POSSIBLE LIFE CHANGES AHEAD !!

                               My computer is acting up - and I am not in the mood !!

I am positive Beth had small stroke on the morning of May 4th 2013. Returning home after three days in Peace Arch Emergency, I definitely noticed a slight loss of some of her physical abilities.  Again I am sure she had another one about Feb. 6th. She since then has been having considerable trouble with her speech, and lately her walking has become more of a shuffle - this from a woman that for most of her life has been a dedicated (and fast) walker. And very lately (yesterday afternoon at watershed park) was stumbling with the shuffle. All the while very, very tired.

These small strokes (TIA's) can be very serious and portend to a potential full blown stroke.

I had a small stroke about ten years ago.

I had another - rather more serious  on Feb 28th 2014. Sandra insisted (like a good daughter should) I got to Peace Arch the morning of March 2nd. Was treated very seriously (not like Beth) have had several tests - still am - and some blood pressure medication. I do notice I am slipping a bit.

Again - there is a relatively high probability of one or both of us having a serious stroke within the next year or so.

This is why I am writing this while I am functional - relatively in any event.

If either of us has a stroke the changes within our -( and our family's lives) will be - well lets face it - catastrophic. Both Beth and I have been visiting friends lately that have had strokes. It always leaves one with a profound feeling of deep sadness, leaving a friend that is slowly drifting  further into a shell they cannot escape, although it is so obvious they are trying so very hard!

We both are so worried about the other. Neither of us want to be a burden on the other. Both of us would gladly look after the other.

                  Neither of us want to become helpless and unable to communicate to those around us.

We lived through Beth's  Wonderful  Mother suffering for years in a vegetable state.

We don't want that for anyone.

Glad I did this   all for now.

WE SAY - YOU MUST SUFFER

Imagine the following.

A wonderful woman in her eighties, who has had very full life is lying on her bed, she is
suffering from a particularly painful form of bone cancer. She is alert and articulate.
She has loved ones scattered far and wide. She believes in her God. She is not afraid to die.

Her doctor says " Mable, as you know you do not have much time left on this earth, in fact
with the latest technology, we can tell you will die within twenty days".

Mable Says, " Doctor I am in great pain, my family from all over the world are here to be
with me, some must leave soon. I am finished with this world, I would love to leave
peacefully with my loved ones present when I depart".

Doctor, "No, I'm sorry Mable, that is not possible, you must suffer to the end, what you or
your loved ones wish is not important, the State has decided you must suffer."

WHAT HAS PUZZULED ME THE MOST IS THIS - THOSE THAT INSIST ON
PROLONGING THE SUFFERING BEFORE ONE MEETS THEIR MAKER ARE
MOST OFTEN THE PROFESSED VERY RELIGIOUS!


The above may be a little over dramatic - however day in and day out a form of this scenario
is being played out throughout Canada.

There has been a rash of 'talking heads' on TV lately discussing 'assisted suicide'. or the right
to a personalized death, meaning the patient deciding how long she must suffer, before being
"allowed" to die.

I has for many years amazed me that individuals, governments, and their many agencies, have
for hundreds of years had the audacity to believe they should have some right to decide how
much pain, or humiliation a person MUST go thorough before being allowed to finally
                                                   rest in peace.

 Many people, (or probably most) believe that a person who is at the end of their particular life
 span is afraid of dying.

 I for instance was one.

Having reached a relatively advanced age myself, and having been close to loved ones in their last days, I now feel convinced in the vast majority of cases, that is just not true.

As one gets closer to that time to leave this life, the less the threat of death has a hold on one.

As a so called advance society, to insist a loved one, and their family, who knows death is close
must suffer unnecessarily, often for days or weeks is barbaric.

We as a society must grow up and recognize that death is inevitable, indeed it is just the natural
resolution to our wonderful, relatively short, time on this special planet.

After you or your loved on one has passed away, whether you died on the tenth of the month, or the twentieth, really makes no difference, all is over. Why should we as a society insist the time of death
must always be the one that inevitably comes with the most pain and lose of dignity?

EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE

This post is a continuation of the thought process of the last post re the brain.

I did not mean to imply in the brain post that I was at the present time in the
 midst of a crisis.

However one can never know what the future may bring, and if whether by a
slow progressive nature or a sudden stroke, the loss of ones mental and verbal
abilities usually leaves important thoughts unspoken, particularly to loved ones.

So I thought, since I do have the majority of my marbles at this time, it was
 important to express my feelings on the subject now.

