Stroke Survivors Tattler: August 2014

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Saturday News

Contents of This Week:

Index of Eclectic Stuff This Week:

Def’n: Steadward Centre - 2014

The Steadward Centre

Personal & Physical Achievement

SSTattler: You can enrol anytime but the programs are based on the university term i.e. September - December, January - April, May - August.

Our Centre, founded by Dr. Robert Steadward, provides high-calibre, research-based physical activity and sport programs for adults with impairments.

Please see the Website:
The Steadward Centre Personal & Physical Achievement

Who Our Programs Are For

Our adapted physical activity programs currently serve over 300 adults (18 years +) with a range of physical and neuro-muscular impairments that include

Spinal cord injury
Multiple Sclerosis
Stroke
Cerebral Palsy
Spina Bifida
Traumatic Brain Injury
and others

Fitness Programs Include:

Water in Motion
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)
iDance Edmonton Integrated Dance
Interval Circuit Training
TrailRider Excursion Program
Rundle Park Ramblers
Wheelchair Ball Hockey

Where To Find Us

View Larger Map

Video: Steadward Centre - 2014

The Steadward Centre

The primary goal of The Steadward Centre is to provide adults with physical disabilities with opportunities to improve their health, lifestyle, physical fitness and / or athletic performance. In an attempt to accomplish this goal, the following objectives have been established:

To provide regular fitness evaluations for adults with physical disabilities.
To design and prescribe group and individual training programs based on the specific needs, interests and abilities of each individual.
To supervise and monitor group and individual programs.
To design instructional and resource materials, equipment and techniques used in the assessment and implementation of programs for adults with physical disabilities.
To carry out research studies in the areas of fitness, sport training & conditioning and motor performance for adults with physical disabilities.
To expose students, coaches, teachers and other interested individuals to the most up-to-date information available in the areas of sport and fitness for individuals with physical disabilities.
To promote fitness as an important component in the daily routine of adults with physical disabilities.

Read more ===>>

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.

My Heart Will Go On

Pamela Hsieh
Rehhab Revolution

21 May 2012

I was talking to a fitness-savvy friend one day when he advised, “You should get a heart-rate monitor.”

My personal gym essentials.

What the heck was a heart-rate monitor?

Well, turns out, gym machines don’t always have an accurate read of your pulse while you’re working out, and based on your heart and its current standing with the rest of your body, what you need “cardiovascularly” really depends on your state of fitness. Work out too hard, and you could be doing more harm than good (e.g., burning muscle rather than fat, and who wants that?), and work out not enough, and we all know where that leads.

Since the heart is such a vital organ in health and fitness, I took advantage of a flash sale at my gym not long before I started working with my personal trainer Debbie (look out for her great guest post coming up Thursday!) and invested in a magenta Polar FT60 heart rate monitor (I have it on in my YouTube video).

I now almost never work out without it — to tell you the truth, I find it more motivating than Gym Pact alone. (I should write Gym Pact and tell them to team up with Polar so you can get credit for home workouts! Which is, by the way, my biggest annoyance with the Gym Pact requirements.) It keeps track of your fitness goals, how often and intensely you exercised, and keeps actual records of the data to track your progress.

Read more ===>>

Acute Brain Response to Exercise in Healthy Young Adults

Bill Yates
Brain Posts

17th February 2014

This month I have been reviewing recent research on the effects of exercise on the brain.

Exercise appears to have both acute and chronic effects on brain physiology and function.

Newer imaging techniques provide sensitive tools to study exercise and the brain.

Bradley Macintosh and colleagues recently paired an aerobic exercise task with measurements of cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen utilization.

The key elements of the design of their experiment included the following elements:

Subjects: Sixteen healthy adults (ten women and six men) between the ages of 20 and 35 years of age
Exercise task: 25 minutes of exercise on a recumbent bike with 20 minutes at 70% of estimated maximum heart rate
Imaging protocol: Subjects had brain imaging studies before exercise and 10 and 40 minutes following exercise using cerebral blood flow and functional magnetic resonance imaging using a sustained attention task.
Statistical analysis: Paired t-tests on behavioral and imaging data were use to compare baseline and post-exercise performance.

