 weeks post-stroke, the book chronicles how Barbara Polan has faced the losses concomitant with her injury, and the struggles of incorporating current recovery therapies into her attempts to resume her pre-stroke life. In the process, she re-shapes her new life into one that better suits her.

She has written the book she had hoped to read immediately after having a stroke.

Barbara has first-hand experience with the relentless repetition needed to establish new neural pathways that are needed to regain lost functions, and promotes investigation and optimism as necessary ingredients in any recovery. In addition, she offers helpful information and insight into the logistics and the emotional reality of survivors' altered lives, along with helping survivors understand that they are not alone.

This book will be appreciated by anyone whose life has been affected by stroke - survivors and their caregivers, family members and friends.

SSTattler: See as well The Murphey Saga by Jo Murphey -- New Release~Stroke After Stroke: A Rower's Pilgrimage by Barbara Polan.

The Most Important Tool for Speech Recovery After Stroke and Aphasia

September 12, 2014

There is not a day that goes by that I don't receive information about a new app, piece of technology, diagnostic big $ machine that is supposed to either do the therapy, help the therapist do the therapy, or a piece of software that is designed for the patient to improve speech if he sits down behind a computer or I Pad or does the therapy exercises out of a manual or book.

Isn't it amazing the comparison of  public school resource materials and equipment for therapy, versus home health, private practitioners, "world's greatest rehab hospitals" and college/university clinics?  These settings can have every app, test, computer program, standardized test, therapy equipment and the "latest and greatest," while other settings have a minimum of computers, i pads, workbooks, and technology.   Is one setting better than the other? 

Then there are the "intensive" programs sponsored by Universities and colleagues where people with aphasia and their caregivers go for 1-4 weeks.  Is this the answer for those looking for the "latest and greatest?"

So what is the best therapy machine, app, program, or "Method?"  Does all the technology, intensive programs, apps, software, etc really make a significant difference in speaking improvement?

Have You Been to ‘Hell’s Gates?’ #InvictusGames #strokesurvivor

Kate Allatt
Stroke Recovery Tips
September 13, 2014

Watching the truly remarkable Invictus Games Prince Harry has so brilliantly pioneered, made me think, ‘bloody hell those ex-servicemen and women have also been to Hell’s gates and back, big time.’

Everyone has tough times but when you hear of the physical and emotional traumas these people have suffered, you can only imagine (in your worst nightmare), if we really understand what a tough life really is? Should we put ourselves more out for others?

Do we moan unnecessarily in life? Should we be more grateful for what we have each day?

This is ABSOLUTELY not to say people can’t OR shouldn’t suffer mental illness for lesser experiences at all, as we all have different coping thresholds, but we must celebrate the inspirational way these people choose to cope with their massive set-backs.

Spasticity I: The "Magic" "Cure" for Spasticity Reduction?

Peter G. Levine
Stonger After Stroke
Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Why do I have spasticity? What can I do to get rid of spasticity? When will it go away?"

People who have any number of pathologies can suffer from spasticity. Spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) and other pathologies have spasticity as a sequela. This column will discuss spasticity as it relates to acquired brain injury which includes traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy and stroke.

Most clinicians provide patients with overly simplified, incomplete and often inaccurate information about what spasticity is, its etiology and its cure. Therapists generally believe that patients don't want detailed explanations. But patients need to understand their spasticity. Why? Having patients understand their spasticity is essential because spasticity will only reduce if executive control over the spastic muscles, by the brain, is restored. And executive control over muscles will only happen with repeated firing of the muscle in question, and repeated firing will only happen if the patient wants it to happen.

Spasticity II: The Explanation


So how can you explain spasticity to patients and their significant others in a way that is easy to understand and scientifically valid?

Outpatient Rehab Continues

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner
Sunday, September 14, 2014

We are still going to Outpatient Rehab twice a week, though now, I drive Bob there in the Bobmobile, which is so much easier, I must say, then pushing him there six blocks!