I still read a couple of books a month - mostly non-fiction, I think a bit, I discuss
at times a little heated various subjects, religion, etc. and I write a bit, not as much
as my talented wife, but a bit.

So friends, although I am seeing signs of the aging process, I think I have a few
 more productive ( a relative term) years ahead.

MY BRAIN

               This little note is for my family. Hopefully it will be of some use, and I hope may  be
                     some comfort to them, for the present,and into the foreseeable future

I have for at least the past year or so, noticed a distinct deterioration in the workings of my brain. Actually now that I give it some thought I believe I started to notice little things about a year before I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in Oct. 2007.

Where at one time as an air traffic controller I could keep track of several things at once, and did have
virtually total recall, I now at times have great difficulty remembering what is right in front of me.

 A perfect example of this was the other day, Beth and I were at the store when I found a cute picture frame and called to her to tell her we should buy this ????? - I could not for the life of me remember the word 'picture frame'. So since I did not say another word, we of course did not buy the frame.

This is very disturbing.

I know you may say, "we all have examples of not being able to remember little things from time to time", and I agree, but this I believe is much more serious.

We went to visit an old friend today who is suffering from a rather advanced form of dementia, it was a very sobering, and yes in fact scary experience. Our friend has lost his strength, and his memory for  many experiences is poor, he does not know where the washroom  is in his home, etc etc.

However he is very aware of his situation, knows he is going downhill rapidly, yes and he still can make jokes about his condition.

I believe the above sentence is extremely important for friends and love ones to remember. That person locked inside hers or his prison is still that same person. At times they can, and will make it very clear indeed, that they are still there, but always remember even when they cannot make it clear
                                       THEY ARE STILL THERE

As for me, I have no idea of how fast or indeed how severe my brain is going to degenerate.
However if it becomes a severe problem for Beth and the family, I just want you all to know, even if at the time I may not be able to express the words, I will always trust you to do the proper thing for all concerned, which I know would include me. 
Love
Dad
      Grampa
                   Great Grampa
                                           And Friend

Emergency Departments

Over the past month or so I have had the opportunity to experience the
workings, and efficiencies (or lack) of three of the Lower Mainland's
 Emergency Departments. These included, Surrey Memorial, Delta, and
Peace Arch, in White Rock.

It is interesting to note - since these visits I have talked to several people who
have all had visits to one of these hospitals, their experiences run
from wonderful to a nightmare. All the emergency departments had instances of both.

I would like make it very clear, the staff at all these Hospitals,
without exception were, professional, kind, hardworking and dedicated.

However for my wife and I (Both in our mid-seventies),  the experience
in these departments,  was tiring, frustrating, and dehumanizing.

Having
a wife in pain with (what turned out to be) a broken collarbone having to
sit in a major emergency ward for seven hours waiting to get an x-ray -
then being told it might be more than an hour to have the results, is just
not acceptable. Even more so when an a frail elderly woman next to you
advises she has been waiting over two hours - for the x-ray results, and had
been there over nine hours!

It amazed us when the senior nurse on duty at one department, in a very
 stern tone, scolded us for leaving after only one hour and forty-five minutes.
She indicated to us that was a very reasonable time to wait. What she didn't seem
to take into consideration was one of us was in real pain. We had been told the wait
 would be at the very,  least,  another  two hours. Went home to bed.

The next morning, at my doctors suggestion, we went to another
 emergency department  - told them I had no pain at the time, but described
the pain from the previous morning. Within minutes I was in a bed, had heart
monitors plugged in all over my body - had an x- ray and a CT Scan, all
 within two hours.

Having had such wildly varying experiences, it makes one wonder why
 one department  gives excellent care while another appears to
be slightly less than perfect.  Maybe more to the point - is there an answer
to this very serious health problem?

Certainly I am no health care expert, however I do have a few observations.

The most important factor is, The Luck of The Draw.  How busy it is. The number
of staff on duty. Who are on duty. Yes some staff are better than others.

When any of the above Emergency Departments are busy there appears to me there
are never enough Doctors or Nurses on duty. There are never enough beds. The wait
to receive an x Ray usually takes hours, and than often takes hours to get it read. I
assume this means there is a lack of professional staff to perform these tasks in
a reasonable time.
At some of these hospitals the quality and comfort of the chairs, for those who often
 must wait many hours, in real discomfort, is substandard to say the least. Believe it
or not - a little comfort when sick or injured is IMPORTANT.