Read more ===>>

Easy Exercises to Improve Stability and Prevent Falls

Dean Reinke
Deans’ Stroke Musing

Sunday, August 24, 2014

If Harvard Medical School can write a whole damn book on balance and preventing falls, they there is absolutely no excuse for your hospital stroke staff not having a written stroke protocol for this. Any excuse like; 'All strokes are different, all stroke recoveries are different' is immediate cause for calling up the hospital president and reaming her/him out on the incompetence of the stroke department head. Damn it all, WE have to pay it forward and get our stroke medical team up to some f*cking level of competence because they've had years to do it and have failed miserably. But you can't do this on your own, that would be practicing medicine on yourself. Harvard Health Publications - Easy Exercises to Improve Stability and Prevent Falls.

We've all heard stories that begin, "She broke her hip and after that..." Broken hips can be disastrous for independence and long-term health. Fortunately, many can be prevented — more than 90% of broken hips occur because of falls.

One of the best ways to prevent falls is to maintain a sound, responsive, and enduring sense of balance.

This important Special Health Report from doctors at Harvard Medical School shows you how you can prevent falls. In its pages you will discover what you can do to improve balance and maintain strength, mobility, and agility.

Read more ===>>

Plyometrics

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Feb 21, 2014

Cool people call them ‘plyos.’ Plyometrics are jumps. I can’t jump, so no plyos for me right now. A plyometric exercise is when an eccentric contraction is immediately followed by a quick and powerful concentric contraction. What that means is that you’re stretching out a muscle by making it longer then using that energy to shorten the muscle really fast and powerfully. So, think of a squat jump. Jillian Michaels loves to have people do these on The Biggest Loser. Ok, first you squat down. This is using the quadriceps muscle eccentrically and stretching it out as you squat. Then you straighten your legs and jump in the air. This motion is concentrically contracting the quadriceps muscle by shortening it. And you jump in the air, that’s the plyometric part. You’re doing a high intensity burst by using all the energy you created when squatting to jump up. It’s a way to create power in a muscle. You stretch the muscle, then you powerfully contract it, concentrically contract it. Be careful with plyos, they can be hard on the joints. Sprinkle them throughout your workout. Like I said, I couldn’t do a plyo if I wanted because I can’t jump off the ground. If you can jump, try some plyos maybe.

See the original article:

Plyometrics

My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

A 30-Bucket Morning

Barb Polan
Barb’s Recovery

29th August 2011

I have 6 balls with my Saebo and, each time I transfer all the balls from one container to another, it's counted as a bucket. So, 30 buckets correspond to 180 balls moved. The most I've moved before is 126. Unsuccessfully dropping every other ball and doing a "re-do," 30 buckets translates to 270 successful grasps of a ball. In addition to grasping balls, I have become proficient at multiplying by 6 and bending over to pick up a ball from the floor.

A 30-bucket session ( in 45 minutes) is a successful one in my book - always my target when I start a session. I often hit my goal. Eventually I will be using tighter springs and doing more challenging exercises - for example, picking up a ball and placing it on top of a cone instead of dropping it. My hardest exercise now is picking up the ball and trying to touch it to my chin, then lowering it and dropping it into the container; right now, I get it nowhere near my chin, but in the general direction of up. Given enough repetitions, I will be able to do it eventually.

First thing this morning, I tried an exercise my OT gave me last week – opening and closing my fingers while my unaffected hand holds my affected one – no, not helping, just giving me a base as a target for my open fingers.

This morning, I was able to nearly straighten my first two fingers. “Nearly,” in this case, means, not all the way to 180 degrees from my palm, but more than 90 – maybe about 135.

Later today, it will go even better.

See the original article:

A 30-Bucket Morning

Barb's Recovery

Exercise and Stroke Recovery

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Nothing surprising in this report, how exercise aids in stroke recovery:

"There is strong evidence that physical activity and exercise after stroke can improve cardiovascular fitness, walking ability and upper arm strength," statement author Sandra Billinger, a physical therapist at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said in an AHA/ASA news release.
"In addition, emerging research suggests exercise may improve depressive symptoms, cognitive function, memory and quality of life after stroke," she added.
Despite these benefits, "too few health care professionals prescribe exercise as a form of therapy for stroke. There is a big gap in America between once stroke patients are discharged from rehabilitation and the transition to community exercise programs when they go home. Many are left on their own. We don't have a system in place to help stroke patients feel comfortable with exercise," Billinger said.

Photo from U.S. Centers

for Disease Control

and Prevention

It's pretty self-evident that exercise - whatever level you can - is generally good for you. It can extend the length and quality of your life. It can be a tool in preventing strokes and other serious ailments.

If you've been here before, you've seen lots of references to the benefits of exercise. And I'm convinced that my history of a distance runner helped me survive my stroke and get through recovery.