Therapy days are Mondays and Wednesdays, and Bob starts with an hour of Speech Therapy. The ST has really been challenging Bob and he really loves the process. They are now working on getting Bob to form complete spontaneous sentences, instead of his usual one or two words. She works with photos and pictures and a chart reading "Who" "Action" and "What", basically trying to get Bob to come up with sentences like "The guys (who) are playing (action) football (what)". She is also working a lot on "categories", having Bob say as many words in a category as he can think of, example: "animals".  Speech Therapy is fun, filled with lots of laughter, and Bob tries really hard to impress the ST.

Escaped Convict

Jackie PoffStroke Survivors Tattler
A man escapes from prison where he has been for 15 years. He breaks into a house to look for money and guns and finds a young couple in bed.

He orders the guy out of bed and ties him to a chair, while tying the girl to the bed he gets on top of her, kisses her neck, then gets up and goes into the bathroom.

While he's in there, the husband tells his wife: "Listen, this guy's an escaped convict, look at his clothes! He probably spent lots of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck. If he wants sex, don't resist, don't complain, do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates you. This guy is probably very dangerous. If he gets angry, he'll kill us. Be strong, honey. I love you."

To which his wife responds: "He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me he was gay, thought you were cute, and asked me if we had any Vaseline. I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong honey. I love you too!"

SOMEBODY Please Teach Us to Turn

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke
September 14, 2014

The photo shows the turns I take to prepare a glass of iced tea and a bowl of cereal with a sliced banana for breakfast.  I put the banana on a paper plate to hold the banana still while I slice it.

The photo is so complicated that I omitted the turns I make to get out yogurt to take my pills.  I will not even try to diagram the turns it takes to prepare a hot meal.  Walking in straight lines in the PT gym and walking around the block at home did not prepare me for this.  After I fell and broke my forearm while turning I got scared.  I learned to take itsy bittsy baby steps until I complete a turn before taking normal size steps in the new forward direction.

Help is emerging.  Chen and associates trained stroke survivors on a straight or a turning-based treadmill (1).  See the parallel bars in the diagram on right. Subjects who trained on the turning-based treadmill were significantly better at turning 360 degrees in place and standing on a cushion with both eyes closed and arms crossed over their chest.  Turning away from a kitchen counter is done by stepping backwards as you turn so information from the inner ears about how far from vertical you have stepped back is crucial.  Paradoxically, the turning-based treadmill group also walked significantly faster in a straight line with more equal time weight bearing on each foot as they walked.

PTs and OTs need to incorporate these findings into clinical practice.  Learning to turn needs to begin with how to turn around after you shut the bathroom door and again after you flush the toilet.


  1. Chen, I, Yang, Y, Chan, R, Wang, R. Turning-based treadmill training improves turning performance and gait symmetry after stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2014;28 (1):45-55.





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in

Hans Rosling and Ola Rosling:
         How Not to be Ignorant About the World

Published on Sep 11, 2014

How much do you know about the world? Hans Rosling, with his famous charts of global population, health and income data (and an extra-extra-long pointer), demonstrates that you have a high statistical chance of being quite wrong about what you think you know. Play along with his audience quiz — then, from Hans’ son Ola, learn 4 ways to quickly get less ignorant.

Standard YouTube License @ TED

Development and Control of a Robotic Exoskeleton for Shoulder, Elbow and Forearm Movement Assistance

Sharon D. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Applied Bionics and Biomechanics

Volume 9, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 275-292

Development and control of a robotic exoskeleton for shoulder, elbow and forearm movement assistance  (Article)

a  Electrical Engineering Department, GREPCI, (Room A-2612), École de Technologie Supérieure, 1100 rue Notre-dame Ouest, Montreal, H3C-1K3, Canada
b  Department of Mechanical Engineering, École de Technologie Supérieure, Montreal, QC, Canada
c  School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
d  Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation, Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, Laval, QC, Canada
View additional affiliations

