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STROKENET Newsletter
September 8, 2001 Issue #10
Linda Wisman, Editor,
mailto:LWisman@strokenetwork.org
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By subscription only! Welcome to your next
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"STROKENET".
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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsorship Notice
=> Position Open
=> Editor's Message
=> Stroke in New Zealand
=> Staying Cool
=> Website Review www.healthinsite.gov.au/
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
If you would like to be a
sponsor of this newsletter, please
contact me: mailto:LWisman@strokenetwork.org
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The position of Nurse is
currently open on our web page www.strokenetwork.org. If you are a Professional
who would be
willing to help our readers
please contact Pat Provost at Pprovost@strokenetwork.org.
We would also appreciate your
passing this request on.
Thanks.
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Here’s the latest edition of
the Stroke Newsletter. In this
edition, David Ray introduces
us to a friend and fellow stroke survivor.
Stories of triumph are great
for all of us! Rhonda
Petersen shares with us her
experience of battling with an air
mattress. Finally, Barbara
Layne shares a website organized by
the Australian Government.
We are sorry that this
Newsletter is a few days late. Technical
difficulties!
Happy reading!
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Just because we have
suffered a stroke does not mean that we
have to give up life. In my
case I had just retired from 42
years in the New Zealand
Customs Service and was looking
forward to tidying up our
garden, and doing lots of little
jobs I had left until I had
finished work. All I did was
adjust my lifestyle and
expectations accordingly. In the
case of my next door
neighbour, he had just started a new
business when he suffered
from a massive stroke, long
before he even contemplated
retirement. His name is Bill
Robertson.
Bill Robinson (PHD) is the
inventor and developer of the
most successful Lead-Rubber
Bearing which is world famous for
being the seismic isolation
system for protecting buildings
during earthquakes. For
example this system successfully
protected the University
Hospital during the 1994 Los Angeles
earthquake when ten nearby
hospitals were badly damaged and
had to be evacuated. Further
support for this lead-rubber
bearing isolation system
occurred in the 1995 Great Hanshin
earthquake, Kobe (Japan). A
building, isolated with the
lead-rubber bearing system
in the affected zone, survived
with no damage or disruption
to services.
This system has also been
incorporated in New Zealand's
Parliament Buildings
including the Administration Block,
known as "The
Beehive." Besides in Lower Hutt, Bill has
also set up a factory in
Malaysia.
Initially, when he first
suffered his stroke, Bill was
unable to speak or to move,
and was not expected to recover
any real movement. By sheer
force of will power he found he
could move one finger. For
this small beginning and over
many months he gradually
learnt to move his arm and speak
again. Fortunately his very
active and fertile brain was
not to badly affected by the
stroke. He has only partially
recovered in that he still
walks with a pronounced limp
Since returning to
developing his business his company has
arranged for his
"Robinson Seismic Bearing" to protect
structured as diverse as Te
Papa (the new museum of New
Zealand, the Miyagawa Bridge
in Japan, the Moonshine
Bridge in Upper Hutt, New
Zealand and the new emergency
department of Wellington
Hospital. You can find out more
on his company's Website
www.robinson-seismic.co.nz/
Bill and his wife also own
land north of Wellington
where they keep Kaimanawa
horses, wild horses which used
to live on the Kaimanawa
desert area and which they saved
from culling when the Dept
of Conservation deemed them to
be damaging the land.
Bill Robinson is a fine
example to us all, not letting
adversity get in the way of continuing
on with a successful
international business and
developing improvements to his
initial invention.
Finally let me say that the
mild winter New Zealand has
experienced has had an
adverse effect on the generation of
hydro-electricity with the
lakes where the generators are
situated being very low.
However, the ski lovers are enjoying
a great season.
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As a general rule, most
people living in northern Minnesota,
close to Lake Superior, do
not require air conditioning.
However, this past July,
Mother Nature decided to play a
trick on those living in
Parka Land and turn up the heat. In
an attempt to escape the
blast furnace of 90 degree heat
and high humidity I drove
further up north to my family's
cabin. After squeezing into
my spandex bathing suit until my
thighs bulged out like some
misshaped circus balloon, I
walked into the cool water dragging
an air mattress.
The challenge was to situate
by body on the flotation device
without drowning in the
process. I have no sense of
perspective regarding the
left side of my body and balance
is not one of my strong
points. After a few round of
wrestling the air filled
mattress as if it were an alligator
I precariously situated
myself so that I was somewhat
floating on the lakes
surface. After paddling with one arm,
I realized I was only going
in circles so I began to kick and
use my arm as an oar on both
sides of my makeshift gondola.
Finally reaching a raft
anchored a few feet from the swimming
beach, I grabbed hold of a
rope that was secured to the stairs
of the raft.
Regis Filbin had nothing on
me as I held fast to my lifeline.
At least I wouldn't float
away. Soon two young boys swam out
to the raft and began
jumping off in cannonball fashion
”Don't splash!” I ordered.
This command was as useless as my
non-water resistance SPF 20
suntan lotion. “I'm at the end of
my rope!" I pleaded. Of
course by uttering any objection to
every mother’s dream of
healthy exercise for two adolescent
boys, I realized the error
of my ways and concluded that I
was merely enticing them.
I was pushing the rules of
swimming etiquette. The unwritten
rules of water safety
flooded my mind.
1) Never holler “help”
unless you really need it.
2) Children can be in the
water as long as there is an adult
present.
Apparently, in absentia, I
had been christened the “Official Lifeguard.
" I let go of the rope and
drifted with the waves.
Suddenly, I heard a low
gurgling sound and noticed little
bubbles coming up from
beneath the air mattress. Ever so
slightly I shifted my weight
to one side in order to
inspect the damage. Whoosh!
The splash caused a tidal wave
that resonated around the
lake causing the boys to grab what
was left of the air mattress
and ride the waves while I
miraculously synchronized my
body parts in Esther Williams
fashion and swam to shore.
“One small step for man. One
giant leap for…” stroke survival.
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There is a website from
Australia called “Health Insight”–
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/
It contains information on:
v
Lifestyle
v
Conditions/Diseases
v
Life
Stages/Events
v
Population
Groups
v
Expert
Views
There are links to
libraries, organizations, publications,
and databases. When I first
visited the site, I put “stroke”
into the search and it
returned over 1000 items containing
information on stroke from
diet and stroke to stroke support
services. There is also a
section where you can enroll to
receive documents that are
related to your own personal
profile.
Just when you think you have
read all there is to read,
you find another resource!
Enjoy these last days of
summer!
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This newsletter is the
copyright of the Stroke Network and may
not be copied without the
express written permission of the
editor, Steve Mallory,
mailto:SMallory@strokenetwork.org
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Steve Mallory
President & CEO
The Stroke Network
mailto:SMallory@strokenetwork.org
Stroke Awareness for Everyone