jriva

Clark,

Have you seen the August 22, 2005 Newsweek special edition, The Future of Medicine? I haven't read it yet but there is an article in that issue about cutting edge treatments for depression. Think it mentions an implant?

Jean

Loved the laugh! Thanks, Michael.

Jean

Marty,

I've heard of several people who slept like babies during their sleep studies. It's those $2000 a night bed and breakfasts that do it.

Jean

Phyllis,

The businesses around here are getting the same system. It's really weird, isn't it? The stores around here say you don't even have to fill out the checks or sign them? Huh??? I do, though.

Jean

Teal,

Good for you for making the hotel make the necessary changes for you!

I just want to pass on a little trick because it sounds like you don't know about it: If you tie a 3-4 foot cord or rope to a doornob, it can be used to pull a door shut behind you from your wheelchair.

Jean

Kristen,

If someone tried to tell me to "turn my frown upside down" I'd probably be sitting in jail for assault and battery. What a trite thing to say to someone dealing with serious stress and exhaustion!

If you want company in the corner sometime, let me know and I'll gather up some of the other caregivers and bring pizza over.

Jean

Hi Vicki and Scrappier,

There's a cure for menopausal hot flashes. It's called time. You ladies are giving me terrible flash backs. I was such a witch during my change of life....such a quaint little way of putting it...that's it's a wonder Don and I are still together. Hang in there, eventually get gets better and post menopausal life is pretty good.

Jean

Hi

When my husband was 4 months out from his stroke, he had the intense arm and hand pain and he got two Botex shots....that was 4 1/2 years ago and the pain has not returned. The pain specialist that gave them to him (in the neck) said that is often the case with recent strokers---that nerves settles back down with the just one or two shots.

Glad to hear you're doing well and Chris is improving!!!

Jean

Kim,

Ann Landers had a great classic column on how to tell love from infatuation. I have a yellowed copy of it in a scrapbook (circa 1970's) but I also found it on the internet: http://www.brandeewine.com/annlanders.php

In addition to what Ann writes, I'll also tell you that love doesn't give you black and blue marks, love isn't jealous or possessive, love is never degrading or cruel even during a spat. Love isn't competitive or a contest of wills. Love is supportive... and that's enough to give you food for thought.

Jean

P.S. to Pam:

Michael,

I wish you would have told me the line about the funerals years ago. Don and I would have made good use of of that one!

Jean

Teal,

You hit on one of my pet peeves. We tried to take to two vacations since my husband's stroke, using a variety of chain motels that claimed to have accessible rooms. Not a single one truly was!!! Even asking questions on the phone ahead of time didn't help much. The only bathroom we ran into that was truly set up nicely for wheelchairs had used such a slippery type of tile on the floor that, me as the caregiver, couldn't even stand up on it if there was a drop of water about, let alone help my husband make a safe transfer. It's a national disgrace that there aren't uniform laws regulating laws and inspections of these rooms. That carpet issue you brought up was in ALL the rooms we incountered, by the way.

Jean

P.S. I studied all the disabililty options when we built our house. The lower light switches are for people with no arm strenght which comes with other diseases than strokes. My niece would benefit from them. because of her MS.

Pam

Good thing you added that last hint. Poor Smurf and Steve were about to get themselves in trouble for no reason.

Jean

Marty,

I think I know the post you're talking about and that one really bothers me, too. It's just upsetting to see kids possibility throw their lives away because they probably have things they're afraid the doctor will tell them to stop doing---something they already know they shouldn't be doing anyway.

Jean

Pam,

I'm surprised that Cinder let you get away with putting "ding dong" and snake in the same sentence. I've heard snake tastes like chicken but nothing is as good as a ding dong.

Cinder,

I've here that tale about not dying until sundown, too. Makes you wonder how that got started, doesn't it.

Jean

Pam

I was going to stop over for coffee and brownies some day, but now I'm not so sure I want to sit in your garden. Maybe someone could paint you up a sign with that warning that Gary mentioned on it to scare those snakes away?

When are we going to hear more about your Yahoo Personal finds?

Jean

Kim,

I wish you luck with getting all friends on board, but I'm with Pam. People might show up once or twice, but not for the long haul. It's my experience that people will show up for the true emergencies, and while those of us who caregive may feel that we're still in an emergency, on the edge situation. We're really not after the first few months. This is our everyday life now, and people expect others to take care of their own everyday life problems. It's sad but it's human nature. Like how many of us sought out those in need (our elderly relatives for example) and donated a few hours a week at a certain time each week, and for the long haul? No, most of us showed up with it was convenient to work into our lives.

Jean

Amy,

I think we are all having our own pitty parties in our own way in these blogs. It's part of the therapeutical value of getting our feelings out in the open. Others here understand what we are going through, so it's a safe place to say what sometimes we don't even want to say to ourselves. You'll get this stuff all worked out..............we all will in time.

Jean

Michael,

I can totally identify with being labeled "slow." I was dyslexic and left handed in an era long before dyslexia was a known learning disability and left-handedness was something one of my teachers thought she could beat out of me with a ruler across the knockles.

No matter how you talk to yourself as an adult, those early childhood memories still come back to haunt you from time to time, don't they. It's really great that this site is helping you to see something that you really needed to see about yourself.

Jean

Janice,

I'm not sure that your list should have been titled "top 10 intelligent people on Strokenet." It should be more like the top 10 people who motive you, make you think, or who you admire. There are a lot of intelligent people on this site who keep their light under a basket and the people who 'speaks to you/your heart' might not speak to others, and vise versa.

No matter what you call your list, I'm proud and flattered to be on it! "Intelligent" is not a word I'm used to hearing in the same breath as my name. Common sense, yes, but not intelligent. I'm not.

Jean

I do red and regular potatoes in the microwave all the time. I use a vegetable steamer made for microwaves to cook them in if I'm cutting them up in quarters to mash or eat that way. Whole potatoes work best if on a raised (plastic) rack - one inch is enough.

Jean

Denny,

I was only teasing you about the recipe being real. I know people actually sell and eat chocolate covered ants so it stands to reason there's got to be recipes out there. I've seen them for sale in some pretty classy deli stores. Have you ever eaten them? What do they taste like? I heard they are crunchy.

That's a good trick about the lobsters. I'll pass that on some friends of mine who love them.

Denny,

You are too funny! Is this a for real recipe, for people who are into eating chocolate covered ants? I couldn't bear to boil lobsters because it seemed cruel, not sure I could watch the poor ants struggle to get out of the chocolate either.

Jean

Vicki,

That would explain a lot of the extreme tiredness, too, wouldn't it? Hope you get a confirmation soon. At least they have a treatment for Lyme's, don't they?

Jean

Hi Bonnie,

Welcome to the blogger's world! Your story is an inspiration! Keep up the positive outlook.

Jean

Michael,

Thanks for sharing your story. One thing I've learned in going to speech classes with Don is that it doesn't matter what the cause of the head trauma, the results and treatment are the same when you're talking damage in the speech center of the brain. You truly do have a lot in common with stroke survivors to understand the problems and frustrations involved.

Jean