Abstract

World health organization reports, annually more than 15 million people worldwide suffer a stroke and cardiovascular disease, among which 85% of stroke patients incur acute arm impairment, and 40% of victims are chronically impaired or permanently disabled. This results a burden on the families, communities and to the country as well. Rehabilitation programs are the main way to promote functional recovery in these individuals. Since the number of such cases is constantly growing and that the duration of treatment is long, an intelligent robot could significantly contribute to the success of these programs. We therefore developed a new 5DoFs robotic exoskeleton named MARSE-5 (motion assistive robotic-exoskeleton for superior extremity) that supposed to be worn on the lateral side of upper arm to rehabilitate and ease the shoulder, elbow and forearm movements. This paper focused on the design, modeling, development and control of the proposed MARSE-5. To control the exoskeleton, a nonlinear sliding mode control (SMC) technique was employed. In experiments, trajectory tracking that corresponds to typical passive rehabilitation exercises was carried out. Experimental results reveal that the controller is able to maneuver the MARSE-5 efficiently to track the desired trajectories. © 2012 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Tadpole Update - Spokes Fighting Strokes - Sep/20/2014

from
Anacortes, Washington to Key West, Florida
The Cast: Dan, Catherine, Bill, Dana, David


Date            | Start           ✔︎ = DONE
----------------+------------------------------
Jun 29 Stage  1 | Anacortes, WA; 462 miles ✔︎
Jul 16 Stage  2 | Sandpoint, ID; 342 miles ✔︎       
Aug 03 Stage  3 | Cutbank, MT; 544 miles ✔︎       
Aug 17 Stage  4 | Dickinson, ND; 413 miles ✔︎ 
Aug 30 Stage  5 | Pierre, SD; 485 miles - ✔︎
Sep 13 Stage  6 | Council Bluffs, IA; 559 miles - So far: 361 miles (581 km) / 6 days.
Sep 28 Stage  7 | St. Louis, MO; 570 miles
Oct 12 Stage  8 | Tishomingo, MS; 454 miles
Oct 25 Stage  9 | Mobile, AL; 570 miles
Nov 08 Stage 10 | St. Augustine, FL; 533 miles
Nov 23 Stage 11 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL; 189 miles
Nov 29 End   12 | Key West, FL; End of Ride

Some details from Spokes Fighting Strokes and CrazyGuyonaBike:


DanTrikeMan - Spokes Fighting Strokes:
"Road to Margaritaville" 9/17/14

Smithville to Hardin MO 59.6miles 2845ft climbing, max speed 37.11mph 64-68degree we wake raining we had TV interview left camp late 10:45 we stop Lawson for lunch & interview with newspaper! Check out David click on journal my website www.Spokesfightingstrokes.org 

Attitude is 90% of life, think positive! "Fins Up”
DanTrikeMan



David Babcock - CrazyGuyonaBike:
Day 82: Henrietta to Arrow Rock

Thursday Sep/18/2014, 64 miles (103 km) - Total so far: 2,647 miles (4,260 km)

Fog. That would be today's word. At least the word for this morning. It is cold and clammy outside, and very foggy. There is a light breeze blowing and when you stand outside for very long moisture condenses on you as if it were raining. We check the humidity level and it is 98% - can't get much higher than that I guess.

We try to get an earlier start today because it will be a pretty long day. Between the mileage and the predicted stops we will be out a while. Everyone is on on the road by 8:45. Not exactly crack-of-dawn but earlier than the last few days.

RMR: Rick Installs Solar Panels

Uploaded on Sep 28, 2011

Mike Holmes joins Rick in Oshawa, ON to install a rooftop solar panel system.



Standard YouTube License @ Rick Mercer Report

---------

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Saturday News


Contents of This Week:

Definition:
         Toastmasters International for Stroke Survivors

Toastmasters International
      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


SSTattler: Just in Edmonton, Toastmasters has 71 clubs; most cities has Toastmaster clubs for stroke survivors / recovery - find it by looking Toastmaster International in any country.

Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International (TI) is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. Through its thousands of member clubs, Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help people learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking.

The organization grew out of a single club, Smedley Chapter One Club, which would become the first Toastmasters club. It was founded by Ralph C. Smedley on October 22, 1924, at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, United States. Toastmasters International was incorporated under California law on December 19, 1932. Throughout its history, Toastmasters has served over four million people, and today the organization serves over 292,000 members in 122 countries, through its over 14,350 member clubs.

