fking

Stroke Survivor - male
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  1. fking

    My Knees!!

    By fking,

    Well the time has come along where my old knees are hurting so much it is very hard for me to stand up from a regular low chair, the church pews, my computer chair, and chairs in the doctor's office as I wait to see the doctor!
     
    I'm still not going to have knee replacements I'll keep what I got. I been cut on so many times from head to feet and shot up too so no more operations until it becomes a life or death situation for me! I'll take my chances! Then I'm told the older you are the less doctors want to operate on you because healing can become a problem with the incision area.
     
    Then I see many commercials on TV from lawyers about knee and hip replacements that went wrong and you may be entitled to compensations if you got a problem with your operation to contact them. So long as I can walk a little, use the scooter, and still drive too then I'm OK. I just hate being cut on and trying to heal after the operation!
     
    I'm sure in my case it's arthritis and old age setting in plus the stroke affect with no brain power to control the moving body parts on the paralyzed side. That was the big reason I said yes to having my sight corrected so I can guide my weak side and see where I'm stepping all the time to avoid any falls and broken bones at my age.
     
    Wouldn't you know this was the time my stair lift stopped working and I didn't have the name of the fellow that installed it almost two years ago! Come to find out it was supposed to be serviced every year and white grease put on the key wheels that turns the gears plus inspect the charger and the batteries.
     
    It takes maintenance just like a car does to keep it operating at it's peak performance level. I didn't know that until I got the manual out and read it. Come to find out that guy who installed the lift lives in San Antonio about 180 miles from me and the VA has to get the same guy to service the unit by sending them a purchase order to pay for the service. Lots of red tape from the VA I think.
     
    Meanwhile I can't use it until it's repaired in about a week I think. So now I got to go up and down the 16 stair steps with very weak knees! What a challenge I'm in for until it gets repaired!!!! Guess I'll be up stairs bound until it's fixed by somebody far or near!!
     
    I'm glad I got food and most of what I need in my bedroom!!!!
  2. fking
    Football fans get ready for the season opener in Football. Both college and the pros will be playing as usual. Last season we had many young kids in college and their parents were members here at stroke net.
     
    It was interesting to let them know how their kids and their dollars were doing in college. Of course when they graduate and get drafted by professional teams it really means a lot for the parents to see their names in print here!
     
    There were some on the cheer-leader rosters as well along with some that played golf in college too! Probably some of you heard about RGIII last year who is Robert Griffin the III, from Baylor college right here in Waco Texas with military parents here in the community.
     
    With me just knowing and reading about our kids in sports lets us know our money didn't go to waste in them getting a college education for four years of their lives! We as stroke survivors and care givers alike need something to uplift our spirits at times. For me it's a great past time to follow the sports and wish I had a kid playing any sport in college.
     
    September 8th is kick off for football to see your hometown or favorite team in action and there will be Monday night games each week too!!It should be an interesting season this year and we still got the World Series in Baseball to go as Golf comes to an end sort of when the weather is cold and snow on the ground.
     
    I can watch nearly all sports I know how the game goes except Hockey. To me that is a bruising game! So guys and gals get the remotes sit back in your favorite chair and be entertained with some great sports and games without paying the high prices of tickets to sit in the stands. For me to be in the stadium with my scooter wouldn't work too good and I would have to miss attending church on Sundays!!
     
    Thank God for the big screen TV's!!!! I feel better being at home watching all the games of the day and night!!
  3. fking
    Well it's pre season now but the regular season starts September 5th! Then we will have Sunday night football as well like it was tonight!
     
    Baseball is still being played and Lenny is all smiles as his team, the Red Sox are leading their division and should end up in the World Series come October!!!
  4. fking

    Good Days/Bad Days

    By fking,

    In time we all will have some good days and for sure some bad days but you know what, I'll take all I can get being a survivor like I am now. Over all I feel most of my stroke survivor days has been much better than my bad days and those days and nights too being shot at in Vietnam many years ago when you can't see who is doing the shooting. We have to say life is good and being loved by your wife/husband or other is remarkable!!
     
    We all know our days are numbered it's just that no one knows the numbers except the Almighty Himself and He is not telling no one even us!! It's days like these between good ones and those with pains and troubles that we learn to live our lives as best we can with rest, sleep, therapy and a few medications! After that we can laugh, cry, breathe and see life in a different light.
     
    I have read where many of us say our "so called" friends left us after our strokes but in some cases we found others and made new friends that in some cases are as close to us as our own family members. When we keep on living our lives as best we can good things will begin to happen for us. I have never been a worry wart but I do wonder sometimes about many things. Some I can control and some I can't.
     
    That brings me to my comforting thought of "letting go and let God." We are only human so what can we do about anything anyway however we look at it?? One of our members wrote..."Worry is a down payment on a debt we may not owe." How true, how true!!! The first time I read that I stopped worrying however, I do still wonder and many people do daily.
     
    Most of my wonders are simply wondering how I may feel when I wake up with pains or without pains so I can go where I want to go or do what I feel like doing??? That brings me right back to knowing "tomorrow is not promised". For that I know there isn't a lot we can do about anything. I take life as it comes because the world is moving around fast. We tend to feel much better by just letting things happen as they may!!
     
    We are here to see the world changing from what it was when we were much younger to what it is today so who knows what tomorrow will bring. Will it be war or peace, richer or poorer??? we just don't know for sure but I feel we would love to still be here to find out!!!
     
    So, if it's a good day or a bad day we have little say so to change the day or the hour. Can you believe it has been 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous speech "I have a dream"??? Good days and Bad days!!! We have to live them all after a stroke with what we got left!!!
  5. fking
    Our health and our recovery from a debilitating stroke of any kind is monumental in our recovery process. I have read many times over this past week or so where the survivors just don't want to be involved with therapy for their recovery process to take hold of their bodies to make them feel and be so much better than just laying there hurting.
     
