I Stopped Driving … Again!

About two years ago I started to feel uncomfortable and not in very good control of driving my van. I knew something had to be changed or I was not going to be safe on the road anymore. It started to scare me that I might cause an accident and hurt or even kill someone else or myself on the road.

It has been a difficult decision since I have been driving fully-modified vans since 1974 in Berkeley. I ordered my first van from a brochure at a medical equipment company in Minneapolis called Redi-Care. I did not know if I would be able to drive it or not and it was a tremendous leap of faith for us to order what was called a Med-Van. I was going to spend $13,000 on the vehicle I was not sure I would be able to drive!

In the winter of 1972 my father, my little brother, Rick and I went to Minneapolis to get tested at a driving school to see if I could drive a car. The instructor quickly found out I would not be able to drive a car, but with the right modifications I might be able to drive a van. That is when he gave me the address for Redi-Care. Fortunately, the owner of the company was in the store that Saturday morning and introduced me to my first van.

The first picture I want to show you is my current van of me driving two years ago. There are several more photographs of me driving and various parts of the van on my website.

Click on the image to make it larger:

There are many stories I would like to share and pictures to show of all six vans I have owned or leased; however, this post is not long enough to show them all! Suffice it to say, I have driven about 500,000 miles in six vehicles, three full-size vans and three minivans.

I want to show you another picture of me driving my first van in 1977 when my mom, dad, were on our way for me to speak at the athletic banquet in McLaughlin, South Dakota. It was a real honor for me to be asked to speak at their banquet since I only went to first and second grade in McLaughlin! Fourteen years later, I was asked to come back and address many people I had known from our three years in McLaughlin.

This picture shows my little brother, Chad watching me as I drove across the plains of Minnesota to drop him off at our uncle's farm so he could play with his cousin. I love the look of concentration on Chad's face! Of course, my mom took that picture!

When he was not standing behind me, he had two beanbag chairs to lounge on unrestricted in the back of the van. No child restraints for us in 1977. I am excited to tell you Chad is quite the entrepreneur and loving life in Southern California trying to get his patented Drum Wallet sold, among other adventures he is always pursuing. He and I are very much alike and communicate with cell phones, Facebook and keeping track of each other's activities.

The reason I wanted to put this post up is to show how my life has changed dramatically since my ability to drive has been lost. There have been a couple other times when I was unable to drive for extended periods of time. However, I eventually got my strength back and the stamina to drive several hundred miles at a time, speak for a day and drive home that night. Now, I need to take an attendant with me to do all of my personal cares and that can be a problem on occasion when I go for extended periods of time. I hope to make it back to Worthington in September for their annual Turkey Day celebration. It is always fun to be in Worthington during those couple of days.

I often get speaking engagements and book sales from people who constantly come up to me all day long. 

The reason I have not been posted since last November is I have not been able to sit up long enough during the day to work on putting up a good post. We tried something new today and after my acupuncture appointment this morning, my morning attendant laid me down and my evening attendant got me back up so I could write this post. So far, my sitting tolerance is good and I feel fine. Hopefully, I will do this more often and post on a more regular basis.

I want to close this post with one last picture of me riding as a passenger in my van.

As always, click on the photo to make it larger:

I know driving is a privilege and I was privileged enough to have driven for almost forty years. I have friends and relatives who have never been able to drive since their injury onset or their entire lives. I am not complaining about losing this privilege; I just want you to know how our lives change and how it can affect people around them. The loss of some independence is difficult for all of us to deal with. As we grow older and start to lose some of our faculties we may all come to the conclusion it is time to turn over our keys to someone else!

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Remember Me?

I used to write a blog post about once a week until mid-June. I abruptly stopped when I was stranded in my chair on two different nights by the company called Custom Care who failed to send an attendant by to put me in bed, which resulted in me being bedridden since my pressure sores were opened to a degree I could not sit up in my chair!

I ended up in an emergency room on June 19th and spent the next eight days in the hospital until I was able to find another home healthcare agency who would be more reliable in getting me personal-care attendants (PCA's). My doctor would not allow me to be released from the hospital until I had a care company who could supply my needs.