History


The Beginning of Toastmasters Clubs


Video:
         Toastmasters International for Stroke Survivors

SSTattler: Great Toastmasters - some has difficulties with various speech problems but they will delivered a very nice talk...


Toastmasters Inspirational Speech on Happiness

Published on Feb 19, 2014

My Boston Toastmasters speech recording on living life happy and surviving a stroke and moving forward with your life in spite of life's set backs and hard ships.

Standard YouTube License @ JP Amolat



Daily Comics



For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston

Canada Family Events
Dilbert
Scott Adams

Dilbert Office Events

Edmonton Journal
Malcolm Mayes
Politics Views from Canada

Doonesbury
Garry Trudeau

Politics Views from USA





  


** I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons. It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very, very low. Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using GoComics.com, Dilbert.com and EdmontonJournal.com.

Eclectic Stuff

Definition: Eclectic(noun) a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

Fascinating Research About Learning Brains

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith
Thursday, September 04, 2014

We know so little about the human brain. And for a lot of reasons - including improving stroke recovery results - this knowledge is so important.

Interesting item about research - admittedly, just monkeys - in which
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/aug2014/ninds-27.htm
scientists are plugging into a learning brain:
“We looked into the brain and may have seen why it’s so hard to think outside the box,” said Aaron Batista, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a senior author of the study published in Nature, with Byron Yu, Ph.D., assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. 
The human brain contains nearly 86 billion neurons, which communicate through intricate networks of connections. Understanding how they work together during learning can be challenging. Dr. Batista and his colleagues combined two innovative technologies, brain-computer interfaces and machine learning, to study patterns of activity among neurons in monkey brains as the animals learned to use their thoughts to move a computer cursor. 
“This is a fundamental advance in understanding the neurobiological patterns that underlie the learning process,” said Theresa Cruz, Ph.D., a program official at the National Center for Medical Rehabilitations Research at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). “The findings may eventually lead to new treatments for stroke as well as other neurological disorders.”
As we all know, monkeys aren't people. However, this kind of research might well lead to advances. Worthy of watching.




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in

Stop the &%$%^ Cap!

Friday, September 5, 2014


Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke
Let's say you've had a stroke. Not much of a stretch, huh? Now imagine a federal algorithm that determines the amount of therapy you'll get before you even have a stroke. Can't be done you say? Every stroke is different and so would need a different amount of therapy.

You'd think the amount of therapy you'd get would be based on what the clinicians sitting in front of you think you need. But yeah, no. That's not the way its done.

For stroke survivors the amount of rehabilitation available has progressively fallen as subacute stroke inpatient stays have dropped to an average of less than 16 days and as Medicare has capped the number of outpatient therapy sessions to 15/year.

And what really confuses me is why the Federal guidelines are not in concert with what the research says!

So, if you're with me on this, click the red image above and let 'er rip.

PS, the congressman who had a stroke, how much therapy did he get given the insurance provided congress? "...nearly a year of intense, grueling physical and occupational therapy."




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in

Kids' Wisdom

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler
Several years ago, I returned home from a trip just when a storm hit, with crashing thunder and severe lightning.  As I came into my bedroom about 2 a.m., I found my two children in bed with my wife, Karey, apparently scared by the loud storm.  I resigned myself to sleep in the guest bedroom that night.

 The next day, I talked to the children and explained that it was O.K. to sleep with Mom when the storm was bad, but when I was expected home, please don't sleep with Mom that night. They said OK.

After my next trip  several weeks later, Karey and the children picked me up in the terminal at  the appointed time.  Since the plane was late, everyone had come into the terminal to wait for my plane's arrival, along with hundreds of other folks waiting for their arriving  passengers.

As I entered the waiting area, my son saw me, and came  running shouting, "Hi, Dad! I've got some good  news!"

As I waved back, I said loudly, "What's the good  news?"

Alex shouted, "Nobody slept with Mommy while you were away this time!"

The airport became very  quiet, as everyone in the waiting area looked at Alex, then turned to me, and then searched the rest of the area to see if they could figure out exactly who his Mom was.