    Sometimes it feels like we just take our meds, walk a little, eat something then lay down to rest our body and our brain. That doesn't do a thing for our physical body healing and being more mobile than the day before. On the other hand when we start off with a plan to recover the most like getting therapy we want to quit or not complete the process. We are only hurting ourselves and prolonging the healing process Our bodies need so badly to be better in the long run.
     
    Men are especially hard headed and just will not listen to wives, care givers, doctors and other people whom know best what is needed for a big recovery of our body functions. I came home in a WC unable to walk at all after a 5 month stay on the rehab floor of the hospital. I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to make it much farther in recovery. I saw others come in stay a few days and go home. I'm saying to myself will I ever be able to go home and get out of this place!! These mostly guys keep on coming in and going home in a couple days or less than a week's time.
     
    Attitude has so much to do with your recovery, it's like going to school all over again, if you study, try hard, and complete your assignments you get promoted or graduate with all the others. When I got home my wife quit her job to care for me in getting better and out the WC soon as possible. My out patient therapy started three days each week. I learned to walk first then to climb stairs. That much got me out the WC and walking to the kitchen table. Learning to climb the stairs got me out the hospital bed downstairs and into bed upstairs in my bedroom sleeping with my wife and I might add, having sex again, in over 6 months since the stroke made me disabled to a point.
     
    In my mind and through my own experiences with a stroke the best thing you can ever do is your therapy, stretching daily, exercising your limbs to the fullest and never giving up on yourself. Learning all you can in how to use your paralyzed side much as possible. Use that hand/fingers to try picking up penny's/beans from a bowl on the table. Use that weak arm with the other one to hold your cane overhead and down to your knees and back overhead several times a day every day. Don't quit or you fail and never get better to move on to other exercises.
     
    I'm telling you this because it works and it worked for me and others who took the time to tell me and show me how easy it can be. The end results are the goal in getting better and graduate to the next phase in recovery. Sure you need rest your body and brain need rest and you take out time to get that needed rest. It's not all day, all night in bed. When you were employed you went to work came home and got no rest then went back to your work job again then maybe came home and slept for a few hours. The same fortitude applies now in exercise, therapy and stretching your limbs daily. Also get a routine where your wife, care giver can help you stretch you limbs for you to recover the use in your limbs. A little bit every day is the absolute best way to manage.
     
    That's what I call health and recovery. It's a process that must be accomplished every day on a routine basis. It even advances your sex life with your wife or women survivors with their husband or significant other in today's world of political correctness.
     
    I want you all to know this was my routine and to some degree still is after 9 years already. I'm proud to say I got better was happier with life wanting to live and love with what I got left in my body. I'm proud of my wife for remaining by my side every step of the way, Thank you darling!!! In health and in sickness!
     
    I'll be willing to bet that when you do all of what I just stated you'll be glad to drive your automobile again, and do things in general you once thought would never return to you being able to accomplish on your own will and strength! God is good all the time I trust in Him daily for all my needs!!!! Perhaps you can too!
  6. fking
    With all the different kinds of weather this year the fall season is upon us and for the next seven days the weather men are saying we got 100 degree temps for all of those days. I really need to water the lawn front and back but with the heat all day the best time to water is late at night. Rain is something we haven't had very much of lately and the drought of a year ago is still showing in most yards on my street.
     
    I will just have to get up soon real early to get the watering done on my scooter. I bought one of those garden hose you see on TV that recoils itself and weigh a pound. I can handle that with ease. That will be better than having to buy more grass plots come next summer again. I have St. Augustine grass which looks the best to me and I grew up cutting that kind of grass with a real push mower with two wheels. That was work.
     
    Some neighbors on the other end of my street has good looking yards and I keep telling myself I will stop by and ask them what they may be doing that I'm not to get their yard to look so green and good. First of all my yard man is just a cut and bag the grass man. So for the small price he charges me I can't complain. I need a guy that will get the whole yard looking better and attend to everything for me.
     
    Then I hate to hire someone else to do other things to my yard to make it greener and more manicured like the neighbors yards down the street. I have a medium size tree that was planted when I bought the house and I put a rock border around it and flowers inside that to look a little better but my yard man don't set the rocks up if they are knocked down by kids playing or his own helpers move them out of place.
     
    Any yard has to be fertilized fall and just before summer to make the grass greener and rid the yard of ugly spots and dead grass. I have had this man which is my neighbor a few streets over from me since my stroke. I gave the lawn mower I had to my niece since he was doing a good job keeping it cut, raked and bagged up for such a small price. I had just sold my bowling pro shop so money was going to be tight for a time to come and I hadn't reached social security age at that time.
     
    Oh well wishful thinking and who knows what lies ahead with the weather and how the winter will affect us here in Texas. The leaves will start falling pretty soon again and the yard man does rake the leaves and use his blower to make the yard look better.
     
    I read Debbie's post where she has to get out in the yard and get things done that Bruce is not able to do anymore and I understand that. I don't think I could either without my scooter. I bet that would be a good time for Bruce to be out in the yard on his scooter while she is working the yard the way she wants. It does seem like time is flying by lately and before much longer the snow will be upon us in most parts of the country.
     
    I'll just take life one day at a time and see what happens. I will start back to riding my exercise bike and get more active again. Maybe I'll gain a few more pound back but since that slow heart beat thing I had I just slowed down from much exercise. I guess by now I'm back to normal. I really need to start therapy again too since I got my eyes done and can lift over 20 pounds again.
     
    I don't want to get too lazy and stop doing for myself. I cut out walking with the little dog because of the high heat and sun all day long at 100 degrees. We just go to the mailbox across the street and down to the corner stop sign and back on the scooter. She likes to run down and ride the scooter back to the house. Then come inside and drank water. I guess she does get hot with all that hair on her. I try to keep it cut to two inches long but those little dogs got plenty hair.
     