So - with your doctor's blessing, exercise if you can, to whatever degree you can.

See the original article:

Exercise and Stroke Recovery

Stroke of Faith

Hand Function Comes From My Gut

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

February 13, 2014

I learned hand function comes from my gut when a PT had me do abdominal exercises after back spasms returned (Back Pain + Stroke = Disaster). I was surprised to feel abdominal muscles on my paralyzed side burning from effort while I felt only a gentle contraction on my sound side.

I was amazed to discover the arms need strong stomach muscles. When I lift an arm, abdominal and back muscles must work to keep my trunk still so I will not fall over as the weight of my arm moves far from my body. After doing the exercise below for awhile it got easier to lift my hemiplegic arm to get my hand to an object.

My PT taught me to do leg lifts with knees bent. I decided to intensify the workout. I clasp my hands together, lift both arms over head, and do a partial sit-up by lifting my head and twisting to the left until my right shoulder blade lifts off the bed. I do 10 reps to the left and 10 to the right. Before I move I press my low back against the mattress and take a deep breath. As I move I slowly let my breath out through pursed lips. Holding my breath would increase my blood pressure.

But there is a catch - I had to do the exercise correctly to feel abdominal muscles on my paralyzed side burn for months. Dean cites a study that found stroke survivors who received real-time video feedback about how they did abdominal exercises improved their walking significantly more than clients who did not get feedback. My PT had superb clinical observation skills and the ability to teach. Instead of telling me how many reps to do and walking away she stayed and gave me verbal feedback on what I was doing wrong.

A 2nd catch is consistently doing a new exercise. After getting up to go to the bathroom I get back in bed to do back and hand exercises while my muscles are still toasty warm. So I added this abdominal exercise to my morning routine. You would not be able to see what I am doing because I do it under the covers.

See the original article:

Hand Function Comes From My Gut

Home After a Stroke

Stolen Identity

Marcelle Greene
Up Stroke

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Years ago when I worked as editor of a fitness magazine, I published an article about staying motivated on an exercise routine. It delineated the types of motivation:

Negative Consequence Motivators: If I don't exercise I'll get fat, my husband will leave me, I’ll die of a heart attack, etc.
Positive Consequence Motivators: If I exercise I'll feel better, I can buy myself new clothes, etc.
Identity motivators: I exercise because that's part of who I am.

They can all work. But the most effective is the last one because, psychologically, it's hard to give up a piece of our identity.

Coming to terms with changes in my identity as a result of the stroke has been the most challenging part of my recovery so far. After I began to realize the impact of my physical limitations, I cried a lot. I thought I was depressed, but a psychotherapist told me I was grieving. I grieved the auntie who got down on the floor and played with the kids. I grieved the domestic superwoman who took care of house, husband and garden. I grieved the yoga student with an almost-perfect triangle pose.

Now, stroke survivor is part of my story. I'm looking forward to a time when it is no longer my headline … when I can look back at the experience and see how it led me someplace amazing I wouldn't otherwise have gone. And then I can say, "No, I wouldn’t give up this piece of who I am."

See the original article:

Stolen Identity

Up Stroke

Tonal Exercises

Steven H. Cornelius
Music and Stroke

July 6, 2014

I practice piano nearly every day. After my stroke, I initially used the instrument mechanistically, as a vehicle for regaining left-hand movement and dexterity. I still use the piano in that fashion, but my focus has shifted. Rather than trying to achieve technical expertise (a quixotic dream, to be sure), I work to experience tone’s possibilities. The great majority of my piano “practice” time is spent listening to and conceptualizing pitch.

I have a practice routine, but because it revolves around unfolding musical intuition rather than technical studies, every practice session is different. Exercises are constantly evolving as I gain new insights and understandings.

Observing my practice sessions from the outside, it might appear as if I were doing nothing more than plunking out a tone or two every now and then. But I am listening intensely, then conceptualizing to the best of my growing ability. This is hard work. Depending on the particular goal, it may require several minutes to digest of the implications enfolded within a single pitch.

I generally begin my practice sessions by pressing and holding down a single key, so as to listen to its rich overtone structure (and part II).

Through this exercise, I have learned to identify nuances that previously went unnoticed, even though my ears were younger and far more sensitive. (I could write at length about this experience, but it is most valuable to do the exercise oneself.)

Read more ===>>

Exercise. Because.

Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke

Monday, January 18, 2010

I was interviewed for this article on the Cleveland Clinic website. What I like most about it is that it also mentions one of my neuroscience heroes John Ratey. The fact that I'm mentioned before him - and more often - is just plain wrong.

The focus of this article is the impact of exercise on stroke recovery. But exercise per se does not necessarily drive the sort of cortical changes needed to recover. Of course, it is important to do both cardiovascular and strengthening exercises after stroke, if for no other reason than the fact that life poststroke takes so much energy for two reasons:

Typically everything a stroke survivor does takes twice as much energy. A good example of this is walking. A stroke survivor takes an average of twice as much energy to walk as someone who has not had a stroke.
Stroke survivors are in about half as good a shape as age matched couch potatoes.
Although it hasn't been measured, neuroplasticity takes energy. We're not sure how much. But when you consider that the brain gets 20% of total body oxygen consumption, while it only represents 2% of total body weight, you can imagine how much energy it takes to drive neuroplastic change.

So the bottom line is that stroke recovery needs energy. And exercise is good for banking energy.

See the original article:

Exercise. Because.

Stronger After Stroke

Volkswagen - Eyes On The Road

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Published on Jun 6, 2014

Kudos Volkswagen. What a brilliant way to communicate how risky it is to use mobile phones while driving. Please visit and subscribe to www.youtube.com/MadOverAd to watch more amazing commercials from around the world.

Standard YouTube License @ MadOverAds

Problem Solving

Grace Carpenter
My Happy Stroke

Thursday, July 24, 2014

I'm a tall person, and I think of myself as fairly resourceful too, so I'm always surprised when I can't figure out how to get something from our high kitchen cabinets now. It was never a problem before the stroke.

Obviously it's harder physically now. But I think there's something else going on. Maybe mild cognitive impairment? Or learned helplessness? Or mind-body connections that are still being forged? Maybe all three.

For instance, the other day I wanted to make a smoothie. But our immersion blender was in the back of the top shelf of the cabinet, just out of reach. Usually, I just ask my husband or my children (who can climb up onto the counter) to get something I need. But I was alone, and after a few failed attempts to reach with my good arm, I was about to give up on the smoothie idea. Then I spotted the container of cooking utensils on the counter. I picked out a big cooking spoon, reached up, and gently dragged the immersion blender right up the the edge of the shelf. From there, I could grab it. When the kids got home, we shared a blueberry smoothie.

I was pleased that I figured out how to get what I needed. But later, I thought: wow, it took me more than four years (and a cooking spoon) to solve this problem.

See the original article:

Problem Solving

My Happy Stroke

Bringing Home The Bobmobile

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Saturday, August 16, 2014

On Thursday, we took our last wheelchair transport ride to a doctor's appointment.

Last Transport Ride

There will be some things about this service I will miss...

Like the door-to-door escort!

And not having to drive...

But others things I will definitely not miss. Like the 30-minute-window rule. And the 24-hours-ahead reservations rule. And the can't-leave-the-county rule. And the if-you-are-not-ready-in-five-minutes-we-will-leave-without-you-and-bill-you-anyway rule. Or if the doctor is running late, call-to-be-put-on-standby rule. And all that "hurry up and wait"....

On Thursday, also, the van company picked up Bob's wheelchair and took it to the shop to fit it with an E-Z lock bracket.

On Friday, we picked up our "new" used wheelchair van, which I have christened "The Bobmobile". That way, I figure, I can say, "To the Bobmobile! Quick!" as Bob and I dash off on our caped crusades. Anyway, the van is black, it's for Bob, so it works. And every vehicle needs a name. So add, The Bobmobile to the list which includes "The Little Blue Bomber" (my first car) and, of course, "The Green Machine".

Loading Bob in The Bobmobile

And. Friday should have been a good day all around, I was looking forward to it. Until...

It began to rain. And I'm talking RAIN, as in thunder, lightening, winds, streets flooding, traffic jams, the whole stormy shebang...

As if I wasn't nervous enough already. I mean, here I'm driving an unfamiliar vehicle, on unfamiliar roads (the dealer is way out in the boonies) and now I'm dealing with bad weather....

Read more ===>>

Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Botox and Therapy

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Well on the 14th I had my Botox injections. When the medical receptionist called with an appointment reminder, I told her I'd be there with bells on.

When something hurts you when you are already hurting, why get so excited about more pain? Mainly because I know that relief is coming. The idea of needles stuck in muscles and moved around; in and out, a little to the left or right until the most irritating static comes through a speaker on the EMG machine...is no one's idea of a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. It can take a couple of minutes to find the right spot and that's for one shot.

