Deigh

Jim, I've followed your mail for a while as a lurker since although very concerned with your situation there was nothing I could add to the excellent advice you were being given by other members. There is one thing I'd like to add though and that is about the crying. It is not showing distress but is the result of crossed wires in the brain and it should reduce. Six years ago I was in the throes of it and it was the most embarrassing part of my life. I would burst into explosive tears at the thought of something pleasant or even uncomfortable, I greeted visitors (even those I didn't like!) with hysteria. As a 84 year old male, this was completely unacceptable. It took two years before I could say that I had it under control, but even now I have to take care with bottling my feelings. Good luck, Deigh

As you suggest, these things take a lot of getting used to. I rarely use the auditorium stick because it is very clumsy. I only carry it when going to outdoor occasions when I know I'll want to sit for a while. Deigh

Becky,, I must hasten to add to my mail. New Zealand is not 'perfect'. It would certainly not held me as a youngster, there is more money to be earned overseas plus more exciting things happening. Here all youngsters look forward to their 'OE' (or Overseas Experience) where they can visit all the great places in the world and see all the latest shows and musical experiences. We all encourage them and wait anxiously for their return. If you are a keen fisherperson then NZ is for you. We have the highest boat per person ratio in the world. I can buy two licences per year for less than $200 and that allows to fish for salmon and trout in any of the 700 rivers and the 50 lakes. There are no private fishing rivers and only a couple of privately owned lakes by Maori. I come from England where snobbery is rife. Here the only person who calls me Sir is the doorman of a top hotel, even letters from my bank address me as Deigh. There is no colour bar and you can be a member of any club if you have enough money and are the right sex! Your boss is probably known by his/her christian name. Thanks to our social system it is impossible to starve and many of the homeless are there by choice. Our health system is paid for by our taxes and in an emergency I am guaranteed hospital treatment for free. Suprisingly though I will be billed by the ambulance! Sportswise we have the world's top rugby team the 'All Blacks' and usually a couple of players in the USA NFL, Kiwis have first climbed Everest and broken the 4 minute mile. We have a surprising number of world champion ladies teams and have had world champion skaters, horesemen, skiers, golfers and even nuclear scientists. Now you see why I emigrated here! Deigh

What a marvellous report on your climate! Here in Auckland New Zealand we have a moderate climate without too many extremes. We don't get snow locally but two hours drive would take you to some great snowfields. Up here winter would produce about a dozen frosts, but outside taps are not lagged! Summer gets pleasantly warm and but we rarely get to 30degrees Celcius. Auckland is a bit sticky humiditywise mid summer but not unpleasantly so. Air-conditioning is very nice but not essential. We are fairly windy but not prone to gales or wind-spouts. The spring equinox brings our worst weather of the year. We have no wild animals, NZ broke away from Gondwanaland before they came into being, so we have no snakes or crocodiles and things like deer, pigs, rabbits and possums have been introduced along with accidental migration by rats, mice, cats and weasels. What we have is a large range of birds of all sizes whose ancestors flew here. Many do not fly, food was plentiful and there were no predators. We have two poisonous spiders that very few people have even seen. We have an excellent health and social security scheme which is struggling with an ageing population like the rest of the world. BUT, we do have earthquakes. They are mostly just a giggle and the big one 11 years ago in Christchurch was the first one in fifty years that claimed lives. We now have five million habitants and the size of our country is similar to Britain who has 60 million. But please don't think of emigrating here, we don't want to share our beaches and fishing with any more people! Deigh

I have not had the laughing side of this problem but had a lot of trouble with the explosive tears and still have to play it safe when conversation moves to a personal level. This doesn't seem to be a problem with discussions with Valerie (My wife and caregiver) but mostly with friends and even family. This difference is difficult to understand. Deigh

I'm enjoying the chat, but I do have some problems with continuity, sometimes the subject will suddenly change direction and at other times get lost somewhere. Deigh

I'm very sorry to have written that mail. I seem to stirred up a hornet's nest with it. My skills as a medical man should be treated with suspicion, I'm not sure I could tell the difference between a sprained ankle, earache and appendicitis but 'm very sensitive abut blood thinners. Six years ago I was diagnosed with a cancerous spleen. They can't be repaired so the medical decision was to remove it. Whist waiting for the operation to come along it was discovered that my spleen was bleeding and the hospital doctor took me off my blood thinning tablets. The operation was duly performed and I was six months into recovery when the stroke hit me. I believe that I should have been put back on the blood thinners when the time was safe but it was overlooked and was responsible for the stroke. Hence my sensitivity. Deigh

Will, Most of us will be taking that blood thinner treatment. The major problem with it is that one must not stop taking it, so like the rest of us you are tied to it for life. Deigh

Managing to get to chat room more often these days but frequently find there has been recent activity which I've been unable to join. It is a pity that the time and date are not automatically shown on each conversation. If it were I'd be able to find out the best times for chatting. The full page shown on the chat schedule is rather confusing. Deigh

I can't give you any advice but your heartrending mail demands that I reply to you and say that I have seen this sort of problem before, it is not unusual for people who have brain damage to behave like this. You have my sympathy and that is all I can offer. Deigh

I think we all have this problem too, It is not unusual for me to ask my wife for a word I cant find. She is my walking encyclopedia, except when she cant remember either!, Difficult to understand what happened on last chat, you didn't seem to be answering me but having a chat with someone else whos avatar was not registering. Deigh

I am now in my fifth year and still fighting to get back to a level of living that is acceptable to me. I play the guitar and keyboards again but not at anything like the level I want to be. My talking has improved tremendously but again I am well short of having the sort of conversations I'd like. I practice whistling daily (When I remember!) and actually have got back to a little warbling. Jwalt put it in a nutshell when he pointed out that there are a tremendous amount of survivors out there who are worse off than me and this knowledge makes it easier for me to accept my shortcomings. Deigh

Hope, I amo n the chat line now, your avater is there but I dont seem to be able to have a chat with you! Talkative local keeps switching on but not talkin at all. Cant understand what is happening? Deigh

My tastes have not changed at all but I had to cut down on quantity since it became too easy to put on weight with present excercise regime. Only thing that has altered is my tidiness, eating is a very messy business as clumsy knife hand can bowl food over easily. I dont eat in restaurants now, only McDonalds where they are used to kids chucking their food on the floor and have full time cleaners to compensate! Deigh

Thar was a remarkable effect you experienced, I'm thrilled for you. As you say it doesn't matter how you achieved it, as long as it happened. Life is full of surprises. I had a lifetime of white tinnitus noise in my ears. Since the stroke it has gone! Deigh