clark,

when i saw your topic, i thought, hey i'm gonna do one!!! but my list is so eerily similar to yours, it would be like plagerism. i feel your pain clark, i really do.

hugs!!!!!

kim

p.s i still might do one and be the first copy cat

Thought I'd respond with a list of my own1. My sexual appetite

2. my sense of humor and quick-wit

3. my ability to hug my daughters and

my husband with 2 arms

4. the inflection and volume in my voice

5.the ability to think and speak quickly

6. my devilish and obnoxious ways

of thinking

1. MY ABILITY TO TYPE. ALTHOUGH I CAN OPEN AND CLOSE MY HAND, WIGGLE MY FINGERS AND SUCH, MY FINE MOTOR SKILLS SUCK.

2. WALK A MILE WHICH I USE TO DO IN THE PARK ACROSS THE STREET.

3. WORK. ALTHOUGH I CAN WALK, MY GAIT IS THE FRANKENSTEIN WALK AND I'M STILL WORKING ON BALANCE. I'M NOT SURE I COULD WORK AS A LEGAL ASSISTANT BECAUSE I HAVE TO DRAFT PLEADINGS, REQUIRING ME TO TYPE. MY COGNITIVE ABILITIES ARE OK, JUST MY MOTOR SKILLS ARE OFF.

4. THE ABILITY TO BE COMFORTABLE IN BED. CAN'T SLEEP ON THE AFFECTED SIDE (LEFT) PLUS LAYING DOWN CAUSES SEVERE SPASCISITY MOST OF THE TIME.

5. THE ABILITY TO CLEAN MY HOUSE THOROUGHLY.

6. THE ABILITY TO TRY DIFFERENT SEXUAL POSITIONS WITH MY HUSBAND.

7. THE ABILITY TO WEAR SEXY HIGH HEELS - WHICH I HAVE A LOT OF.

8. THE ABILITY TO WEAR DRESSES WITH SPAGHETTI STRAPS - THE LEFT STRAP KEEPS FALLING DOWN AND I CAN'T FEEL IT.

9. THE ABILITY TO KNOW THAT YOUR FOOD IS HANGING ON THE AFFECTED SIDE OF YOUR MOUTH (I SEE THAT QUITE A FEW FOLK HAVE THIS PROBLEM).

10. THE ABILITY TO IRON MY CLOTHES PROPERLY, ALTHOUGH I STILL TRY.

BUT NO MATTER WHAT, I'M ALIVE AND STILL PRETTY HAPPY.

i like lists, so i thought that i would do this one.

1. my facial symmetry. my lips are now asymmetrical. however, with the new 'plumping' lip gloss that i recently bought, i have managed to compensate for this asymmetry and have symmetrical, plump lips (the gloss better work-it cost me $38, plus tax.)

2. my ability to wear stilettos and high heels. i have been forced to invest more than a few hundred dollars on sneakers, flats and clogs since my stroke (OK-i have a shoe fetish.)

3. my affect/mood. my stroke has altered my brain chemistry and left me clinically depressed. however, with better living through chemistry, i can report that i am back to my happy, manic self.

4. my professioanl goals and responsibilities. before my stroke, i worked six days a week in my office and performed many independent child custody evaluations as a forensic child psychiatrist. these evaluations constituted 50% of my practice and my income. now, i work three days a week in my office and do not do custody evaluations or treat children at all. i am SO much happier.

5. my ability to have biological children. i'm not sure if this was 'stolen' from me way before my stroke by my autoimmune illness. however, i've never had a deep urge to have my own children or even to raise a child.

6. my bed partner/husband. i now have a new bed partner/husband. if having a stroke was the only way to lose the old one, i would have signed up for it.

7. my constant manic level of energy. again, i'm not sure if the stroke, my autoimmune illnesses, or a combination of all of them 'stole' this from me. however, i am still a lot more energetic than most 50 year olds that have not have strokes.

8. my choice of pets. i realized that after my stroke, i could no longer handle dogs in a city environment. when my dog, who was old when i stroked, died 3 years later, i replaced her with a cat (i already had 2 cats.) cats do not need to be walked.

only 8 things...i have to think about this more and try to come up with another 2 things 'stolen'...

9. my ability to immediately recognize faces of unfamiliar people.

10. my ability to immediately name all things/events/people/etc.

my realtime friends tell me that they also do this and none of them have stroked. i now write it off as a 'senior moment.' 8i almost always remember these things, even if it takes several days.

sandy