    I bet Ruth knows what I'm talking about since she got one for William that he loves just like I do. She stays right by my side all day to look me in the eyes trying to see if I'm OK. That breed is really personal dogs and she stays right with her little owner at night but when she leaves home she comes in to check on me and lay her head on my shoes beside the bed. Right now she is right under my computer chair as my grand daughter and her mom is getting ready to go some place.
     
    I can't take her with me it's too hot to leave her in the car even with the windows rolled down to a point. Starting next month, 1 September, I can take her into any place with me, no questions asked here in Texas (I don't know about every state) since I'm PTSD disabled by the VA I just have to show my papers only. No questions asked about her or if she is a service animal or not.
     
    She is potty trained so hope I don't have to pick up behind her. I will see that she does her business before we leave the house. You can imagine I'm waiting on 1 September to take her with me in some places I go all the time.
     
    I will report my findings when that part of my life starts in taking her with me inside public places here in our city. We have taken her with us to New Orleans and back so when we make a bathroom stop they take her around the side or back to the grassy area and let her do her thing. She will start to give a little sound when she wants to use it. So far never in the car so that's a good thing.
     
     
  7. fking
    Well, I had my share of computer problems the last two weeks or so. I got on here but couldn't make a post or comment to a members post or blog. I was never a true computer person and looks like I forgot what little I did know! I suppose the mind or memory has a lot to do with that issue after surviving any stroke.
     
    I hope all of you that post and comment often has learned about the edit symbol, when you put your arrow on it, it says (toggle editing mode) in the left hand corner so you can use your (Enter)key to make a space or a paragraph when you desire to not put every thing together. The computer repairmen tried to tell me it was my computer not this site but they soon agreed it was in the site. They never saw that done before now.
     
    I found out even if you are a computer Geek problems will come up you can't fix. Oh well, I guess that's how repairmen make their money fixing computer problems we run into often. Many of the carriers are adding more power to their services so you can run more gadgets at the same time or download much faster. It will cost you more each month of course.
     
    Reminds me of the times long ago when antennas on your rooftop to pickup TV channels in your areas was the thing to do then cable came along for a small price and much better reception and more channels. TODAY cable companies carries TV and Computer hookups for a hefty monthly price. Even Satellite is available for about the same price ranges as the cable companies.
     
    We can now get a lot but it also cost a lot. Dumb me, I just now noticed XXX movies are made available on these networks to your house, for a price, not just movies on demand. Here I was thinking that only happened in the big hotel chains. When you don't use it you don't know about it but the repairman mentioned it to me. Certain things we just don't notice sometimes.
     
    I thought you still had to visit a shop to buy those movies, gadgets and clothes on the XXX-rated side of the curtain or use a mail order business like it was when I worked in the post office. In my last Blog I mentioned I was going to get out the house watching all the news and visit the stores and Walmart. Well times has certainly changed and I hadn't noticed in those areas of entertainments.
     
    My mind is on my family, their well being, and trying to pay for what I got already from my limited budget of watching every penny. When you retire with little income you must watch out and not buy when you don't have the funds.
     
    I'll be so glad when I get this house paid off and my wife's car too. That's why I still drive my old 10 year old Ford Explorer and don't plan on another car for another 10 years if I can help it. If it gets me where I need to go by putting in just gas I'm OK with that! How else could I afford to make a Casino run now and then???
     
    This stroke has taught me how to be conservative and when my wife had to quit her job to take care of me at home years ago now the VA has cut me loose from home care so I hope my health holds up as I get older every day. We all know our day will come where we are here no longer.
     
    I have been on this stroke site since 2005, a year after the stroke and I learned a lot about strokes and recovery. I now am beginning to feel my physical body start to slow down. One reason I thought trying to bowl again might be the thing for me to do but that didn't work out to good in my case. I got to figure out something else to do pretty soon that doesn't cost much money.
     
    In my mind I never know what will break down or need to be repaired so I find myself trying to be conservative where I can cover the cost of repairs or replacements in some cases. We all have those concerns I know!! Just to keep this little dog healthy for my grand daughter is like another kid in the house. I see why some folks try to claim them on their income taxes by giving them a social security number. I can never go that route to jail trying to save a few dollars.
     
    Well, my rant is over but I had to get this computer repair bill off my mind. I feel much better now telling somebody because my wife wouldn't listen to me complaining. Guess I just keep paying the bill for the wood floors, the carpets, and the ceramic title she wanted down in the kitchen and bathrooms.
     
    I hope I'm not the first or only survivor that has experienced this situation lately?? It gets old quick!!
  8. fking

    Love Conquers Fear

    By fking,

    Have you ever felt that when you have love in your heart it seems to conquer many of the fears you have or has had recently? To me and for me I tend to have power over fear. I have read comments, blogs, and other writings here where the stroke survivor has fear that another stroke will happen again or that they can't make it through this stroke in fear of not surviving. I would guess over 50 percent of all survivors has thought that way about their condition after stroke. Even some doctors will tell your family members you may not make it but that doctor has fear himself and not trusting in God. Many people appear to be on a death bed and God bring them out.
     
    The truth is we are generally afraid of the unknown and our minds run away with many thoughts of what could happen or what might happen to us. Even faithful believers began to doubt their faiths and any belief in God and what He can do for us in our condition after a stroke. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Then as stroke survivors we start to search the internet to find statistics or anything we can say here is the records of survival.
     
    The only fear that God encourages in a Christian's life is the fear of God. The problem is many Christians fear people more than they fear God. Their fear hinders them from pleasing God because they waste their efforts appeasing other people. I'm no different I was scared when the stroke hit that I wouldn't live or I will have another stroke and that one will take me out. I forgot about the love of God and fear was all in my heart. I bet now I'm not alone in those early thoughts no matter how my Christian faith was at that time.
     
    I just want to say love conquers fear in your mind, your heart and in your household, in your car or when you are alone day or night. But we still tend to have fear without thinking how much God loves us as His people. Most fear is fear of the unknown and if we don't know God our fears can be double in our lives. We do not know what lies ahead of us , so we become apprehensive. Our imaginations can magnify problems until they seem insurmountable. At that point we will believe anything any person tells us forgetting what God has told us.
     