Little did I know when my social worker arranged for this company to do my cares that she was going to retire as soon as she closed out all of her cases! The new company president showed up making all kinds of promises that I knew he could not keep. My doctor released me that Saturday and I have been in bed ever since! My only trips out of my room were a once a month visit to the wound clinic to have my doctor check on the progress, order new supplies and send me home for another month of R&R in my bed!

On my last visit, the wounds are getting good enough so he allowed me to start sitting up a couple hours a day. The first few days I was experiencing a dramatic loss in strength and stamina. I am still weak and frustrated to not be able to be up in my chair for very long periods of time.

I have good people helping me now who are going the extra mile to take care of my increased needs.

I thoroughly enjoy watching the Minnesota Twins and their run for a playoff position! It has kept me going along with countless hours of watching television. My summer and now early fall is gone and I am hoping to be ready to start going to my Gopher basketball games in a few short weeks.

I am attaching a photograph taken on June 20th with my brothers, Rick and Chad when they came to visit me in the hospital in a break from our niece's wedding that day. I regret not being able to be there very much.

Click on the image to make it larger:

The bottom line is I am back to a degree! I am excited to get back to a degree of ability I had before this latest setback. I have much more to write on this subject of my summer vacation which lasted well into autumn; however, I need to lie down as my time is about up!

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Pacemaker Number Four Is Imminent

Last Thursday I had my acupuncture appointment at 1 PM with my pacemaker check at 2 PM, so I was feeling pretty good, nice and relaxed, when the technician put the little wand over my shoulder and on top of my pacemaker. She turned the machine on and the last two checks I have had of my pacemaker from three months ago and six months ago showed the battery had about a 30% life expectancy yet. Both of those technicians told me I would probably have to get a new pacemaker sometime towards the end of 2015.

I was completely shocked when the needle came up to only 10% and was red indicating my battery has deteriorated dramatically in the last three months! It needs to be replaced in the next month.

In late 1996, I was diagnosed with a lower heart block and needed my first pacemaker. That pacemaker lasted about five years. In early 2002, number two had to be replaced and had lasted about six years. That is the one I have my attendant holding in the picture.

Then, in 2008, when this picture was taken, they inserted my third pacemaker. They told me it should last about ten years. Seven years is a long ways short of ten years, but what am I going to do?

Click on the image to make it larger: 

I have a Medtronic pacemaker with Guidant cables. The technician told me it would be an in and out same-day replacement unless the cables need to be replaced. If they do, then I will need to stay overnight one night. The cables concern me because they are the original cables from 1996. I am guessing they will have to be replaced.  I do not know how long those cables are good for.

For you longtime readers of this blog, you know I have often contended I do not know what the next thing will be coming down the line; I know it will be something and this is it! I hope the next thing waits a little while!

I know some of my posts are not fun and relaxing. I am just keeping it real. It is issues like this that keep me going. If you read my book, you know the doctors told my family in the fall of 1971 my life expectancy was nine years! At 43+ years I am still here and with another new pacemaker it should keep me going a while longer.

If you are not aware of my voice recognition software, Dragon Dictate, the microphone in front of me is how I operate all of my posts. That is why sometimes I can go on for long periods of time because all I have to do is talk and the words appear on the page. For those of you that know me well, you know I like to talk!

I will keep you informed about how this next pacemaker installation goes and probably have something to say about it in another post.

By the way, I have this pacemaker in the picture attached to my briefcase with a little rawhide strap and use it as a teaching tool when I give presentations. I wonder what the next pacemaker will look like?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

What Did You Do Yesterday?

Several years ago I told myself I know there is always going to be something else waiting in line I have to deal with. Yesterday was the latest in the series of events that define my life.

Longtime readers of this blog and personal friends know I get issues every once in a while I get to address that are related to my injury and follow-up events, which detract from my life.

The last couple of weeks I have known there was another infection brewing in my urinary tract and/or pressure sores that are almost healed. My visiting nurse took a urine specimen into the lab to have a urinalysis done. I also had a complete line of blood work done.

