You would think that I had three days of freedom and so I would use it wisely and get myself rested? Not the way it happened, but then when life is booked out months ahead as it tends to be there is not a lot of choice as to what I do on a particular week. It is already booked onto the calendar.

I went to a "Stroke Seminar" yesterday. As usual it was advertised as being on a list of topics and it wasn't, the main speaker had changed. But that wasn't bad as the substitute was at least involved in Stroke medicine , being the Stroke Registrar from our main hospital. His talk was mostly statistics, but I learned a few new things, some of them scary. For instance, if you have a narrowed artery in the brain as Ray does, and it is packed with plaque and so de-oxygenated, the artery walls can weaken and you can have a brain bleed from that. If you have a series of strokes four years out from the majors you chance of having another rises to 40% above the average for non-strokers! And passive smoking (breathing in the smoke created by a smoking parent) leaves permanent damage that can increase risk of stroke (Ray's step-father and he worked on a small boat with an enclosed cabin and Pop smoked non-stop).

Some of my new "team" from the Community Stroke group were there and I had a chance to talk to the leader about Ray's depression which seems to have him withdrawing into his own private place again. His dr doesn't want him to go on anti-depressants ( number of reasons) and so I asked her about alternatives. It was good to discuss a few things that I can't do in his hearing.

Then last night I went out to met with one of our regular club groups for dinner. Again, without Ray being present I was able to honestly answer some questions without having to smile sweetly and say "Fine, thanks" when asked how I was. They got the longer version last night. It feels good to be able to be honest instead of holding it all in.

Also last night had one of our past members there, A is severely afflicted with Parkinson's disease, very shaky, much older looking than his years. One of our members, an ex-social worker and her husband had driven three hours to pick him up, bring him to their home for a couple of nights just so he could see us all once more. So some people's lives reflect their ideals and put them into action. Oh for the world to be full of such fine folk.