    Do we stop, think, and pray at that point? No, not usually but here is where I have learned that love conquers fear when you believe in God almighty. He is my refuge now and my life is so much better when I just trust in Him to see me through. I can pray that others might have a better life, a better time trusting in the Lord our Savior. That is why God gave us His Holy Spirit, to enable us to see things as God sees them.
     
    Fear is no reason to disobey God. There is no reason to live in fear when you have the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit within you. Fear will enslave you, but Christ has come to set you free. Love God and have no fear that you will be alright. Love of God conquers any fear any time in your mind. I have learned to trust God and pray daily. He gives me what I need to make each day He sends for us to see.
     
    As we get older our belief in God should increase with our love and He will be right by our side. We just have to trust, love and believe in Him.
  9. fking
    Well we planned a trip to do a bit of gambling but had to cancel. So many other things came up as usual when you make plans to go some place. The money won't spoil but could shrink some as we discovered there were other items that needed our undivided attention here at home.
     
    There is always another time we can make the trip and hope we return as winners too! My wife loves to play the penny machines all over the casino. Sometimes she will visit another casino close by when she is not doing to good in one casino. I really think and feel all care givers could enjoy a break from their survivors to have time for themselves to do something pleasing for themselves.
     
    I like to play the quarter machines too and I do pretty good considering the time I play. I'm a cheap player in that I start with $20 dollars and if I get no pay back in a few turns of the wheels I will leave that machine to go find another one that is paying off. Because I move so often, I am glad I use a scooter to get around or I would have very tired feet. I just can't sit there and keep pushing the button and not being rewarded.
     
    I quit pulling the handle long ago before the stroke when I was in the Army. Some of you casino players probably remember when we carried little cups around with us from machine to machine to put our coins in. The real dirty fingers you get from handling the coins was a trip but they had little napkins everywhere to clean your fingers.
     
    Now the "Cash out" button is there and out comes a paper slip you can put in the next machine you play or can cash it out in yet another machine to get cash back. It makes playing the machines a bit more fun and for me enjoyable on my scooter. There are always other players there in Wheelchairs, and using walkers too. I have to suppose the casino is a play ground for the senior citizens these days because there are always many of them playing all over the casino.
     
    I used to play card games but not since the stroke. Having one hand for me would make it hard to see my down cards peeking under the corners. Plus the card games has changed so much and I don't know how to play many of the table games being played now. Then trying to get my scooter up to the card table would be another problem for me.
     
    A change of scenery is good for survivors and care givers alike and a chance to clear the mind and get out of a normal pattern for a couple days. I don't know when we will consider our next trip but probably before Thanksgiving Day I think. Then my wife has relatives there in New Orleans so it could be anytime she is off her job for a couple days and I drive all the way there. That's an 8 hour drive for me and 500 miles.
     
    OK Nancy, Debbie, Coleen and others I will still go just don't know how soon now? This was supposed to be my birthday gift from my wife but now I get a dinner tonight from Golden Coral.
  10. fking
    THE FLOORS ARE FINISHED THE INSTALLERS PAID AND GONE. Now I need to go to the casino to try my luck at winning a little change. The only thing about that is it's not guaranteed I win. On the other hand it will be a short change of scenery away from the house that has been stacked up with furniture to get the flooring down and new carpets installed in the bedrooms.
     
    Now there is a need for a cleaning lady or perhaps a team to clean the whole house top to bottom. The installers don't clean up behind themselves like I think they should. I even had to clean the yard where they had the trailer parked to haul off the unwanted stuff they removed from the house. When the rain came for two days they had to move the saw into the garage. A piece of the old carped was placed there but still saw dust is every where on everything in the garage.
     
    My yard man says he will come on Saturday and get it blown out and cleaned up. If you brush up against anything your clothes are full of saw dust. They had lots more stuff to dump from their trailer so my wife gave them an extra 20 dollars to help pay the dumping fees. We had thrown out a lot of stuff we didn't want anymore. Now the rooms look a lot bigger. I think her birds with the huge cage will be the next to go if we can find a family that wants birds like she did years ago.
     
    Some of you may know about the day beds with the white metal frames that breaks easily and all you have left is the box springs and the mattress. Well she decided to toss it all out and many throw rugs and floor runners as well. Now we are having to look for those plastic desk chair floor guards for the wooden floors. The ones we had were for rugs on the floors with the little tips on the underside to hold to the carpets.
     
    Now her computer desk fits beside her grand daughter's computer desk so she can keep an eye on what she does on the computer. She will be 9 years old next month going on 13 years old for what she knows and will say at sometimes. The good part is she got promoted to the sixth grade so with her height that should be OK where kids shouldn't pick on her as they will be bigger and maybe taller too. She is skinny like her mom my wife's daughter.
     
    With all that said it's high time to be in a casino for a day or two since she doesn't work this weekend. The installers gave her a break for tearing up something they discussed so that saved us money from the original quote. I think it occurred when they were stacking things in one of the rooms out of their way for a bit and it broke beyond their repair ability.
     
    So we are probably off to the races (the casino) for a day or so to unwind and as I said win a few pennies. If not I'll be OK to come back home with the money I left with in my pocket. She hasn't been grocery shopping in a couple weeks to cut down on things being all around in the kitchen spaces.
     
    I'm glad this house job is completed what a relief. Now we can breathe fresh air again but the cleaning is still very much needed the soonest. Maybe we'll try Molly Maids Services to start if their prices are reasonable of course.
     
     
  11. fking
    My little wife got so many irons in the fire until she forgets how much stuff is being done while she is at work very day. It was supposed to be completed in three days, not so, they are still hammering away downstairs today but still got to remove the carpet from the staircase and install the laminated wood there after they finish the rooms downstairs today I hope. They are leaving that for last since I use the lift going up and down the stairs all day long.
     
