Ardith Hinton wrote to James Bradley, "-Plegias  2B." on 06-21-05 20:53

 JB>  I was thinking just yesterday how differently one
 JB>  person can recover from an injury than another.
 JB>  But, how to standardize the injury would be the
 JB>  chore. 

 AH>           Yes, it would!  Nora had a stroke which was virtually
 AH> identical to the one my father had, for example, but she's recovered
 AH> more within a similar period of time.  In terms of
 AH> motivation & energy level I would say the two of them were
 AH> about evenly matched.  So... how to account for the
 AH> difference??  I see a number of possibilities here.  I'm
 AH> delighted to report she's alerted a few of our older
 AH> acquaintances to the likelihood they can recover something,
 AH> at any rate....  :-)

Anything... At any rate of return... It's all progress.

An Aunt has been complaining of hip pain for decades. My Uncle was so
accommodating, he was automatically fixing to move everything to within her
reach, where quite the opposite would prove therapeutic. The doctors convinced
him to leave it as it is, and she would just have to support herself when she
needed to stand to reach the top shelf, and that would do quite the opposite of
harm.

The easy way out, I was never really interested in. (Not the real easy way out
either. ]|-) To get my laundry done, I first have to lift and twist the basket
over this, and around that. (I mentioned I had too much fun at auctions for a
time?) Now that I am able to do that with some ease, it's time that I clear out
the clutter, and give myself another challenge/therapy.

[After 29^C today, and 94% humidity yesterday, I just caught my first real
breeze through the house since the rain stopped. B-]

 AH>           I'm sure they are, and I'm sure Nora recognizes
 AH> that too!  She has the ability to connect with people of
 AH> all ages & various conditions.  You can't walk well?
 AH> That's okay... neither can I.  It's a great social
 AH> leveller....  :-)

I really understand the value of courtesy more so than before. I may have given
you the clinical definitions to my situation, but perhaps I skipped the
affliction? They either nicked my sciatic, or cut into a muscle. For six years,
I had a half finished major landscape project to wrap up. By the time I had the
dirt where I wanted it, I could only go to work and promptly fall asleep.

Because I had only the dirt where I wanted it, I was perplexed why I was not at
all enthusiastic to prep the beds. Well, either the nerve was firing when it
shouldn't be, or the muscle would just complain every time I used it. Days off
were spent sleeping for Twenty hours, and the laundry just wasn't getting done.

"Here, try some of these." Oh, GREAT! I can do laundry again.
"But what about
the cause?" Here, try some more."

I'm just starting to get around with any expediency on a cane. Wheelchairs were
never a real option for me, as any sitting tends to exacerbate my hip pain,
unless I sit just so. ...Then my other hip starts complaining from the added
pressure, (LOUDLY!) or the tail bone flat out says "NOT A CHANCE!"

I'm starting to feel comfortable driving again, but if it wasn't for reclining
seats where I can sit back a couple of notches, and a Palates exercise ball,
(but flat like a pancake) acting as an air cushion, I can't drive for far at
all. Even still, I tend to putter out after a road trip with three or four
stops, and it's back home for a few days of R+R.

 AH>           And now that you mention "rigging" your surroundings to
 AH> challenge your abilities, I suppose we've been doing much the same.
 AH> The OT I mentioned had the right idea, I think, when she
 AH> asked what Nora wanted to do & then worked on ways of doing
 AH> it.  When Nora was in rehab she wanted to attend a picnic a
 AH> few weeks & some distance away, so we practised getting her
 AH> in & out of the car.  We refused to purchase a van... as
 AH> this OT had suggested... and Nora rose to the challenge.
 AH> She has risen to many other challenges too.  Sometimes all
 AH> a person really needs is a few minor modifications if
 AH> they're willing & able to stretch a bit....  :-)

Oh... Don't get me started. 

 AH>           If Nora is inspired to push the limits of her
 AH> ability we know she will probably feel the effects the
 AH> following day.  But how else can we find out where the
 AH> current limits are & how else can one reasonably expect to
 AH> expand them?  :-)

I was in hospital, and once the doctor found out I actually made it to the
restaurant, (Who can really survive on hospital food?) I was discharged the
next day. Sure, I could start a pot of boiling water at home, but I had to lay
down on the kitchen floor to wait for the noodles to cook. A balanced diet? At
least I had enough of beans and pasta to last me the rest of my lifetime. 

 AH>  But, as Nora says, "I still have some stories in
 AH>  me" & I certainly won't forget you....  ;-)

 JB>  Onward! <-;


 AH>           Onward & awkward, that's my motto... [chuckle].

And now it's my motto too! 

I adopted a Rick Mercer quote, "Safety first, time permitting."
If you've ever
witnessed almost any film or television production, you'll know that to be all
too true.

 AH>           Nor do I expect to.  Other people can read what
 AH> we have to say & learn from it... or not, as they wish.  If
 AH> we're not the best teachers for them, or if they're not
 AH> ready to hear what we're saying, I won't take it
 AH> personally....  :-)

(Cat's here again, I better close this for now. What a character!)

...And what else can we ask really? It's done for our benefit after all.


 AH>           There was a moment in time when Fidonet was apparently the
 AH> "in" thing. We had a lot more participants in those days, but
 AH> very few of them stuck around. The whims of fashion are
 AH> relatively low on my list of priorities... so I'm still
 AH> here.  Whenever I start thinking it's time to quit,
 AH> somebody like you crawls out of the woodwork!  I feel I can
 AH> be more open when I have a smaller audience.  And IMHO it's
 AH> healthier to light a single candle than to curse the
 AH> darkness....  ;-)

That's my motto. It's better to light one candle, than to curse when you burn
the house down!

I started on fido, when I bought my first modem. It was a fancy new invention,
that could send and receive facsimiles! 2400 baud... and off to the BBS I go.

By the time I was a Co-Sysop, I was privy to the sysop deals, but I needed a
node number, so off I go. I just *had* to get me one of them new fangled V.FC
28800s! Because of an advertising deal with a former Fido sysop, I was given a
free dial-up shell account, and off to the I-net I go. 12-13 years later, the
ISP realizes I still have a free PPP account, and I go looking for a fido BBS
in town. I don't know how, but I find one in the phone book! Here I am!!! 


... James
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