I did not know the urinalysis needed a urine culture as well. When the results came back, my infectious disease doctor wanted a urine culture as well. Wednesday, my visiting nurse took a urine culture into the lab to have the urine culture drawn.

The results came back positive, so I had to spend yesterday afternoon and early evening in the hospital getting a midline IV inserted into my right arm and get my first dosage of Gentamicin.  Here is my right arm for the next ten days:

 

Click on the image to make it larger:

I have a constant urinary tract infection because of a fifteen-inch conduit called an ileostomy a doctor put into me in 1984. My current urologist told me the conduits he put in now are about three inches long. Much of his business is repairing the work my first urologist did on me in 1980 and again in 1984.

The butcher who installed my first ileostomy told me in so many words it would have to be replaced every few years. All he was doing was covering his tracks because my current urologist who also removed my left kidney told me when he puts in an ileostomy is in there for good!

He also told me he was afraid to take out my current conduit because it was scarred in so badly he was afraid I would not make it off the table if he tried to do the surgery! I appreciate his honesty and candor with me. He is the kind of guy with the confidence and ability all surgeons should aspire to.

As a result of having this bacteria producing conduit, I am pretty much always taking one, two or even three antibiotics to keep the powerful bacteria from growing. It is only when the heavy hitting bacteria grows I need to take an IV antibiotic which destroys all of the bacteria in my system and affects my body flora that I need to get IV treatment. When it destroys all the bacteria in my system, it takes a while to get some of the good bacteria growing again.

Of course an issue like this always happens on a Friday. We managed to get everything set up and delivered this morning so my visiting nurse could infuse me with the antibiotic, which will last for the next eight days. It takes an hour to infuse so I am stuck in one position for that hour while a little inflatable bubble releases the antibiotic into my system. You can see the needle on the right end of the midline.

Here is the fully inflated bubble:

Once again, click on the image to make it larger:

When the weather is as cold as it is today and supposedly tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of the year so far, I do not mind staying in. It will be interesting to see how I manage to function when I leave to go to the last two Gopher basketball games! Although, after today's performance I am not sure if I really want to brave the cold and see two more games like today's game!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Details, Details, Details!

I am constantly telling my Personal Care Attendants (PCA's) it is all about the details! Last Friday the details came back to bite me in the butt to the tune of one hundred seventy dollars! One hundred thirty-eight for a tow to the Minneapolis Impound Lot and thirty-two for a parking ticket!

I was on my way to an elpisenterprises board meeting on the twenty-third floor of 150 South Fifth Street, in downtown Minneapolis. Since I cannot park in parking lots if I am alone because I cannot pull the tabs out of the dispensers, I pulled in to the last meter on the corner of Fourth Street and Marquette. I did not bother to look up and see the sign that read, "No Parking 4 to 6 PM." That was a big mistake! With my handicap plates, I am able to park at a meter for up to four hours. I knew I would not be in the meeting that long, so I decided to park there.

I left the meeting a little after 4:30 only to watch the tow truck pull away with my van a block and a half ahead of me. I had this sickening feeling I was going to have a very difficult time getting home.

I knew that tow truck was taking my van to the impound lot, so I took off across downtown Minneapolis during rush hour and people walking to the Twins game.

My chair has six speed settings and C is the fastest. You have heard people talk about multiple-choice tests and questionnaires, and they will tell you to, "Always answer C." That is the way my power wheelchair is. I clicked on C and took off the 1.4 miles to the impound lot. I cannot tell you how many times I told people as I was approaching them, "Passing on your left." I always do that so people do not get scared when I go speeding past them. It is also fun to watch oncoming pedestrians as they oftentimes do not know what to do as they approach me.

I asked a couple people who were waiting at bus stops if they knew if the bus stopped at Glenwood by the impound lot? One man told me, "That's a long ways. You can't get there in a wheelchair." He was not sure which bus I would take; he just knew I could not get there in a wheelchair.Obviously, he did not know my wheelchair!

Once I got on the bridge going over the freeway, I knew I was home free. I saw a gentleman in an SUV that was marked City of Minneapolis Protective Services. I managed to flag him down and he was very helpful. He got on his walkie-talkie right away and asked someone about the impound lot and their hours. He told me they were open until 11 PM. That eased my mind considerably as I knew I would not have to hurry and get there by 5 PM.