The pay parking at the Emergency Departments, in my opinion, is a disgrace. And the
enthusiasm of the ticket givers is poetry in action. At Peace Arch Hospital I received a
$80 ticket because I had by mistake put an out of date handicap sign on window. These
vultures from a multinational company preying upon people worried about loved ones
is to my mind disgusting, unacceptable, and must be removed from BC hospitals!

It appears to me that the obvious solution to the situation is money.  Be it a small user pay
amount or whatever, it boils down to money. I understand we have the MRI's, CT Scans,
Ultra Sound machines, etc., we just do not fund the personnel  to run them full time, thus
the ridiculous length of the wait times.

IMAGINE

                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                    Sept 16 2012

This Post popped into my little mind after a distant American Relative mussed
on-line, wondering why the USA was hated, or not trusted, by much of the world.

 

                                                                 IMAGINE

IMAGINE -  a very large Islamic Nation   -   far from North America

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic Nation with a veto in the United Nations Security Council.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic  Nation that does not speak our language

IMAGINE  -   an Islamic Nation that has invaded many, many, countries over the past hundred years

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic  Nation that has more weapons and firepower than any other Nation in history.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic  Nation that has built airfields and stored stockpiles of weapons in at least 150 counties worldwide, and  claims  this land as its own territory.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic Nation that for years bombed, and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people in a small Nation ten thousand miles away.

 IMAGINE  -  an Islamic Nation that dropped many tons of deadly chemicals over this poor nation that never raised a hand in anger toward it.

IMAGINE -   the ravages from this action  affecting children forty years later.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic  Nation that invades an ancient civilisation under a phony pretext, and lays waste  large areas of historic  territory  – not to mention killing hundreds of thousands of its Christian  citizens.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic  Nation in retribution for an atrocity perpetrated upon it by several members of one nation, invade a totally different Christian nation, and over the next ten years, kill untold thousands of innocent civilians.

IMAGINE  -  an Islamic Nation that historically has invaded sovereign nations to prop up dictators.

Do we really have to IMAGINE what the average god fearing Christian would think of this Islamic Nation?

 

                                                FOR CANADIANS

IMAGINE   -   WHAT THE CHRISTIAN WORLD WOULD THINK OF THIS POWERFUL ISLAMIC NATIONS LITTLE NEIGHBOUR   -   A VERY WISHY WASHY, LITTLE GUY.

A LITTLE GUY THAT ONCE WAS RESPECTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

NOW THIS LITTLE GUY IS NOT EVEN THOUGHT OF AS HAVING AN INDEPENDENT VOTE – JUST A LITTLE NOBODY THAT STANDS IN THE CORNER, AND AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME     -

                                            RAISES its LITTLE  HAND

 

FRAGILE

I have been thinking lately - I know it is a strain.

Two of the most advanced and powerful countries in the history of the world
have been seriously disrupted, and damaged by mother nature during the past
year.

Japan and the United States of America - it is amazing. Water a few meters higher
than anticipated literally put large areas of these nations without power, drinkable
water, auto gas, and food for several weeks or longer.

The agencies designated as first responders, generally appeared to do a reasonable
job.

Speaking to the USA situation in particular, the disaster agencies like the Red Cross,
and in particular FEMA -   FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
whose single purpose to exist is to help in an emergency appeared from my perspective to a complete bust.

I heard a christian minister explaining to a radio reporter when asked if the Red Cross had been of any assistance to his waterlogged church say;
"They came by two days ago, dumped a lot of blankets and Canned food in
front of the church and left. I haven't heard or seen them since. We have little able
bodied help, no dry storage, and no vehicles.''

When asked about FEMA all he did was laugh. When reporters on the ground in
New York recently asked several young people who were carrying supplies up
several floors to elderly people who they were working for, they all said no one -
they had just come to help - had not seen anything of FEMA or the Red Cross.
The reporters also could not find these agencies - this in the worst hit areas.

This all happening in what may possibly be the richest city in the richest country
in the world.    Mind boggling!

What gets me particularly agitated is this  monster bureaucracy  FEMA -
- they have a budget of about six Billion dollars a year  to CO-ORDINATE
the response to a disaster.

Much like with hurricane Katrina, it appears to me both these high budget agencies,
with their billions of dollars behind them, give extremely poor value for the dollar.

The main point I'm trying to make is how fragile our modern world is to climate
extremes.
It appears if trucks cannot get through for three or four days, the local food supply
runs out in most large cities.

We wonder what happened to the Mayans - it appears that it does not take  much
of a change in climate to drastically upset the daily life, and future of a people.

The same may be said of the Hopi Native American nation of the southwest USA. An
 extended drought would undoubtedly cause them to up and leave there homes.

