Last time I'll be invited

Work is over for the day and made my phone call to my daughter and now just sitting here waiting for dinner which will be in about 15-20 minutes so while starting this now I probably won't actually post until later.

Therapy was good, or in the case of the OT, indifferent. Have yet to figure out what exacty the hell is the difference between Physical therapy (PT) and Occupational therapy(OT) except the one seems more concerned with my leg, PT, while the other is with my arm, OT. PT was a bitch this am but was encouraging. Spent an hour at it and did two laps around the hallways without the use of the cane to start. Then went on to various and sundry leg exercises and which kind of resembled Step Reebock, only in slow motion. Got a burn in the legs like I never did in the gym and I'm only doing my own body weight. Legs are weary but it feels good. Left leg felt fairly solid too tho it does tire easy. OT was mainly taken up with making a splint for nights so that the fingers are kept spread. Seems that the hand has a tendency to curl up in these cases, which makes getting full movement back even harder if you don't cut the tendency short. Also fitted for some sort of sling that supports the arm while walking but keeps it straight rather than hooked up in front of you. Better for balance it seems. Followed it up with more PT where we did balance tests. If I didn't score 100 it was damned close. Toughest two come up tomorrow however, standing toe to heel wth your eyes shut and then balancing on one leg. Didn't hve time to get to them today. They also sound easy but think, they are two of the tests the cops use to check sobriety. They ain't that easy with a bum leg. Hopefully mine is up to it.

Now to the meat of the issue and hence the title of this post. After the PT I had a small break until the stroke support group so I grabbed a book, headed to the lounge where it was scheduled and waited. They start bringing the people in and while there weren't any of the truely fragile ones there most of these people make me feel like a kid to begin with and damned lucky to boot as most are in way worse shape than I am. A woman who was next to me, who I had met in therapy and seemed to have a similar problem to mine, tells me that I'm lucky to be able to read to pass the time. Seems that while her visible impairments don't seem as bad as some and her speach has no apparant defects, her brain is scrambled so that she can no longer read. It could have been depressing but most of them refused to let it be so and I figured I could do no less out of respect for them.

So Mary Kathleen, the head doctor, kicks off the meeting asking a question or two, trying to elict conversation and it's a bit like pulling teeth. She getting some responses but no real give and take, they re relying on her to carry it. She then gets to asking how people are coping and afterr an answer or two I figure to throw her a bone and bring up this blog. She asks if it's anything she really needs to read and I say probably not but that I have a few loyal followers who love the stories about the crap cops. Damn, all hell broke loose. If there was one thing these folks were willing to talk about it was the poop police. Everyone wanted to have their say and discuss the indignaties of the whole situation. Was like a dam had shattered. There were the jokes but also it seemed to have triggered some serious talk among these folks and instead of carrying a limping meeting for another 15-20 min it seemed that she had to break it up before they were done. herb, what the hell did you do? I crack wise and seemed to have touched a nerve. I can also understand why as, if I who am in fairly decent shape considering, am offended by what is going on in that catagory, how do these others feel where the care is probably much more intrusive than just having a nurse stand there watching while you whip out your wang to drain it or won't let you get off the pot by yourself because they are worried you are going to fall. Not to mention those ever present, intrusive bodily function questions. After the meeting I told her that that is what she gets for extending me an invite. That's me, trouble on the hoof.

Also added to my reputation in PT today. You get one main therapist in both PT and OT for your stay here. The Pt therapist, a great girl, Jeanette by name, told us today that they were rotating her to a different station so that we would be getting a new therapist tomorrow. As we were leaving the new person came in and Jeanette introduced her to us explaing who we were. I just looked a her and told her, "your life just became hell". She just looked and Jeanette, after putting up with me the last couple of days, started laughing like hell. Also got a major scare this morning. As I think I stated elsewhere I prefer to be pushed to PT rather than scoot nyself so that I don't wear my legs out beforehand. Today I had a new pusher, a nice lady, as opposed to the smart ass that was doing the job earlier. He was too much like me so we mixed like oil and water. Well after a few minutes of my witty reparte as she pushed me down to the gym she says that they should keep me around to improve morale. Woman, hush your mouth! Don't you even be giving anyone ideas.

Well, enough for today. Maybe I'll play some micro poker tonight. Been a couple of days since I have. Yur attention has been highly appreciated.