I only had a few blocks to go and as I was turning off Aldrich Avenue, I saw the tow truck right in front of me. He was turning to go down Colfax and enter the impound lot. I got a charge out of that! I almost beat the tow truck who was towing my van to the impound lot!

I did catch up as he was entering the lockdown area. I asked the woman in the booth if she would ask him to park the van somewhere where I could get in the passenger side door so I could get in my ramp. She was less than cordial and I am sure not in a good mood because of the angry clientele she deals with all day long. If you have ever been to an impound lot you know they can be places you do not want to spend any time! 

I was pleasantly surprised when I went inside to settle up with the towing fee to get my van back. There was only one woman in the waiting area with me! I could not believe there was nobody in there. The only problem was I could not get the door open! I believe  that is in direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I approached the first window and started to talk to the man on the other side that was also not wearing a smile. 

He told me what I needed to get my van and when he asked for my ID which I cannot get out of my wallet. My wallet would not fit under the window and he was not willing to come around and help me get my ID and a credit card.

Fortunately, my new friend, Allison, who was there to get her car because it had been towed after she had a little too much to drink the night before. I love to start conversations with complete strangers and get their stories. She was more than willing to tell me her story.

Allison took my ID and slid it under the window. After a quick check of finding I had no outstanding warrants, the nice man behind the window passed my ID back for Allison. Then she gave him a credit card and helped me through the entire process.

The nice man behind the window told me to go over and wait by that door and another nice person would come and take me to my van. I did as he instructed.

When I was waiting at the door a woman drove up in another nice SUV and told me she would take me to my van. I told her, "No you won't, because I cannot get in your vehicle. If I could, what will we do with my wheelchair?"

She agreed and told me to just follow her through the lot. My van was parked in the far lot and she told me to take these papers and give them to the first nice lady at the exit to the lot. 

I told her I would not be able to pass them to the first nice lady, and asked her if she would please go ahead of me and pass the papers through to my first new friend. She was more than willing to help me. She was very nice and very helpful.

We got back up to the first nice lady to check out and my new friend handed her my papers. Then she took off! She left me alone with the first nice lady and I knew I was in trouble as she wanted to hand back my papers. I told her I could not reach them and asked her if she would put them on my passenger seat?

She would not get out of her booth, so she threw the papers through my window and fortunately landed on the seat. I did not look back at her and did not say thank you. I guess I was being rude. That was not nice of me. In my defense, I was in no mood to extend any courtesy to the impound lot employees. I was just glad to be out of there and have my little urban orienteering adventure finally over.

The bottom line is, "Pay attention to the details!"

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Is Extending The School Year A Good Thing?

Many studies have shown students lose a good amount of what they learn in the typical nine-month school year over their three-month summer vacation. That three months has been a huge detriment to their retention, and causes a goodly amount of time to get back to where they were before their summer break.

That is one reason why many schools across the county are moving to year-round schooling. If you do not know, in year-round schools, they never have a break of more than six weeks.

I just read an article that originated from the Associated Press telling of a pilot program in five states and forty schools that will extend the school year by six hundred hours. According to the article, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee will take part in the initiative, which is intended to boost student achievement and make U.S. schools more competitive on a global level.


You may read the article from USATODAY.com by clicking here. I could not find the original article on the Associated Press's website.


I believe this is a good step towards catching up with much of the rest of the developed world. The United States has continuously been falling backwards in our ranking for many of the education benchmarks which we have historically led the world. This pilot program will only last three years and then evaluated.

I am guessing we are going to see marked increases in these schools' results.

Of course, there are detractors to the idea and believe it is not the way to go because countries like India and China have shorter school years and are getting better results. Is it a question of quantity versus quality? Is it a question of prioritization? I am anxious to see what the results will be with their students with severe disabilities, all their students with special needs for that matter, low-income students and all of the round students that do not fit in the square holes.

Something needs to be done to get all our schools educating as many of our young people to the highest degree we possibly can. I certainly do not have the answers.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Can we learn anything from Wile E. Coyote?