Lake Michigan Beach Walking

Dean Reinke
Deans’ Stroke Musing
Sunday, September 7, 2014

This was both great and depressing. Great because in the really loose sand I can now walk barefoot without turning my ankle. We did walk 1/2 mile down the beach on packed sand and then watched the waves from beach chairs for an extended period. Depressing because looking at the 2-3 foot waves rolling in and I can't get in my sea kayak and paddle thru them to the calmer waters further out. It was an 1.5 hour drive to get to a friends house  in Saugatuck, after the beach we visited art galleries and drank wine.

























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in

What Have You Done for the 1st Time Since Your #stroke? @fightingstrokes

Kate Allatt
Stroke Recovery Tips
September 6, 2014

Since your stroke what was the first time you:





  • Ate a meal with both a knife and fork?
  • Wiped your own ass?
  • Got into a car?
  • Brushed your hair or teeth yourself?
  • Tied you shoelaces?
  • Tied your hair in a ponytail?
  • Had sex?
  • Walked unaided?
  • Applied mascara or plucked your eyebrows yourself?
  • Slept throughout the night?
  • Really appreciated the love, support and care of your proactive loved-ones?
  • Really understood what actually happened to you?
  • Really understood the meaning of true friendship?
  • Drove a car again?
  • Felt in control again as a parent?
  • Returned to paid employment?
  • Accepted the stroke happened to you?
  • Found ways to cope with the ignorance of most non-stroke survivors?





So what would you add to this list?

Stroke affects so many things.







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in

The Importance of Being Encouraging

Barb Polan
Barb’s Recovery
28th July / 2014

Our son recently turned 30, but we weren’t able to celebrate it properly until yesterday, when his future in-laws threw a joint birthday party for him and his fiancée (who will turn 30 in a couple of days).

The birthday and the celebration have made me reminisce about the circumstances of his birth. Tom and I were 27 and 26, respectively, when Brian was born; no wonder we look so young in his baby pictures.

At the time, I was pretty small, Brian was on the big side (8 lbs, 10 oz), and he’s my first-born, so labor was a bear. I am not at my most charming when scared and in pain. Tom, on the other hand, calmly held my hand and encouraged me to breathe as taught in our natural-child-birth class. It irked me, given that Tom hadn’t bothered to learn when to use which breathing pattern, and, in the middle of labor, I didn’t remember, although I HAD bothered to learn when to use them.

So, there’s the back-story – me in pain, and irked. AND there were no clean bedpans when I had to pee, but the nurses wouldn’t let me out of bed because my water had broken before getting to the hospital; the nurses told me to wet the bed and then they rolled me back and forth on the bed so that they could replace the sheets under me.

Obviously, I was in a foul mood.

Violent Death Rates Increased
         After Traumatic Brain Injury

Bill (William) Yates, M.D.
Brain Post
July 30 / 2014

Anecdotal reports have linked traumatic brain injury with later violent death including death by suicide.

Few large epidemiological studies have been published on this association.

However, a recent Swedish population study published in JAMA Psychiatry provides valuable insight into this issue.

Seena Fazel and colleagues from the University of Oxford, University College London and the Karolinksa Institute examined a large database of over 200,000 patients with TBI.

Cases of TBI were identified from all Swedish persons born in or after 1954 who received a ICD diagnosis of TBI.  These diagnoses were assigned by physicians treating hospitalized or clinic patients.

TBI cases were then examined for cause of death using the Swedish National Cause-of-Death Register. Death rates for TBI were compared to two control groups in the period at least six months following TBI. One control group was an age and sex-matched general population group without a TBI diagnosis.

An Unexpected Return

Steven H. Cornelius
Music and Stroke
August 4, 2014

Last weekend I made my post-stroke orchestral debut at the Wintergreen Music Festival, where I played one of the many percussion parts in Ginastera’s Estancia. Admittedly, I played instruments that could mostly be played with one hand and required no particular expertise.

That was perfect.




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in

Good Planning Skills Are a Blessing and a Curse

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke
September 5, 2014

Being able to visualize the steps I need to orchestrate a complex task like the one below is very useful.  However, this skill also gives me time to worry about things that never happen.

