A Serious Wakeup Call

Starting this entry is very hard.  To quote Allison Curbo there are several people here at the center who deserve a level of praise. As I have been at the Center for Neuro Skills since April I have done testing under numerous therapists and each of them have helped me in ways that were unimaginable. Two such therapists are Bruce and Gerald.  Each day I have come to the Clinic was incomplete without a sighting of one or either the other. Today is no different. As I walk around the clinic for my daily routine I can hear Bruce's voice booming from somewhere inside the Center,  His voice is infectious and it fills me and many patients with a sense of joy. Just yesterday I was doing health club and Gerald commented on my beard saying he wanted to see me with a trimmed beard and haircut.  It was a kind comment--the sort given by men who admire each other. In ways there are many reasons I return to the clinic and give my all in the trek to get better.  Two of the best ...

When truth finally sinks in. For many patients there comes that time when there is a element of denial. For some think they will only be here at best three weeks. One of my my brothers, Skip told me that he lived in denial for a long time.   Being at the center was a real wake up call.   Much like Skip I had to adjust to the concept I would be working on many things, most importantly I would have to understand that my life would change, but I would get better.   It would take longer that I expected. I used to think that I would only spend about four months at the center, and I would only be here "just over the summer." The first truth bomb hit me when I was Occupational Therapy.   What I had referred to as my 79 percent side had become painfully obvious whenever I tried to write, or type of use as part of my testing.  Each time I used my right hand I tended to use my left hand to compensate--and the problem was I was right handed,  ...

There are many things that happen on the road to recovery. It is one in the morning, and I have left my wife in our bed as I search the keys trying to make sense of this grief that has overwhelmed me. There are very few moments that I  have been so sad at losing a person--even now I find it hard to compose the words that I hope will come out of my soul and be a touching tribute to this man, my friend. Mike Greg was my friend.  Before he left the Center he planned to return to work.  His job said he could return to work, and I was ecstatic for him.   Val in occupational therapy had told him normally she would usually be the person that would okay his discharge--that because he had been okay to return to work--she normally would make sure he was ready--I apologize, I do not have the words to write this post. I was so happy for Mike.  He was highly functional, and he had an infectious smile and personality.  We all looked on him as a sort of big brother--...

When I think back to the day I had my stroke I remember how my life was. Being at the clinic has been a serious wake up call considering the fact when I woke up I realize there  were several things I used to be very lax about.  The first was my health.   When I got up from the couch I used to groan.   The truth is my mother-in-law thought I was frail. It took a stroke for me to realize that I cared what she thought about me. I was very badly out of shape, and I ignored my blood sugar and my blood pressure which were both very high. It took a serious brain injury for me to realize I was killing myself--slowly and steadily.  To start with I had high blood pressure--I want to say I had hypertension but since my blood pressure was high enough to cause my stroke--as much as I want to call my blood pressure hypertension-- this is what caused my stroke.   I was also negligent with my medication.   Add all of this together--this is what cau...