Okay, please get past the foul language and imagine you are in Wile's shoes. His comment about working for twenty years is actually a lot longer dating back to 1949. According to several sources, the first of only forty-nine episodes titled Fast and Furry-ous for Warner Brothers went on the air. Yes, it was Mel Blanc's voice that did the Beep, Beep! of the Roadrunner.

What do you do when the company you have worked for goes bankrupt and you lose your 401K, your pension is gone, the paycheck you were depending on to pay the mortgage stops, your skill set is limited and you find yourself unqualified for a position you need to live on?

How do we handle adversity? What would you do if you had a new-found disability that prohibited you from performing your current occupation? Have you ever thought about it? Like Wile, trying to learn a new skill set may be very frustrating. But, did he handle his waiter's job very well? I think not. His problem solving skills were being tested.

Do you have additional skills to transfer into a new career once your job is robotized or eliminated? I do not have many skills left if I were not able to speak. I could do data entry, but I would have a hard time punching a clock eight hours a day. Physically, I simply do not have the stamina. I certainly could not do it very quickly. My typing skills are limited. 

My career is perfect for me. I cannot imagine doing anything else! If you know me, you know I like to talk and I like to meet new people. I also like to listen. I love to hear peoples' stories. You would not believe some of the things people tell me. Sometimes, it is after only hearing me for an hour or two. I guess I have a way of getting people to trust me when I speak.

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself in Wile's position? By the way, if Wile and his buddy ate the Roadrunner it would have been so tough from all that running, it would have been like eating shoe leather.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Discrimination Takes A Blow

I know it has been almost two weeks since I last posted, but I have my reasons. I will not go into them here, but it has been an extraordinary period.

I want to tell you about a couple who both have cerebral palsy and live in Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, and have been given permission to keep their newborn son, William, to raise on their own.

I first learned of their situation shortly after William was born through a friend I met at one of the Virginia Youth Leadership Forums I spoke at a few years ago. It is great fun for me to keep in touch with these young people as they finish high school, go off to college and share their stories as several of them keep me informed of their lives and accomplishments.

Anyway, back to Charlie and Maricyl's story. They were initially told their baby would be taken from them because of their disabilities. At a family conference they showed they were capable, with an extended support system, to raise their child on their own. It truly is a wonderful story of the system working. You can read the Toronto Star's story by clicking here:

The article was written in early May. I wonder how they are doing? 

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Jeff Farnam's Memorial Service

A date and time have been set for Jeff Farnam's Memorial Service. It is:

June 10th, 3:00 p.m. at the First Universalist Church

3400 Dupont Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 

A catered celebration of Jeff's amazing life will follow at:

5:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Photo Center

2400 North Second Street, Second Floor of the Northwind Lofts
Minneapolis, MN 55411

The Center is located four blocks north and two blocks east of West Broadway Avenue and Washington Avenue North, in the Hawthorne neighborhood, just north of the Minneapolis Warehouse District and on the western side of the Mississippi River from the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. We have free parking available for our members and guests.

Kevin Kling will be the featured speaker and yours truly has been asked to be one of eight speakers who will give short, three to five minute speeches later in the ceremony.

This picture shows one of the patented set of front wheels Jeff had patented in the United States and Canada. Besides being an excellent photographer and pilot, he was also an inventor.

Check out these wheels. Click on the image to make it larger:

I look forward to seeing you at Jeff's Memorial Service.

As always, feel free to comment.

Later,

Mike

Great Quote I Needed

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you know I wrote about losing a good friend to cancer. If you want to read it, go to my April first post, and read what I wrote about my friend, Jeff Farnam. We lost Jeff on the eleventh about 6:30 that evening when he had been moved to hospice, asked several of his friends to come to his room and had all the life support systems turned off.

It has been a week now and I have had a hard time dealing with the fact we will never again sit in Calhoun Square and watch the scenery! Sit in on one of his photo sessions and watch him work, or meet at Lucia's or the BLB and share a meal and stories.

His service dog, Reggie, has been adopted by a good friend of Jeff's, and will have a loving family with a Standard Poodle as a constant playmate.