    We are getting quality work from these guys but now it's just two of them doing the finishing work. At first there were a crew of 6 men when they installed the ceramic title in the bathrooms and entry ways. When the inside is completed I'm thinking of repainting the house but first replacing the trim boards at the corners which is nothing but paper particle boards builders use on many homes instead of real wood.
     
    You can see the difference where the yard man has trimmed the grass and the stringer has chipped away around the edges and corners of the trimming. Same way with the wooden fence around the bottom portions of it but it will have to keep standing as it is for a while longer.
     
    We have been in this house for 13 years already and just had the complete roof replaced by the insurance company but the rest of the repairs are on me to pay. I think this flooring will be easier to keep up than getting the carpet shampooed twice a month. We still will have carpet in the bedrooms only but will replace it later down the road with a carpet upgrade.
     
    Over the years we had all of my wife's family here at various times and all of them during hurricane Katrina in 2005. That's when the carpets got stained so bad with them eating and spilling sodas and drinks everywhere. The garage was filled with people too I put duct tape around the garage door edges to keep the cold out and burned the fireplace for heat. That time was truly a family affair.
     
    But you do what you have to do for family in a crisis at times like that. I'm just paying for it now so I'm OK with it and hope it doesn't happen again any time soon. Now is the time to get flooring as they are advertising great bargains on all kinds floors and carpets. Like buy one room get three rooms free and you can pick what you want from what they got.
     
    For that reason these guys stay busy all week long with different customers and they give you more off with each family you recommend to them. Half the choir members my wife has recommended to these guys to do flooring work for them. Other men in his crew are on other jobs now so they are making the money. All I'm hearing on Sundays is they are doing great jobs at their houses.
     
    The deal is you go to the store pick out what you want pay the store for it then pay him for the installation work plus 25.00 to haul it to your house. Not a bad deal when the company trucks want much more for delivery to your home. All they don't use or need they will buy it back from you. I think that's how they have samples to show you what's available at this warehouse which offers very low prices throughout the store.
     
    Well so much for this week who knows what's happening next week? The weather is much cooler in the 90's now and rain too. See Ya!
  12. fking
    I just had to tell all of you my walking unassisted is improving each day. I got the right health care lady working with me. She tells me, "I am not falling on her watch." I didn't realize it's that much of a difference walking with a quad cane and a single point cane. I have a hand loop string on my cane to keep from dropping it. That works great cause I can hold the cane not letting it touch the ground and walk unassisted. But it's there if I need it.
     
    I went back to the VA this morning to get a temp crown replaced with the permanent one but the doctor was in a class. I have to return tomorrow Thursday. I used the Valet parking and walked in close to the wall. There is a hand rail all around the hallways in every part of the building. I feel more secure walking close to the wall just in case I stumble a bit I can grab the railing quickly. That gives me more confidence to keep walking. I never felt that way with the quad cane.
     
    So for others using a quad cane, maybe you should try the single point at home first and see how you feel. I think my success is largely due to me using the machines at the senior center most days to make the weak side stronger. I can stand up without using my right hand behind me to push up. Right there is improvement on my part. I gotta be stronger in the weak leg now.
     
    I'm one happy camper, you can imagine! I thank God for my success!
    Fred!
  13. fking
    I can say most of the members here at stroke net has been looking and waiting for summer to arrive. Well in my neck of the woods it has arrived with triple digit heat almost every day so far and it's the first two weeks of July. This year may turn out to be one of those long hot summers and perhaps very little rain.
     
    Of course here we are familiar with droughts the last couple years and very low water and lake levels too. I hope to go fishing some but maybe in late evenings before the mosquitoes come out in full force. That sun will be too much for me to deal with from early mornings until I catch my limit. I usually just go out on the pier on my scooter and now I'll need a big umbrella to hide from the sun.
     
    I guess no need to travel to Florida for sun and fun this year I can save those dollars for the fast rising gas prices.
     
    My wife has decided to have all the carpet in the house pulled up except the bedrooms and put down laminated wood flooring including the stairs. She already had title put in the bathrooms, kitchen and entry ways front, back, and garage entry door. Of course we just had a new roof replaced earlier from a big wind storm back in February. She should be okay for years now without any major replacements due.
     
    Maybe when summer comes women feel things should be renewed around the house. For me I can look at it for years without thinking about replacing a thing that will cost me money. We have been in this home for thirteen years now and I think the dishwasher has been used a few times at best but we are on the second refrigerator already and each time a bigger one that holds more food at a time I feel we are eating less and she only cooks on Saturday night for Sunday dinner. From there it's left overs rest of the week.
     
    My wife loves to run up and down the stairs and she got my grand daughter doing the same thing but I got my chair to make the trip up and down. I just hope she doesn't fall in high heels on that laminated wood flooring on the stairs.
     
    She always wanted a two story house and before this we lived in a two story apartment. She is afraid to sleep downstairs thinking about the windows may be broken into but we have an alarm she insures is always turned on day and night. So all the bedrooms are located upstairs naturally.
     
    With this triple digit heat you can really feel it in our bedroom located right over the garage. So our next home improvement may need to be more insulation in the celling over the garage. I know in Texas this won't be the last hot, hot summer time!
     
     
  14. fking
    With all the incidents lately and the number of people dying I truly believe it is a real blessing being able to open your eyes and see another day! It's almost unbelievable the number of people killed in the last few days and last week.
     
    In the case of the 19 unique and well trained fire fighters in Arizona it is in my mind a real tragedy how the fire turned and gave them no chance to escape. Nevertheless, they all died doing a job of fighting fires and saving lives and property of many in the path of the fire. It hurt my heart to watch on TV the 19 Hurst carrying their bodies to internment.
     
    Then the train that somehow rolls downhill near Maine to explode tankers carrying crude oil and killing 13 people with many more missing. Shortly thereafter the flight from South Korea carrying nearly 300 people comes in a bit short of the runway and burns sending many people to area hospitals with two young girls confirmed dead.
     