Phase 1.  I planned to buy a new car before the end of the year.  First I visited Mobility Professionals to talk about modifying a new car.  I was appalled by the intense traffic on Route One in north Jersey at the mobility store.  I drove multi-lane highways to work for 25 years so I started worrying about pulling into that terrible traffic on Route 1 with an unfamiliar car.  Then I went on-line to see what 2014 cars were still available.  There was only one non-black Toyota Corolla within 50 miles of me so a commercial for the Toyota end-of-year sale sent me shopping.  I got such a good deal that I bought a car on Saturday, August 30th.  I kept my old car over the Labor Day weekend.  My new car would be delivered to the mobility store on Tuesday, September 2nd.  Because of the insane traffic at the mobility store I hoped they would keep my new car until the following Saturday when there would not be any work week traffic.

Phase 2.  While I still had my old car I purchased car insurance for my new car which turned out to be fortuitous.  When my friend Suzanne showed up at Toyota to take me home after I surrendered my old car, I got a call from the mobility store saying my new car was ready.  The salesman had told me they would need two days to modify my car but the job was done in two hours!   As Suzanne pulled out of the parking lot she suggested we go get the new car.  It was such a relief to stop worrying about the arrangements I would have to make to find a volunteer to do this task.

Comments

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery
Aug 30, 2014

I’m really good with words (hence the popularity and continued growth of this blog).  And because of that, I’m really good at being mean to people and making them feel like crap.  But I hate this about myself.  I have spent the last week being really depressed and that depression was triggered by a mean comment that was left on my blog.  I wasn’t depressed about the comment, the comment itself was absolutely absurd and ridiculous and was made by a guy with a whole HELL of a lot of misdirected anger. I was super upset about the way that I reacted to the comment.  I got angry and impulsively retaliated by saying a whole bunch of mean things that I later regretted saying.  Because of this I considered stopping this blog.  That was a very transitory thought and is now gone.  But the difference between myself and a narcissist with a God complex saying something like that is that I recognize when this happens and I apologize for it.  I’m very much aware of this aspect of my personality and am consciously trying to change it.  Other people do not recognize certain things in themselves, only in others.

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Self-Advocating

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga
Sunday, September 7, 2014

Someone emailed me recently and said they were tired of being their own advocate.It is often a thankless job where you are knocking your head against brick walls.

I understand.

But then, I've always been an advocate in one form or other. I fight for what I want. I'm a Don Quixote of sorts tilting at windmills. I refuse to see injustices and the little, often helpless, person get stepped on. But that's just me. I'm wired that way but not all people are.

I also believe in being proactive in the things that really count. This includes matters dealing with my family especially.

Way back in the early 70's, I spoke out as an ombudsman for the Lung Association. It was mainly a public appearance type position, but I took it seriously. Who knew then I'd have a husband with COPD? Not me.

The mid and late 70's through the 80's, I was an ombudsman for a naval squadron. Ombudsman/advocate/trouble shooter and solver. Yeah, I wore a lot of hats even back then.

In the early 80's, I found new new challenge to take up. This was very personal. It involved my two year old daughter who was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I studied, educated myself and others until I headed the entire southeast region.

A Nursing Home Mini-Series: The Final Chapter

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient
Sep 3, 2014

I planned on writing more in the nursing home mini-series, but I've been sick with some virus. I gave the nurse a stool sample so the people in some laboratory nearby will play around with it to decide which virus. I don't care really because I'm getting out of here this weekend, as long as it isn't life threatening like Ebola. My luck. Ebola.

Anyway, I'll give you a microwave version of what went on. I was going to write a whole post about the time Beatrice answered the cell phone in the dining room in the middle of dinner. Beatrice is hard of hearing. The person to whom she was speaking was evidently hard of hearing, too.

"I have diarrhea," Beatrice said to the caller. The caller obviously didn't discern the word. "Diarrhea! DIARRHEA! DIARRHEA!" Beatrice screamed.

