Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

JB>  Well, that's at least a side benefit of hospitals -
JB>  the camaraderie. /-:


        Uh-huh.  One of the reasons we started this echo was that we saw
people going home to small communities where there was nobody else who had
experienced what they had... and we felt an alternative meeting place might
be useful.  :-)



JB>  I was about ten, when I was incarcerated with two
JB>  broken forearms.  Across from me, another kid with
JB>  two broken forearms. Both of us daredevils!


        It doesn't surprise me to hear that about you... [chuckle].



JB>  He only broke one bone at first though, and as soon
JB>  as he was released, he got right back on the same
JB>  wagon, onto the same hill, and busted up his other arm!


        I wonder about such individuals... but then I tend to do the same
thing with words & ideas.  Sometimes I get hurt.  And sometimes I find
folks like you whom I wouldn't have met otherwise.  Nothing ventured,
nothing gained....  :-))



AH>  As I understand the situation, this type of repair occurs
AH>  within the same hemisphere.

                             [...]

JB>  Ah, right. I forget where I got the notion of the opposite
JB>  hemisphere... Likely from another afliction.


        Maybe.  Or maybe it's because, generally speaking, the right
hemisphere controls the left side & vice versa.  People often find that
confusing....  :-)



JB>  I just *know* you two are conscious of body language,
JB>  and when Nora speaks of "Getting over the stroke..."
JB>  you don't give any subconscious messages.


        Thankyou.  I don't believe we do either....  :-)



JB>  I couldn't imagine the road you're on, but I'm sure
JB>  you want to encourage any progress possible.


        Yes.  Although you haven't experienced this particular condition...
and although you may find the medical details confusing sometimes... you've
grasped the important part.  *You understand what we're trying to
accomplish*.  I don't know how much Nora will recover, but I think it's
important to make the effort.

        I'll use an analogy with dogs here because I suspect that (unlike
those who regard canines as inferior beings) you'll see the similarities
between them & us.  I've heard it said that dogs understand very little
English apart from a few simple commands like "sit" &
"stay", for example... but I've also read some research results
indicating they understand about as much as the average three- year-old. 
Lady... a Great Pyrenees who shared our home years ago... understood
"I have to get up at seven o'clock to take my insulin" well
enough to insist on waking a visitor at the appointed hour even though he
wasn't talking to her.  I always spoke to Lady as I would to a child,
however, on the theory that neither dogs nor humans understand English well
if they have nobody to teach them.  :-)



AH>  Then they got the OT & the PT to figure out how to
AH>  get Nora out of bed & into a chair

JB>  OT, + PT?


        Occupational therapist & physiotherapist.  They specialize in
different aspects of recovery from strokes etc., and work together in such
cases....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+