The bombardment of the Gaza Strip is continuing as of Nov. 21st 11.30AM. This
very smallsmall area of poor dispossessed people, is contained inside a walled
 compound, bordered by the sea (controlled by the Israelis) bordered by a
No-Mans- Land, called the Sinai Peninsula a part of Egypt, but effectively controlled
 by Israel. Into this captive population, one of the most advanced war machines on
earth has been bombing, shelling, and rocketing with the best weapons available.
The opposition in Gaza have been sending, mostly home made rockets, (evidently
made with fertiliser) helter-skelter all over the place. These rockets mostly land
in non residential areas.

The accepted "truth" of the latest round of destruction is that Hamas - the "radical|"
"terrorist" DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT has been sending
rockets into Israel for months, before the considerate, and reasonable Israelis took
any action.
This may or may not be true. But what is undisputed (well that is me talking - it
definitely is disputed) is that these captive people were coerced, threatened, and
indeed forced off their land.  The 1948-49 and later 1967 exodus after the two
Arab wars the beginning of the land grab, and the life of refugees in soul destroying
camps for the next sixty odd years..

It has been about two weeks since I wrote the above - did not publish it.  Since that
time the United Nations General Assembly has granted The Palestinians  non-member
observer state status. 
This action by the UN may mean little in concrete, tangible results - but it did signify the
about 97% of the members of the UN voted in favor of the Palestinians.

WHO OCCUPIES WALL STREET

                                    

                                              OCCUPY WALL STREET

There recently was a post on Face book extolling the virtues of a young man who had posted the merits of his relatively short life of hard work, sacrifice, frugality, saving, studying, and planning for the future.  I would be the first to affirm his spirit and integrity.

Several Facebookers made comments to the effect that what the world needs is more people like him, and less like the deadbeats with the Occupy Wall Street bunch in New York City.

From all I have seen and read it appears to me the vast majority of citizens participating in these proceeding are normal everyday people. Some are there because the events of the major bank bailout in 2008 have afflicted their lives directly. Others, whether they are small business owners, housewives, waitresses, fast-food employees, teachers from all levels, lawyers, doctors, laborers, in fact it appears all segments of society have felt the effects of the actions of the mega corporations. These same corporations that not only received the bailout monies – but indeed caused the financial mess in the first place.   . [There is an obvious parallel here to the demonstrators in Egypt – same cross section of society demonstrating against a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy not treating the populace fairly.] 

 Others are probably there for the thrill of participating in an action that they can get away with taunting  the police and vandalizing property while part of the crowd – something they would never have the courage to do on their own. These are the professional agitators.

However the vast majority of peaceful demonstrators are I believe a part of the millions of honest hard working citizens of our world that believe in –

                                                                   FAIR PLAY

Yes I know this seems very simplistic – but when you get right down to it – that’s really all we – the average voter (and those still to get the right to vote) strive to attain.

When  right thinking people see what is obviously a situation where one section of society is treated with distain, arrogance, indifference , and yes even cruelty, they will eventually rise to the occasion and let the oppressor (whether it be a dictator, Corporation, or democratic government) understand enough is enough.

When unsophisticated homeowners make mistakes with managing their finances, they very quickly find themselves out of a home, and at times literally thrown on the street.

Mega corporations like AIG,  Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sacks etc etc at the same time were given bailouts by the Various government agencies. Taxpayers (including those losing their homes) were paying to the tune of hundreds of Billions to these financial giants for their financial mistakes. It as has been alleged by several Government committees that some of the companies have committed outright fraud and in at least one instance a charge of perpetuating a monster ponzi scheme has been alleged. Some executives are at present being charged.

These companies through their greed (giving their managers millions in bonuses with the bailout money) and fraudulent practices have caused untold suffering throughout the entire world, and it is still continuing – in some cases it is escalating.   

                                            THIS IS NOT FAIR PLAY

I hope the young man that posted about his frugal hard working life style never has his life savings that he worked so hard to accumulate lost in the blink of an eye by some unethical corporation. I hope he never has a sick child that he cannot afford the hospital bills. I hope he is always treated fairly, because in life it you will run into people that do not believe in your values of hard work and honesty. You may many years from now find yourself out there, trying in some small way to express your democratic right protest what you believe to not be  - FAIR PLAY.

Some Interesting reading.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_best_policy/2009/03/the_real_aig_scandal.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22291

 http://consumerist.com/2011/05/feds-gave-220-million-in-bailout-bucks-to-two-morgan-stanley-wives.html