tdehaas

Hi Phyllis.. I saw Mark on 60 minutes a couple of weeks ago.. He'll make a great spokesperson ..He was extremely well-liked from his many years on the CBS Early Show.. How would expect to know him from the CBS news ..you have to change the channel from FOX every once in awhile. :roflmao: I won't comment on the MO Senate race and the Limbaugh-MJF story.. it's too disgusting, as is the junkie Limbaugh, for me to think about. have a good day! Your fav libnut Tom

JR Jenny read this and wanted to add a few comments: I’d like to chime in on this if I may. I personally don’t believe that people should marry if they don’t believe in the vows that they agreed to on their wedding day. This is why there are laws to protect individuals in broken marriages. I believe that everyone on this planet has a responsibility to help each other at one time or another. Some will help more than others. Some but none of us will survive if it’s a one way street. I wouldn’t want my spouse to be a care giver if they weren’t 100% behind me. I’d fear they’d build a resentment towards me and not serve either one of us. I apologize for my thoughts being so scattered. As you all know there are various degrees of dealing with stroke. However, when it comes to the caregiver either you’re there or not. Jenny I don't think either of us is disagreeing with anything anyone has said. It's an interesting subject. Just kickin the can! Tom

JR I 'm not debating the cargiver/spouse topic you pose. I'd be stupid .. But it struck me tha many relationship break-ups, particularly in the past, especially among the greatest generation, were governed by the same issues and struggles for the one spouse. I think my mom and dad stayed together unhappily for many years for 4 or 5 of the reasons you bring up and a there were no medical issues involved. And I was sad for them both. Tom

Hey sue Hot topic..got my attention as I'm sure it may grab others. I agree with most of what has been said by everyone except I would clarify a few things to try and be as helpful as possible. :2cents: Abuse is a very broad term and comes in many forms as was stated, however, all abuse is surely not criminal as much as we'd like it to be. i.e. I believe name calling can be abusive but is not a crime unless there's some kind of threat or gesture involved. As far as understanding abuse as it relates to stroke, I'm sure is a very complicated matter...way beyond my paygraqde :big_grin: On the surface, I do agree with Lin too. It seems it would be inportant to get to the root. Althuogh I think all abuse is rooted in contol and controlling another. Moreover whether anyone should or would want to contine in a relationship with any kind of abuse is the question to me. I have family and close friends, past and present, involved in abusive relationships though I don't thnk a Stroke is involved. I, too, think it's good that subjects like these can be discussed in forums like this. Specifically I think it's the light of day that helps solve many of the problems. Our society has the tendency to shun away from discussing topics like these and sweep them under the rug,... which just enabled the problems more. Good topic Sue Tom

Hey Sue.. That's pretty outstanding! Of course here is the Estados Unidos, tipping is what you do at the restaurant when you leave the waiter some dough for their good service. Not sure what they call that in OZ. If you were living here and had those kind of consistent results with college and pro football games. You and Ray would be my weekly guests in Las Vegas. :roflmao: A 11 team parlay here pays at least 450 to 1 ! Great tipping! Tom

Hey Phyl.. Glad to hear that Ernesto is not hurting you'all to bad! I'm not sure of who are thinking about, but, myself, I have have been a much more infrequent participant lately . Mostly due to unrelated issues, however, there are some personal reasons, site related and not, that have kept me less active. I am reading the book club book so i will be keeping up on that. I stop in from time to time to see if there's an interesting thread going that I might want to comment on. Be sure and know that I keep an eye on you, my favorite Bush supporter. I can't pass up any opportunity to take a shot at you for that if it's there :roflmao: Later Tom Meow Meow

Hey Ellen Great shot of Kelly and Kojo lounging. Jenny and I always stop and check out the weimaraners when we're at the show, beautiful breed. She even put a framed photo card with three shots of Wegman's in our spare (my) bathroom, so I'm remindered about them always :hahaha: Tom

Bump

Hi Rich in New York This is poor Tom in Washington...(I just couldn't resist) I have started reading and re-reading your post and blogs with interest. I see that you are ONLY 5 months out from your stroke.. I haven't read much about the stem cell therapy for stroke..your story has made me want to do that and i will ...but my first observation is .. .Are you not a little impatient here? and did not any of your heathcare people stress that? I bring this up because that has been one of the cardinal rules in stroke recovery that is preached over and over: All strokes are different and recovery takes time and things are measured in inches.. maybe we are all being sold a bill of goods. :uhm: I'm not trying to be negative so excuse me if i come off that way and set me straight. If i think how far i've come, my personal progress at 2 years is considerably more evident than my 5 months post-stroke. We are all different. I hope this all goes good for you and wish you the best. i will be looking forward to your reporting as I'm sure many others will be too. :cheer: Tom raining on parades in WA