I have been asked to be one of eight speakers to eulogize him at his service, which has not been set yet since they are having a hard time coordinating all the pieces Jeff wanted for his memorial. I will let you know when it finally happens in case anyone wants to attend.

Jeff was a micro-manager and is still controlling many things even though his remains are sitting in a safe place until the day comes he will be put in his crypt.

He told a good friend he wanted the speakers to say no more than three hundred words. Well, there is no way he can control me and the length of my eulogy from where he is now; but if you know me, you know I cannot say anything in three hundred words! I plan to read my post from the first, but I will say a few words before that too! I This post is already over three hundred words!

I was inspired to finally write this by going through some old email and culling the files to clean the folders up a bit when I stumbled upon the first part of this quote and it was not credited to the author. 

A quick Google search revealed the first sentence was only part of the quote. The second sentence was the rest of Joel Kogel's quote. I like it: 

The worst thing in your life may contain seeds of the best. When you see crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes not easier, but more satisfying. 

 Joel Kogel

I can certainly relate to this quote to my life, especially the first sentence.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

P.S. Four hundred fifty-seven words including this Post Script! What did I tell you? 

I Could Not Say, "Good Bye."

Yesterday was an extremely difficult one for me! I went to see a longtime friend who is an old quad like me. I knew full well it may be the last time I got to see him as they were transferring him from the hospital to a hospice center sometime this week.

Jeff Farnam broke his neck in 1963 when he fell out of a cherry picker while trimming trees as a part-time, student worker at the age of fourteen. I met him in 1975 or '76 at a National Paraplegic Foundation meeting and have been friends ever since. He had an old Mamiya camera on a small tripod sitting on a lapboard taking pictures of people at the meeting.

That sparked my interest in photography. I learned much of what I know about taking pictures from Jeff. A few years later we both moved to Uptown and lived just a few blocks apart. For many years, we would meet at  Lucia's, The Uptown Bar or Bryant Lake Bowl for brunch on Saturday or Sunday. Once he retired from the City of Minneapolis, we would meet during the week, share a meal and watch the women. We ALWAYS watched the women!

We would run into each other on the sidewalk or in the lobby of Calhoun Square, sit next to each other, facing opposite directions, carry on a perfectly normal conversation, and not look at each other. You guessed it, we were watching the women.

Once he mastered photography, and he was very good! In fact, he took the studio shot I have on my homepage of my website and the profile of this blog. He moved on to remote-controlled airplanes. He belonged to a club out in the southern suburbs and flew his planes every chance he got. He has some big planes with wingspans of five to six feet! Several of them hang from the ceiling in his dining room, living room and office.

Then it was on to the real thing! Here is his plane he flew for several years:

Click on the image to make it larger:

He always wanted to get me up in it, but I had no desire to leave the ground in that thing! I went out there once and got up close to it, saw how small everything was, and politely declined!

Standing on Jeff's right is his other passion, his constant companion, Reggie. Reggie and he were inseparable. He got Reggie for socialization reasons. Yes, that means meeting women. If we would be sitting someplace and Reggie was in his working harness or vest, people were supposed to leave him alone.

However, if you were, female, young and attractive, you could pet him till your arm fell off! Jeff had his standards. I have always contended, Learn the rules, then break some of them. Jeff is a master at that.

We had often spoken about making a movie about the two of us and called it Grumpy Old Gimps. I guess that will not happen now. He and I share that same dark, acerbic sense of humor that has gotten us through these many decades of living with a spinal cord injury.

When it came time to leave, I could not, I would not say, Good Bye. I simply said, Later. Just like I end all my blog posts.

Jeff replied, See ya later.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

ADA Is Still Fighting

Almost twenty-two years after the Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law, we are still seeing its implementation is still fighting for full acceptance. A young friend from Virginia sent me this video and article to make pools accessible. It's an ongoing battle and probably always will be.

Check out this video and attached article from WAVY TV in Virginia Beach, Virginia:

New ADA rule for pools goes into effect: wavy.com

Click here to get to the link to read the article and view the video if it does not show up above:

I love the excuses of some of the hotel and resort representatives.