The whole time I'm practicing my Lamaze deep breathing to keep all my muscles from contracting. After all, it's in my best interest to make sure the neurologist hits the right muscles which are spastic. This go around we are up to 400 units. At over $100 an injection, I really need her to get it right. Otherwise I might as well flush cash down the drain. It's $100 for just the medicine part. The EMG, supplies, and doctor's fees isn't included in that. One round of Botox injections cost $6,500 billed to my insurance company four times a year.

Once again. I'm thanking God for the cap on my maximum out of pocket expense on my medical insurance. It was one of the first things I double checked on our policy after Obamacare took effect. The only change I saw was our monthly rates increased. Surprise, surprise.

Read more ===>>

A Nursing Home Mini-Series:
Praying Is Praying, aka Right Pew, Wrong Church

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

Aug 23, 2014

Beatrice drank water and wasn't dehydrated anymore, and improved to the point where she could participate in the nursing home activities.

Though Beatrice didn't know my ethnicity, she said, "Do you want to go to a worship service with me?"

The nursing home had a hall where any event could be held. Last week, a Polka tribute. This week, a worship service.

The worship service was at 7pm and I knew it wasn't the Jewish kind. We, as Jews, don't say worship service. Every Saturday morning, we say "Shabbat" service, and on the many holidays throughout the year, we have a service to commemorate that holiday, or Holy Days, as with the case of Rosh Ha'Shanah and Yom Kippur.

But we share a Bible--the Old Testament--and when it comes right down to the heart of it, we're all praying to the same God, so I said, "Sure. I'll go with you."

I figured, with a stroke and following my drop-foot surgery, a bunch of prayers couldn't hurt. In other words, I needed all the prayers I could get.

Beatrice was in worse shape than I was, so I followed the aide who was pushing Beatrice's wheelchair in my wheelchair through the narrow curves in the hallway, negotiating and steering with one left hand and foot. I didn't take the cane because it was too darn far.

Read more ===>>

Keeping Up Appearances

Robin
Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor

July 24, 2014

I’ve realized in the last few weeks that perhaps one of the reasons that young stroke survivors are such an overlooked group is that so many of us are trying to live as normal a life as possible that others can easily forget what happened. I’m regularly told that I look great, look normal. And while I certainly am feeling significantly better than I was a year ago, I can’t say that I feel normal!

I’ve practiced everything I need for regular daily life so many times now that I can pull it off just fine. But ask me to jump with both feet off the ground at the same time or do a small motor skill that I haven’t practiced yet and you’ll discover that I’m faking it. I’ve learned everything necessary to get by and stopped there. I’m so grateful I’ve even been able to make the progress I have…the fact that I am able to perform all my daily activities is a blessing that many stroke survivors are still hoping for. But I suspect that there are a lot of other stroke survivors like me…who inadvertently make people forget how devastating stroke is.

The absolute worst part is still the fatigue. I wish there was a way to explain brain injury fatigue to someone without a brain injury. How do you explain the fog, the wall? I’ve learned to pace myself, “zone out” to conserve energy, function in “idle” more of the time. So to others I look normal because I haven’t hit the wall yet. But my entire life has to be planned around it…and that’s not normal.

What stroke symptoms do you have that are invisible?

See the original article:

Keeping Up Appearances

Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor

An Arm Recovery Stroke Advance? @Fightingstrokes

Kate Allatt
Stroke Recovery Tips

August 23, 2014

Ever since my own discharge from hospital in 2010, I was convinced that electrical stimulation (ES) was in part responsible for helping restore life to my paralysed left arm.

I was sure my totally ‘paralysed-but-with-sensation’ left arm responded well to the experimental ES treatment I received. I believed it actually helped REWIRE my brain.

It got me thinking, ‘Just think if it was offered to all suitable stroke survivors & was applied early, frequently and repetitively enough, then more people could restore arm function post any type of stroke.

ES (not to be confused with functional electric stimulation FES) or a high powered, inexpensive TENS type machines are usually available over the counter and could make a ‘Neuroplasticity difference’ I think.

Furthermore, can ES perhaps reduce pain and contractures too? We need proper stroke recovery initiatives, not just stroke prevention marketing messages.

In the 3.5 years running my charity – Fighting Strokes – I am more convinced than ever by this technology after looking back over all my Facebook comments:

I used TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) on my right arm also as this is my weaker side.’ Allison O’ Reilly, 52 Brainstem Stroke survivor diagnosed and recovered from locked in syndrome.

