Welcome note

When my husband and I set out to find and take pictures of wheelchair accessible waterfalls in every U.S. state, we were excited about the challenge. We gave ourselves no time limit to accomplish our feat; however, we had one mutually agreed upon rule that dictated how long we would stay in any given area. That rule was to never shiver again. Needless to say, adhering to this rule presented a new challenge. The new challenge was to find a waterfall that was actually flowing. Visiting mid-west and eastern states during months that prevented us from shivering are the same months that are hot enough to dry up streams; hence, little or no water flow for waterfalls. The natural scenery and picturesque landscapes warrant a second visit in the early spring right after the snow melts.

Bob and Jan

Bob and Jan
Christmas Eve

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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Day, umm...37?

Today was another quiet day. Bob sat in a chair/bed for two hours. That tuckered him out. One thing that happened and was funny was when I entered the room this morning. Michele, his sister, and Dean, her husband, entered the room before me. Bob's eyes were wide opened and looking at them. When he saw me, he wouldn't take his eyes off of me, and he had a look on his face that he wanted a kiss. The way he was looking so anxiously, I couldn't move fast enough; I am very slow moving. It was so funny to see his excitement even though, he can't move. After his kiss, I gave him a hug. He moved his arm as though he wanted to hug me back but, he's not strong enough to lift his arm to touch me. I know what he wanted to do.

He may not have much arm strength, but he has very strong grip strength. I gave him a rolled up washcloth to hold. I tried to take it from him, because his arm muscles were beginning to twitch. It took three of us to pry it from his hand. He was holding it so tight. He must have been thinking about whipping cattle around or bailing hay.

The catheter was taken out of his head. Now the only thing attached to him is his trach and a mist blower tube.

Have you figured out your life's lesson from this event yet? Email it to me. I'm going to list them anonymously, of course.
email: jiachini@msn.com
stroke info: www.strokeassociation.com
OHSU: 3181 SW Sam Jackson, Portland, OR 97239 NeuroICU

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