Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

One of my favorite plays is “A Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.”  I’ve always enjoyed Tennessee Williams writings. Often there is an anti-hero who speaks bitter truth. In the tortured souls of his characters, he often exposes the dark side of life. In 1958, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman filmed the screen adaption of the play. It’s a great movie even though in the 50s era they had to sanitize the realities Williams words. I have often blogs about my headaches. My last post was in anticipation of my third Botox treatment.  As I write this blog post, I’m sitting in the dark in the middle of the night with a headache.  If I should take the Norco or just tough it out. Newman’s character “Brick” had a confrontation with his father about secrets and “mendacity.” Brick stressed alcohol is the only way to deal with the stress of living. As I contemplate this pain, this line in the play/movie resonates to me “Like a switch clicking off in my head. Turns the hot li...

For several months my sleep pattern has been disrupted. I often wake up between 2:00 to 4:00 in morning. It is because of the constant headaches. Plus our dog Lucy expects me to sit in the dark living room and she expects a treat.  It’s like a dystopian Pavlov’s dog situation. Frankly, she gets a rawhide and I take a Norco to relieve the pain. She eats her treat and my pill kicks in to relieve my pain. She then sits by the window in search of the elusive cats. And I think about the peaceful dark space in my head. Of course, people are worried about my sleep pattern. And I am conscious of this situation as well. On the other hand, I do enjoy this time. Often I have bogged about my stroke recovery. There are no visible issues. I do not limp. My communication is much better then several years ago when my aphasia was so obvious.  Nevertheless, after nine years of strokes and aphasia, I am on the brink of my 60th birthday. I have noticed my struggle with the aphasi...