Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Exhausting time from my 15 minutes of fame


Today I had Maria Hayes and her cameraman come to my house to interview me for CHCH TV and they will air something on Friday.
Mainly the discussion was about the support group in Hamilton I am founder and president of as well as my personal history with heart attack, stroke and photography.
The last nearly three years of my life have been dedicated to recovery as well searching for other recovered stroke survivors to gain some reassurance...reassurance that things can be different then those initial days after the stroke when I could not scratch my nose. Hearing reassurances from the doctors, nurses and therapist were not enough to encourage me at a time when the stroke stripped me of abilities and my confidence...I had two main requests in the first few months...to eat FOOD and to meet someone who had come out the other side after surviving a stroke.
I got to eat food after six weeks but in my search I have only found one fully recovered survivor, it took 8 years to get there.
Michael J. Fox stated last year there is a difference between acceptance and resignation, we accept what has happened to us but we are not resigned that this is the way we will be always...I might resign myself to my condition after eight years.
Over the last three years I have spent some of my other 15 minutes of fame meeting Bret Hart, Walter Gretzky, Jill Taylor and functions through the stroke community as well as March of Dimes.
Spreading the knowledge of signs of heart attack and stroke to aid people to recognize future events and seek help early on to save even one life and/or abilities would be a huge victory to me.
Reassuring others who have suffered ailments is another victory.
I continue to seek reassurance and I am thrilled to give to others, what I seek for myself.