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Definition Of Disability

I was going through some comments on my Facebook Wall today and was introduced to the following video with a definition of disabled:



If your browser does not show the whole frame of the video, click here to see it.

Her first definition came from Webster's Thesaurus 1982. I have always tried to live despite my disability, rather than regards to it. I believe Aimee Mullins has that same attitude. There are so many comments I could make on this video, but I will refrain and let you tell me what you think.

I am happy to report Dictionary.com's version is better today. It just goes to show we are making some progress in the way society looks at people with disabilities.

My favorite quote of hers is, Our language affects our thinking. I believe those five small words speak volumes. My next favorite quote is, The human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.

Here is a comment from the hundreds of comments after the video. I particularly like the way the person emphasizes the word capabilities.

Thanks folks at TEDtalksDirector, & amp; of course a standing ovation to Ms Aimee. To hear her articulate her points is an inspiration in itself. She has a motivation beyond anything you read, in motivational books. I thought I had a tenacious disposition but Ms Aimee blows me away!
For all who believed in the human race — Ms Aimee is a fine example of the human spirit embracing adversities as an opportunities for us to learn ( "DANCE," she said — I love that verb!) about our own capabilities.

I look forward to your comments

Later,

Mike

Josh Blue Is Funny!

Doing research for this blog often takes me places I would never find otherwise. It also reminds me of people, places and things I may have lost or forgotten. That is the case with this post on Josh Blue. I had seen YouTube videos of bits and pieces of his stand-up routines, but never posted anything on him. Today, my inspiration did not come from any research I did; it just came from dumb luck. My attendant was watching Comedy Central and I was working on my computer doing a bit of marketing for my book.

I heard this voice come on the television who obviously had some cerebral palsy involvement. He was telling stories about his disability, and he was FUNNY! I went to his website and found some very funny self-deprecating material he uses in a way I often use in my presentations.

Check out this improvisational bit he pulled off at Mystic Lake Casino in 2008 with expert deftness:



You can see more Josh Blue videos, see if he will be in your area any time soon and even play a video game to help Josh get home on his website by clicking here.

I am a strong believer in being comfortable enough with ourselves we can smile at and about who we are. I would not have made it forty years without my sense of humor! How about you? Can you laugh at yourself?

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

For My Young Friends With Disabilities

I know many of my subscribers are young students with disabilities from either the Youth Leadership Forums I have done or high school students who have sent me emails after I visited their schools. This post is especially for you. For any of my adult subscribers who know a young person with a disability who is or will be soon attending college, please forward the attached article on to them.

First of all, this article was originally published in U.S. News & World Report in early December. I received it yesterday when a young Facebook friend posted it on my Wall. According to the article, there are about one point one million undergraduate students with physical disabilities in the country.

That may not be a large number of total college students, but each one of those students has their own story on what it took to get there, just like I did almost forty years ago. And guess what? Only five schools in the country offer enough services for a student with serious physical disabilities to live on campus. One of those is U.C. Berkeley! I lived on that campus in 1974 and 1975! Now, thirty-seven years later, only four more schools are offering that luxury. That is appalling!

To read the article, just click here.

I am anxious to hear what you think about it. Please feel free to comment.

Later,

Mike

I Love My Parkinsons Disease

Yes, I was shocked too. My personal care attendant and I were on the freeway yesterday and drove up behind a car with I LOVE MY PARKINSONS DISEASE on the back window in four-inch letters like you would see on the front door of a house. We followed him for a while and eventually drove up beside him. I wanted to roll down my window and ask him what he meant by it.

I did not do that, but it has bothered me ever since. I Googled the sentence and found nothing. I cannot think of a reason why anyone would love Parkinson's Disease. Can you?

On another note: I have had some requests about the status of my book. Sadly, I have nothing to report. The publisher told me it would be ready by Thanksgiving. They told me it would be ready in one to two weeks when I submitted it November eighth.

I just received a call from the the publisher and evidently they sent me the proof, but I never received it. I am very disappointed. I wanted it to be ready for people who are not into football and had their Tryptophan nap to be able to read it Thursday afternoon or evening. I trust it will be ready and online soon.