Hey Sherri I've never been to AK but that is in the game plan when I can convince my DW to go with me. We are in WA so it's just short plane trip for us and they have specials from Seattle to Anchorage all the time. I would like to drive it but I would really have to sell that idea. So thanks for the travelogue i will file it for future reference. It 's good to read that your recovery progress keeps moving on forward and i think it's a big plus to keepi pressing and challenging yourself in any way you can. I really enjoyed reading this last paragraph. I'm not sure i understand all your saying but it's makes good sense to me for some reason. :uhm: Good Luck Tom

Smiley Baby- This is Jenny, Tom's wife. I lost my father when I was 12 years old and I understand your situation when it comes to family members. My husband Tom suffered a stroke two years ago April. Based on your blog, things sound pretty bleak right now. Regardless, you sound very strong from your blog. That part will be what carries you through this ordeal, trust me. Right now things are in disarray and you plainly miss your father and the strength he provided. Keep talking to him, he can hear you. And he may at this point be the only one that will listen and understand believe it or not. Take care. Jenny

I'm lost with Fred too. Is that freeedom or Free Dumb.. and in finding it I wonder of the costs and at whose expense???

Congrats!! Unions are worth their weight in gold many times..

Karen That does seem extreme to me too. All I've seen or read invovled the use of a splint or sling and/or glove. in fact my OT was thinking for me to use a mitt-like glove similar to an oven glove. I too would be concerned about a real time emergency if i had a 'cast' on my good arm/hand. Please keep us posted of the developments Tom

Sandy.. Thanks for the warning! :big grin: Tom

Jean If my work didn't improve, she threatened to withhold or cut out my fringe benefits. And if that didn't work than she said she might have to consider outsourcing the job to someone else.! :yikes:

AJ and all, My comments don't reflect the pack rat thread but after reading these blog comments I was reminded about an article i ran across on the web the other day that i was going to submit under Other disussiion but thought maybe here better. Tom From salary.com "We consulted Stay at Home and Working Moms to determine the top 10 jobs that make up a mom's job description. If paid, Stay at Home Moms would earn $134,121 annually (up from 2005's salary of $131,471). " After reading this I told DW that i wanted a raise.

Jean...LOL There's a local guy who wheels around town on one of those three wheelers. I don't know if he's a stroker but he's a real spectacle... His bike/trike has one of those long extended aerials on the back with a coontail attached at the top. It reminds me of one those antennas on a dune buggy. He has a couple of shiny boat horns on the handlebars with colorful streamers flowing off the ends.And enough red and orange reflectors attached to any conceivable location on the machine.. To top it off he wears a delapidated old cowboy hat that goes over his ears with some artifical feathers. I bet I don't have enough money to give him for what he'd want for it!! And I wouldn't want to get another and have to show him up :yikes: I looked bad enough as a double for a circus bear on my bike.. I just need a good costume!! :juggle: Tom

Hey Just S Seems to me that it might help to have a good talk with both your health and care givers about your goals and expectations with rehab and recovery. I'm sure, like everyone, you want a complete as possible return to physical 'normalcy'. The path and result are different for each one of us just like the effects of our strokes. I 'm commenting here because I had a recent conversation with my wife about me riding my bike with her this weekend.. seems she was about as enthused with me getting on my bike as your dr. was with you skipping. And we had a great little chat about the need and desire for me to be riding my bike. All I think my wife was thinking was that if I crashed and and burned then she would be right back there dealing with it as she was a couple years ago when i stroked. Now I had no trouble with the balancing issues as I rode my bike. It did require some special focus on coordination. I haven't gone skipping in quite a while. :big_grin: But as I remember there are some balancing and coordination issues beyond walking. So my guess is that the neuro was just expressing their concern and feelings about the need at this time for you to get beyond the basics until you are ready. Besides with the weight I've put back on during my 2 year recovery, I probably looked like a cicus bear on my bike. :hahaha: Good luck with the skipping ! Tom

Karen I'll make it unanimous by agreeing with everyone's comments up to this point and suggest that you answered yourself by the time your finished your blog. Tom

Hi Kim Just a suggestion: Quit buying you groceries where they sell bait..Hard to do down there, I know.. :big_grin: J/K Tom

Karen, Hola, Como estas? I'm curious as to where you found such good beaches. Jenny and I are thinking of heading down that way for a vacation ourselves. Her first visit..I've been down there a half dozen times or so, not including to party or a booze run or two to Tijuana or Juarez in my younger days. She would like to see some of Mexico before the Reconquista is complete. BTW a cane is just a smaller crutch. I inadvertantly lose my cane at 7 months and never replaced it. Cheers Tom