    Not a person on that flight suspected any deaths or life injuries and paralysis they will have when they boarded the flight to San Francisco, California. Then we have the common every day vehicle deaths as a result of people driving and texting behind the wheel. Some have lost their lives just walking and talking with the cell phone to their ear and not watching the crossing lights or the cars.
     
    We awaken each morning by the grace of our Lord from a nights sleep as said we are dead to the world. Should we suffer a stroke and survive that's a true blessing in my opinion. Opinions are the one thing not all people will ever agree upon. Some will call it luck. Others will say it was purely not their time to go.
     
    I have to say from my heart it was a blessing from God above. I say that because how many times do we hear people say "Oh My God" when they come upon death situations in accidents?? They are saying God let them all be alive and in many cases they are but some are not in that incident.
     
    I always tell my wife "Baby, I love you and will see you after you get home." Many times with many people that is not the case. We never know what will or can happen when we are out in the public arena with millions of other people.
     
    I have grown into a habit of saying a prayer before leaving home asking my God for a safe return home. Hug your kids before leaving for school and tell them you love them while asking God to protect them. Still some kids are Bullied and hurt requiring medical attention.
     
    Guns and knives are commonly carried by kids and adults alike these days. Even in auto accidents tempers will flare up, a gun comes out and a person is dead. I don't get out the house as much as I once did but I feel safer in my house. I go out when I have to and I never ride my scooter on the street.
     
    Disable soldiers still on active duty now use scooters and veterans alike but using them on the street is asking for trouble in my opinion. I haul mine in the car to use when I park the car to get me inside the store or building I'm going into.
     
    Awakening to see another day we haven't seen before is by the grace of our Lord. Of course not all people believe in God, that's OK, He still protects them as well. Some just don't believe in what they can't see or in Spirits and they walk and live by sight and not faith.
  17. fking
    Many of you members here know that I suffer from PTSD and have since the Vietnam war I left in 1970 and returned to a hospital in San Francisco for treatments. Well, this morning on CBS news it was discussed that other medical illness can be caused in those suffering with PTSD. It was discussed that many people would suffer a stroke and that got my attention since I suffered one nine years ago and my PTSD sure hasn't gotten any better over the many years since I was diagnosed.
     
    In fact before the military knew about PTSD I had it and many other combat soldiers too. It was said we must have been smoking dope and my first wife listen to the news media describing the behavior as that. She divorced me shortly after I was released from the hospital in San Francisco telling me I was not my usual self but how did I know for sure when the Army didn't know either.
     
    In 1976 when a bit more was known about it and discussions got broader in range of knowledge in the military I was allowed to submit a claim to get paid as a disability. It took more years before any action was given to my claim or any claim for the disability. When more was learned about it the VA started a class for PTSD survivors in order to qualify to claim it as a disability for pay.
     
    After all those years and for me another divorce they gave me the lowest percentage 10%, and I got paid for having the disorder. It took many more studies for the military to finally accept PTSD as a disability. In 2010 I was reevaluated and awarded 100% in PTSD as a disability from combat. All the while it was in my records having been wounded and having a field operation on my back to remove a bullet while we lost two other soldiers on that mission.
     
    At first the Army wanted to say I wasn't a 100% when I left Vietnam but they later reversed that saying and awarded me the 100% with back pay I just received a few months ago with the help of an attorney. Many other soldiers are in the same situation with their VA claims still needing to be processed and paid to them.
     
    It was a real shock this morning to hear that one of the medical issues for people suffering with PTSD WAS HAVING A STROKE AMONG OTHER MEDICAL ISSUES. This lets you know many soldiers get denied benefits by not knowing what they should do or who they should see for help. The same thing happens to soldiers who were in the Agent Orange areas of Vietnam and now suffer from diabetes and many forms of cancer.
     
    They are not aware of pay and benefits they can receive by filing a claim with the (VA) Veterans Administration where they live now. Some soldiers have been denied before and just give up trying to file again. I say keep trying to file your claim for your benefits you deserve for your combat services you gave the military!
     
    Should any of you members be affected or have family members and friend you know may benefit please tell them to see the VA and file a claim for what they were denied.
  18. fking
    Well, it's back to daily routines so yesterday I had my injection on my right knee for the pain but I go back on the 2nd and 9th of July for the second and third injection for a series on one knee. The more I can sit and think about all I been through since I was 17, man it's a wonder I'm still alive and able to do all of what I can now.
     
    Next week I go for my injection for back pains where I got shot in Vietnam and operated on while still out in the field inside an ambulance to remove the bullet. With all that has happened to me including the stroke 9 years ago I'm still kicking just not very high. I know there are many others in worse shape than me so I'm not complaining just amazed at how well I'm still holding up with no break downs or mental problems.
     
    Now last night I realized My prostate needs attention again and more medication to control it so back to the VA doctor tomorrow or the next day since they released me from home care a week ago I have to make appointments to be seen. I use a urinal at night and I'm starting to fill it up 32 ounces instead of the usual 8 ounces. Then when it takes me five minutes to urinate in spurts that's a big problem and can keep you awake all night it seems.
     
    I had gotten used to calling my nurse and she or he would come to my house but that's over now and I must make the 25 mile trip to the VA to see a doctor now. It seems like when you get one problem fixed like my eyes done another one will pop up but that's life when you get older. Arthritis takes over your body as you age, your eyes get weaker, and your strength decreases accordingly.
     
    I guess I can say I don't get depressed where medications are needed and so far I can still do most things on my own. My wife is proud of that and she doesn't have to miss work to take me anywhere so I'm very blessed in that regard. Once I survived the stroke I thought for sure I would be stuck at home not able to go out on my own any time. That only lasted while I was in the wheelchair and my wife was off her job.
     