A few people sitting nearby didn't blink because they were hard of hearing, too. The others went right on eating their dinner. I walked away from the table, and I was sorry about that, because we were up to dessert and the scrumptious pies usually served there are terrific. But I had no appetite. Diarrhea indeed.

And there was the time that two aides got in a verbal fight over whether they should serve chicken soup broth to a vegetarian. It was the height of the argument.

"You can't see the chicken because it's fuckin' broth!" screamed the one aide.

"Chicken is meat and vegetarians don't eat no meat!" screamed the other.

I didn't get involved, but I had my opinion, too. Chicken is meat. I'm just sayin'.

A few other posts were in construction, but I am calling this post the final chapter in the mini-series because it is. I'm feeling depleted of energy from the virus. I have rashes on my extremities, the "d" word (Beatrice would love this post), vomiting, stomach pains, fever, and nausea. If I were to take a guess, I'd say it was the norovirus. Same symptoms, same misery.




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Diarrhea, Pneumonia and Other Fun Things...

DianeThe Pink House On The Corner
Saturday, September 6, 2014

Things have been chaotic here, not only trying to buy a house (inspection on Thursday pointed out some other problems i.e. roof, hvac and we have more contractors giving bids and I have until Thursday to decide to go ahead or not) but meanwhile, Bob is cold/clammy/sweating and coughing a very wet cough, plus blood pressure a bit high, and chronic diarrhea -- but no fever.

And we had to run (quite literally) out of two therapy appointments and one doctor's appointment because diarrhea was leaking down the wheelchair..... GA!

And have you ever tried to change a Depends filled with diarrhea on an immobile, 6'3" guy who can't stand up, heck, can't even breach up his butt while sitting in a wheelchair?? Doesn't work so well. I know -- I tried last week and ended up with poop on my arms, hands, shirt and even in my hair! and I still didn't succeed....

Later that night, I could still smell it and found poop smears on my wrist watch.... aaaargh!

So, Friday, off to the primary care doctor who thinks it might be pneumonia and wants a chest x-ray and I'm saying, what? on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.? Before a holiday weekend? When I have to leave there and run to the bank because the seller (bank) who owns the house we have an offer on will not accept a check for escrow but wants a bank wire transfer before Monday --- grrr.... So doctor decides to just put Bob on antibiotics and see what happens -- at least this is what I understand, until Tuesday when I get a call from an "imaging center" wanting to schedule Bob for a chest x-ray after he's been on antibiotics now for four days -- huh? Which I declined... as what's the purpose of that??? Anyhoo, Bob seems better but is really tired, but has stopped the coughing, though is still sweaty but then, hell, I'm sweaty -- it is still summer here in Florida...

Megan Washington: Why I Live in Mortal Dread of Public Speaking

Published on Aug 8, 2014

Megan Washington is one of Australia's premier singer/songwriters. And, since childhood, she has had a stutter. In this bold and personal talk, she reveals how she copes with this speech impediment—from avoiding the letter combination “st” to tricking her brain by changing her words at the last minute to, yes, singing the things she has to say rather than speaking them.


Standard YouTube License @ TED

End the Awkward

Sharon D. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler
From Abilities Expo - End the Awkward.

Social situations with the potential for extreme awkwardness and embarrassment. Quick-wit. Deadpan delivery. These commercials combine so much of what we love about British humor in 52 short seconds.

More importantly, these ads masterfully leverage comedy to address a very serious issue of perception and acceptance of people with disabilities. Scope, a London-based disability advocacy organization, discovered that two thirds of British adults are uncomfortable talking to a person with a disability. This attitude, twice as prevalent among millennials, is most likely to stem, not from malice, but from a fear of causing offense by saying or doing the wrong thing.

"It turns out—in true British fashion—that we feel awkward and don't know how to act," said Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive for Scope.

Scope launched their "End the Awkward" campaign” to out the awkwardness that lots of people feel in everyday situations, and begin to shift the attitudes of a younger generation who might not have thought a lot about disability."

Though these folks clearly never got the People First Language memo, we think you will get a kick out of the clever interactions between two people who should not feel separated by disability.

Bend Over Guy: You don't even have to press play to cringe for this one.