I want to wish all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving, and keep checking back to see the status of I Still Believe In Tomorrow.

As always, I look forwards to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Adam Bender The Left-handed Catcher

When you watch this video, you immediately notice there is something different about young Adam Bender. He is left-handed! Rarely do you see a left-handed catcher. It is an almost an unwritten rule that catchers throw with their right hand. If you are not a baseball player or fan, you probably wonder why that is. The reason is most hitters are right-handed and it is easier for the catcher to throw back to the pitcher or one of the bases if there is not a batter in front of them.


Oh, there is one more thing you notice about young Adam. He only has one leg. He had his left leg amputated when he was one because of cancer. It is another wonderful story about a young person with a disability who is not letting his disability keep him down. They seem to be everywhere.

This story was originally published in the Lexington Harold Leader on May 31, 2008. You can watch a great video and read the entire story about young Adam by clicking here.


Adam has also played football and soccer. He has overcome adversity to do what he wants to do. I admire that. And to think he was only eight years old when this story was done. I looked around a bit to find out how he is doing and could not find any updates. Whatever he is doing this summer, I am sure he is having fun. He certainly has the heart of a champion and a good attitude. We all know how important it is to have a good attitude!

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Gary Coleman 1968-2010

Remember the TV show Diff'rent Strokes from the 1980's? I believe the thing many of us remember the most are the problems the child stars had in their personal lives after the show went off the air in 1986.

Gary Coleman died today at the age of 42. He suffered from kidney disease as a child and had two kidney transplants, losing his first one at age five. As an adult, he suffered many medical problems which helped to end his life prematurely.

You can see the Associated Press video obituary by clicking here if the video does not open.



He had many health-related issues his whole life but had a hard time shaking that image we all had of that precocious little Arnold Jackson. According to his filmography on imdb.com, he continued to act up until last year, albeit never with the kind of success he saw as a ten- to eighteen-year-old child star.

The point is: he continued to pursue his passion despite all of his physical, personal, legal and financial problems. I have a great deal of respect for him for doing that.

RIP, Gary Coleman.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike

Look Ma, No Hands!

In 1975, Bonnie Consolo won an Academy Award nomination for the documentary film A Day in the Life of Bonnie Consolo. I remember seeing it and being amazed at all the things she did without arms. She was truly amazing!

I was a newbie then at only four years post injury, and to watch this woman, drive a car, cut her boys hair, prepare the family dinner and do many other things with her feet was a real eye-opener for me! You can learn more about Bonnie's life and her accomplishments by clicking here. Bonnie passed away in 2005 at the age of 67. Naturally, she was a motivational speaker.

Now, we have another incredible young woman who is making a name for herself who, like Bonnie, was born with no arms. Young Jessica Cox has done Bonnie one better and has become a licensed pilot. Yes, she is the only licensed pilot in the United States who has no arms!

Check out this video from Inside Edition from about a year ago:



What do you suppose is her chosen career? You got it, another keynote speaker! Surprised? Neither am I. You can learn more about Jessica by clicking here. She is another example of a motivated young person making great strides to make the world a better place. I am sure we will hear a lot about her for many years to come. I wish her well.

I look forward to your comments.

Later,

Mike

Patrick Henry Hughes!

I have introduced you to a number of young people who are making a difference, and I want to do it again. Welcome to young Patrick Henry Hughes. Patrick was born without eyes and a condition which made it impossible for him to straighten his arms and legs.

He has an amazing will and inner strength that is difficult for me to describe. Despite his disability, he was playing the piano at nine months! Besides being a student at the University of Louisville, he and his father are members of the Marching Band. Yes, his father! His father pushes Patrick's wheelchair through the routines as Patrick plays his trumpet.

In 2007, his family was chosen to receive a new house from the Extreme Makeover Home Edition television show. He has spoken on four continents and all over the country. He has written one book so far and has two CD's of his piano playing. It truly is an extraordinary story! To learn more about young Patrick, visit his website by clicking here.

I first learned of Patrick when a friend sent me this video which aired on ESPN. Check it out:




What do you think?

I welcome your comments.

Later,

Mike