    Being a survivor for me has been OK, no complaints and I stand a good chance to get better even as I get older. I feel and think it was the things I could do on my own that got me to where I am now and especially being able to drive again after the stroke. I must say my scooter gave me hope and the big chance to get out and about on my own. I may have given up if I had to walk with my cane everywhere I had to go. That was too much of a challenge for my little brain and my physical abilities right from my WC days.
     
    That same WC is in my garage all dusty and I hope I never have to use it again in life. My exercise bike is my life saver to keep my body parts moving like they should when I can't get approved for PT by Medicare. So off I go to the VA to see what they can/will do about a new med for my prostate situation.
  19. fking

    Off To The Casino!

    By fking,

    My wife and I decided to make a trip up the road to visit and play in the casino again since summer will arrive on Friday and she is off for a couple days. It will be great for me to get out the house for a change of scenery and perhaps a streak of luck at the same time.
     
    I read about the good times some of you had going to the casino and it got in my blood to go before it get to hot. Should I get lucky and win a thousand or two I could get my air conditioner in my SUV fixed. It only blows out cool air on the drivers side and I hate riding with the windows down.
     
    Then my wife deserves a break from the bank and a change of pace too. I don't know how she makes it all day long on her feet as a supervisor in a 12 stall drive in bank, commercial window, and a walk up window to take care of customers for eight hours with just a lunch break. She has no foot mat to stand on while at the windows waiting on customers in very high heel shoes. Of course the tellers are sitting down taking care of all the cars that drive thru while she runs back and forth to attend their needs for a supervisor.
     
    Oh well that is a job she dearly loves and have had since her college days in New Orleans. Now at 61 next month she wants to retire when she makes it to 70 years of age. I'll be too old to help her count her money each month by that time if I'm still here.
     
    So I'll just enjoy each time we get to go away since she loves the casinos anytime she got a few days off. The closest casino to us is five hours drive in Shreveport, LA or in Oklahoma. Going to New Orleans is an eight hours drive but she has all her family members there too. That's her favorite get away destination and she usually wins on the penny machines while playing with her baby sister close by.
     
    I just play the quarter machines and sometimes I can play a long time on a 20 dollar bill then when it quits giving I scooter over to another machine. I think it's the idea of getting away from home doing something you like to do is what's enjoyable but winning is always better no matter how big or little you win. Maybe it's my time to win some because it's been awhile now.
     
    My daughter and grand daughter just got back yesterday from New Orleans visiting family and I don't know if they are wanting to go right back with us or not, I don't think so but school is out!
     
    I shall return rested some and maybe with some dollars too to fix my car. See all of you later! Hold down the Fort!
  20. fking
    I have never been so glad for summer to arrive and it comes Friday! The short pants, T-Shirts, halter tops and hot pants for the ladies are already showing up in the malls, Wal-Mart and other stores I visited this past week. The show of tattoos are in full view, men and women, this year. It's just a matter of how much sunshine we get before we get to see all the Sun Tans and many more tattoos I imagine. The basketball players all seem to be cover with tattoos all over.
     
    Not much rain so far but when it starts to fall the mosquitoes will be ready to bite everybody for sure. I just hope they are not as bad as last year when we had many deaths because of bites. So goes the saying, "If it isn't one thing it's another". I will be going to the Senior Center to use the machines as you wish and it's always free for seniors. Maybe I can get my left side to feel better and not so sore.
     
    I am about tired of taking my medications for pains that will get dull at times but never stops hurting with every twist and turn I make. I'm sure I am not the only one hurting. It really gets to me when one side is fine and my left side continues to be painful when I'm trying to do certain tasks. Bending, stooping, standing, and trying to reach things get hard to do with pains going crazy.
     
    I'm not complaining just explaining how my body feels on most days but I'm sure other survivors are having the same problems as I have with age. I'm certainly not a spring chicken by any means at my age.
     
    On that note I had to give up trying to bowl again in my condition. It proved to be more than I'm ready to handle at this time. The fun of being among others I bowled with for many years is there but me being able to physically roll the ball down the lanes and hit the pins was not happening like I had hoped it would!
     
    Old age brings about a change in body functions especially when one side is still paralyzed from the stroke. So for now I suppose going to the bowling centers to observe others bowling good scores and games will have to work for me! I started to remember all the 300 perfect games I have rolled to get my confidence up now but it didn't work for me.
     
    I have never sat on the park bench and watch the birds or feed them so with my much better vision in both eyes I will just watch the tattoos and be glad it's summer time and I'm still alive! I will enjoy summer time some how. I still got my little dog to care for and train plus being outside with her while my grand daughter is on vacation for a couple weeks with her mom!
     
    Have fun everybody get outdoors and breathe the warm air in the shade or sitting by the pool! Get up do something you like!
  21. fking
    Starting 1 September, residents with physical or mental disabilities, including war veterans suffering from PTSD who use service animals will be able to take their animals into all Texas establishments without having to show paperwork on the animal.
     
    Governor Rick Perry signed House Bill 489 on Friday. The bill allows residents with disabilities to use service animals in all public places, including retail businesses and restaurants, without having to show the qualifications or certifications of the assistance animal.
     
    This is good news for those who use a service animal to help cope with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the governor. For veterans suffering from PTSD, a service animal can be a strong part of their recovery and a comforting presence in the midst of what can feel like chaotic and stressful situations, Perry said in a news release.
     
    This bill is a smart way for us to give back and help any Texan, including our veterans, lead a healthy productive life. The legislation was created to prevent discrimination. Businesses and public facilities may inquire about the type of assistance provided by the animal for admittance, but cannot deny entry to the animal.
     
    I am pleased that the governor saw the importance of this bill for so many of our returning wounded warriors, said Rep. Jose Menendez, the bill's author in a news release.
     
    This bill is an important step in helping the growing number of disabled veterans as well as others who depend on service dogs in their daily lives to have the same right of access to businesses and other public places that all citizens enjoy.
     