Read more ===>>

Get Winning Results in Speech Therapy

Mark A. Ittleman
The Teaching of Talking

August 27, 2014

I’m going to confess to you, so please no one pass it around, that I am NOT a football fan. Shhh…Don’t get me wrong, I love watching football, but it was never that high on my priority list, so rarely would I ever be home on a Saturday or Sunday watching football games.

Serving people with speaking
difficulties for over 40 years

There always seemed to be other things that were more important. I have written this article for patients and clients, caregivers and parents and the new generation of speech language pathologists who are emerging and working alone or along side us “seasoned professionals.”

A man I have always admired had some core beliefs and values which I believe are vital for us all and I would like to share them.

The photograph of the man in the photo below was Vince Lombardi (R.I.P.) who was coach of the world famous Greenbay Packers, whose team won game after game and numerous super bowls. His players loved and respected him. These quotes, when adopted will make winners, especially for those who are dealing with speaking difficulties, and anyone else for that matter. They are as important as any technique, method, or approach to the improvement of talking.

***Please note that any references Coach Lombardi used in these quotations to “man/men” are intended for any person, whether the masculine or feminine gender; whether it be therapist, mother, dad, caregiver, friend, or person with speaking difficulty etc.

Teamwork

Read more ===>>

Anthony Atala: Growing New Organs

Uploaded on Jan 21, 2010

http://www.ted.com

Anthony Atala's state-of-the-art lab grows human organs -- from muscles to blood vessels to bladders, and more. At TEDMED, he shows footage of his bio-engineers working with some of its sci-fi gizmos, including an oven-like bioreactor (preheat to 98.6 F) and a machine that "prints" human tissue.

Standard YouTube License @ TED

Tadpole Update - Spokes Fighting Strokes - Aug/30/2014

John C. Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Road to Margaritaville

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 - Start...

Sep 13 Stage 6 | Council Bluffs, IA; 559 miles

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 Crazy Guy on a Bike):

"The Road to Margaritaville" 8/22/14

Akaska SD to Bob RV Park SD 36.3 miles 921.9ft climbing good, max speed 26.32mph This is God Country! 28 miles of quartering Wind 8 miles Headwind 20 mph Sunny 65-70 degree I dedicate this ride to "Jeff Mowry" donated for ride. Check out David click on journal my website www.Spokesfightingstrokes.org

Attitude is 90% of life, think positive! "Fin Up"

DanTrikeMan

Please see: Spokes Fighting Strokes for more information.

Read more ===>>

RMR: Harper Endorses Anders

Published on Apr 2, 2014

Gaffe-prone, sleepy MP gets nod in hotly contested nomination battle.

Standard YouTube License @ Rick Mercer Report

---------

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Daily Comics / August 23rd - Summer Holidays

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

A Blog Entry About Football-Induced Brain Injury.

Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke

Sunday, August 17, 2014

There is a problem when it comes to the issue of football and brain injury....

The people that know about football know nothing about the brain, and the people who know about the brain know nothing about football.

I know a little bit about both. here's my two cents:

I played football all through high school from freshman to senior. During my sophomore year, I never left the field. Kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return, every play on offense, every play on defense. I played pretty much every position on the field from nose tackle to linebacker and defensive back to quarterback to receiver.

Are you interested in having your kids play football? Are you wondering if the years you played may have left a residual affect on your brain? Here are a few things that you should know:

Other sports have head injuries. A lot of the popular press points this out. They say "Well, you hit your head in soccer when you head the ball." "When you play hockey you can get checked, that can cause a head injury." Of course they're both true. You could potentially have a head injury in almost any sport. Absolutely. No question. You could hit your head a few times a game.

I think most people seem not to realize is that in football you hit your head on almost every play. You are either blocking someone, trying to run over someone or falling. When you fall in football it is not a controlled fall. There's a variety of forces -usually other peoples bodies-- that impact the trajectory of your fall. All control is gone. Also, a lot of the time your hands are full, usually with somebody else's jersey.

Read more ===>>

Pages

Saturday, August 30, 2014

The Steadward Centre

Personal & Physical Achievement

Who Our Programs Are For

Fitness Programs Include:

Teamwork

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

Some details from Spokes Fighting Strokes (and Crazy Guy on a Bike):

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Road to Margaritaville

from

Anacortes, Washington to Key West, Florida

The Cast: Dan, Catherine, Bill, Dana, David