December 28, Mexico

I do have a propensity to tell people how to do things better.  Ken says that comes from my Salvati0n Army background, with those several generations of do gooders, but where ever it comes from I can't stop figuring out how  folks could, if they would only change a bit of this or a bit of that would make their lives better

Perfect example.  I am sitting by the pool minding my own business and reading my magazine.  But I finished my magazine, so I had nothing to do.  I swam, and while I was swimming I noticed a couple going around the pool, where the man was walking around the pool with the ladies arms on his shoulder.  Then I recalled that these folks were from a foursome of two couples, one couple about my age, and the other couple about 50.  The older man carried and used a bottle of oxygen, and the younger woman seemed to have very little use of her left side.  Her left arm dangled and her left foot dragged along.  The first time I noticed them three days before they spent the hour I was at the pool following the sun. So every twenty minutes or so they moved their lounge chair to face the sun.  I'm wondering if they know anything about skin cancer.

Now I'm wondering why this lady who had a stroke is not using this water to exercise her limbs.  It is true that if  exercise your good limb your bad limb receives benefit.  Also all new research in neurology says that  new nerves will come back if you try to activate another part of your brain  to instruct your muscles to move.  This lady has a perfect spot to work her bad limbs.  The water was warm, the depth was about four feet, and almost no one was in the pool. But she did nothing except give over to her disability,and let the care giver pull her around the pool and sit in the sun.

But I restrained myself.  My Internist, Dr. Albio, told me that she has patients who, after a stroke and they lost their words just lost their words, and they never got any better.  She sent them to speech therapy and they went, but nothing improved.  Her guess was that they just accepted the stroke as something over which they had no control, without realizing that if you work hard and then harder, and then practice and then more practice, the words will come.  Your brain will begin to make it behave.

But I behaved myself and said nothing.  But rather being sympathetic with this lady I was merely irritated.  Dammit.  Work harder, and make your life better.