    Well this will work for me since I'm home all day every day with my little dog while the child is in school and now going to the boys and girls center for summer activities before school starts back after the summer break. Most people I see daily think she is my little dog for that very reason. They can't believe how she hops on the scooter to ride with me.
     
    I tell them she stays right by my feet or bed all the time and monitor me to see if I'm OK and breathing by looking right in my eyes and watching my actions.
     
    We shall see how long this new law stays in effect in Texas and if other states will in act the same law in the near future for our disabled veterans. The big factor is not all veterans will get approved for PTSD. I WAS TOTALLY SURPRISED THEY WAITED SO LONG TO APPROVE MY REQUEST FOR PTSD OF 100 PERCENT.
  22. fking
    Things happen all the time and this morning was one of those times. I received the phone call earlier that my brother above me by a few years passed away at the hospital with his wife of many years right by his side. They came back to Houston last year from making California their home all their adult lives since high school.
     
    It's been like a roller coaster ride for them the past few months in dealing with their kids and all the bickering because of his condition. I think his condition was pneumonia which generally takes a person out pretty fast as he was 80 or 81 I think. He and my oldest sister came up together and she is now 83 just this past April.
     
    I am my moms last child raised up alone and I'll be 72 in July. Before me there were twin girls six years older than me. One of them passed a couple years ago and they each had 10 kids. I lost my oldest living brother in Houston two years ago now.
     
    Just got word his funeral will be tomorrow Saturday at 11am. My wife is off tomorrow too so we will probably leave for Houston early in the morning because it's a nearly three hour drive to that side of town in the Houston traffic. We will probably be gone for three days with bereavement days my wife will get for the funeral of a family member.
     
    We never know about life and for the most part have no control over it and we do know one day we must depart this old world. I'm not taking any computer or laptop so I will get in touch with you all when we return.
     
     
  23. fking
    The old sayings goes "If it isn't one thing it's another" It's so soon after the operations on my eyes I should give myself another week or so before I get into a reading habit and needing the glasses to read small printing.
    But I can get a pair at Wal-Mart very cheap I'm told but I will wait another week anyway. I can read my bills that comes in the mail so that's enough reading for me for now!
     
    I'm just happy to be seeing so much better and not needing the glasses. I'm still putting the drops in from three different bottles for another week or until it runs out. Had to delay my start of PT for a few more weeks to protect my eyes from any strains that could occur. So for now I will just be resting up and waiting for warmer weather to arrive and perhaps a little rain too. My grass is starting to grow again! The bald spots are almost gone in a weeks time with the little rain we did get so far.
     
    Otherwise life is good!!
  24. fking
    Tomorrow the service man comes to my house, mobile service, to repair the two back windows in my SUV so they can roll up/down again. I will need them this summer and my car is ten years old now so it's time things stop working and in this case I need motors to operate the two windows so they will work again especially when I got folks riding in the back seat. People tell me my car doesn't look like it's ten years old but it is and a Ford Explorer XLT at that.
     
    Well, the AC needs work too but that will have to wait awhile longer. It blows out on the drivers side just not on the passenger side so I need the two back windows able to roll down. It has a 179,000 miles on it so I'm keeping it as I hate to have a car payment.
     
    I will ask this same man what he will charge to get the AC done because the Ford dealerships all want over 600 dollars and really the problem is those little doors that open and close when you turn the dial on the dash board to different positions to make air come out to the windshield or on the floor or to the back seat area.
     
    Again the Ford dealers want 39,000 dollars for a new Ford Explorer that's more than for a Mercedes in this area and twice what I paid for it ten years ago. Another car for me is out the question. It takes 5 to 7 years to pay for one these days and I just don't need a new vehicle at my age. My wife has a 2012 Subaru outback and that should last her until she is too old to drive good.
     
    She hauls their dance uniforms, books, bibles and things when the church goes out of town to another church plus at least three other of the ladies, who like her, don't like to ride the bus or in our church vans. Riding the charter bus they have to pay and no coolers allowed on the bus. My two nieces who sings in the choir loves to ride with their Auntie as they call her instead of the church vans or the bus.
     
    We drive 50 miles to church and back home each Sunday. My wife loves the early morning services and I attend at the 10:30 hour with my sister so she will have a ride to church. We been at/in this church since we got married in 1998 and she will not change churches for nobody. There is a church two blocks from my house too and our churches congregate all the time for events. In fact our pastor was raised in that church where he got his start in preaching 32 years ago. The pastor who raised him up is deceased now.
     
    I guess I got wounded up and this Blog was about me getting my car windows fixed tomorrow. Now all of you know I can run my mouth. That keeps me from being depressed ever I'm too out going always something to do daily and the puppy is asleep right here by my feet!
  25. fking

    A Spring Time Chore

    By fking,

    Trying to get my grass to grow back in the front yard to cover the bald spots that has been looking so darn bad for some time now. We are finally getting a few drops of rain some days while at times the drought is still upon us here in central Texas. I'm trying hard not to buy more grass to put down since my yard is not the worse looking one.
     
    The plats of grass is so high through Home Depot and Lowe stores until buying it is expensive this year. They know we are in a drought and it cost plenty dollars to find a yard person to put it down correctly plus the cost of the grass itself and water you have to use in getting it growing.
     
    Another thing about this time of the year is the school kids will be out soon for the summer and that is vacation time for many of them. So we keep an eye open for crowds at one house or another in trying to avoid trouble before it starts.
     
    Being a survivor means making trips to the local stores shopping around for bargains and later shopping for school clothes as they are put on sale at all the department stores. Shopping for new cars are about over after Tax Return times. I notice now many cars with paper tags and smiling faces behind the wheel there are daily. Other shoppers will be in the market for buying houses since the interest mortgage rates has dropped so low this summer.
     
    For me life goes on and soon it will be ten years as a survivor and I'm saying thank God I have made it this far in my recovery process with my wife! Of course my body feels like it's been all of 20 years since the stroke. I'm not complaining! Just getting older with fewer moving parts without pains!!