bobwysiwyg

" Dr. Google" lol, love it.

qcpmsame 

My brother says that some folks got their medical degree at Google School of Medicine.....

Bill

Rowan

It has been a long while since I posted on BFs -- not because of my health, but to do with the poor policies that exist in the BF management. But...

I am probably at the flattening state in my recovery processes. I still have issues, and they likely will last the rest of my life. I have ridden a max of 50km in one day which was quite an achievement for me. Machka continues to be an absolutely wonderful person in taking care of me and helping me plan things out. Improvement will likely come, as I understand, from the gradual redirecting of brain functions away from the permanently injured parts.

I have taken up, through Machka's encouragement and help, attending activities of the Brain Injury Association of Tasmania. They have revealed that brain damage in injury form, as well as from things like strokes, are not uncommon in many respects, although getting the authorities to understand this can be a bit difficult.

Bicycle related, one of the cases at BIAT meetings is a woman who was on her honeymoon in Italty and was riding down a fairly long hill when a deer ran out in front of her. The result was a collision that broke the fork on the bike (a hugely minor point), and resulted in her landing with her head badly injured. She still gets around in a wheelchair, and her verbal expression can be somewhat difficult. But I total admire her efforts and those of her husband.

To go a bit further with talking about them, they recently made a trip from Tasmania to South Australia for the Tour Down Under bike race (the first international one of the year) with an effort to see if they could at least meet Richie Porte. As some of you may know, Richie is a fellow Tasmanian who has done well at international bike races, and also survived a really bad downhill crash in a Tour de France when in a position to contend for winning.

The husband of the woman I am talking about took movies with his phone of various parts of the Tour Down Under event with Richie riding, PLUS what to me was a sensational scene where Richie (the event winner) made an effort to get through others, and bend over to put his arm around the shoulder of the woman in her wheelchair, with a great smile on his face. It put tears in my eyes to see it happen.

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And just a a little observation, Dr Google isn't such a bad thing. It has turned up acre upon acre of information about policies and procedures and supports by various organisations that help realitise brain injury, but are generally ignored by governments, employers, insurers and sometimes the medical profession. Through Machka's efforts, I have a wonderful list of links to local and international organisations, cases and individuals that have all helped me remain positive and understand what has happened, and could happen in the future.

rumrunn6

right on man

Biker395 

That’s my experience as well. When my SO had cancer, I turned to an online support group and received a lot of good advice. People would join the group, describe their diagnosis and treatment, and there were times that the docs treatment fell below the standard of care. No bueno.

Docs are like any profession. There are good ones, bad ones, and a lot in between. Be your own advocate, do your research, and find a doc that you trust and will work with you.

NomarsGirl

Hanging around the house waiting to go back up to th hospital. I'm scheduled for a TEE procedures today - transesophageal echocariogram. They are going to stick an ultrasound probe down my throat to get a better look at my heart before they schedule the procedure to close my PFO and hopefully prevent a second stroke.

I'm trying to forget how hungry and thirsty I am. Getting anesthesia, so I am NPO - nothing by mouth.

rumrunn6