Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

I had another round of vision therapy today, and it is very interesting. Here is the description: A Brock string (named after Frederick W. Brock ) is an instrument used in vision therapy . It consists of a white string of approximately 10 feet in length with three small wooden beads of different colors. The Brock string is commonly employed during treatment of convergence insufficiency and other anomalies of binocular vision . It is used to develop skills of convergence as well as to disrupt suppression of one of the eyes. During therapy, the one end of the Brock string is held on the tip of the nose while the other is tied to a fixed point. The three beads are spaced out at various distances. The patient is asked to focus on one of the beads, while noting the visual input of each eye and sensation of convergence. Techniques may be made more difficult by bringing the beads closer to the nose and by employing lenses and prisms . Here is a video that you can watch:...

  I found an eye doctor who specialized with stroke and vision. I sought a doctor because I am a voracious reader, and because of my stroke, I have great difficulty reading.  Reading was my hobby, and, for work, reading is key. So, I have started a new round of therapy. I started last week, and I anticipate that it will take 6 months, two times a week. Dr. Scott Lewis describes his practice in this way:   “ What is vision therapy? You can think of vision therapy as physical therapy for the eyes and the brain. The neurological aspect is very important because the eyes are direct physical extensions of the brain. We see with our brains and minds, not just our eyes. There are plenty of web pages which give accurate definitions of vision therapy .    Here is some related information about reading and stroke:  People who have suffered a stroke can sometimes see the reading impaired. Calling this kind of alteration Acquired Dyslexia. This di...

One Year…. Yesterday, my brothers, Steve and Dirk, and I went to Twin Falls, Idaho. It was a quick trip.  We had to do some estate legal work, and after that, we went to the cemetery.  Our parents died in September, and we have not seen the headstone. It was kinda surreal.  Because we live in Boise and our parents lived in Twin Falls, it seems that they are still here.  Seeing the headstone makes it real. It seems like yesterday that my wife told me that my Mom was sick.  It was about early May.  Our step father was ill, and we knew that he would not get better, but this sudden news that both of our parents were going to die was heart wrenching. Last summer was odd. I was recovering after my stroke (still am…), and my brothers and I went to Twin Falls every week…sometimes two times a week.  There were so many fires last year, and the scenery seemed like a burnt orange Moonscape. Watching a parent’s demise was awful. It seems like r...

When you have a stroke, you need to rely on others for many things. Simple tasks are sometimes in insurmountable like tying a shoe, making dinner, personal hygiene, etc.  When you have a stroke, people want to help you which is great though sometimes a stroke survivor needs to do things for themselves. But sometimes, “people” who are most often the most close to you, seem to take for granted that survivors do recover and they have opinions which are real, well founded, rational, intelligent, and have value. It is often the case that a survivor has to deal with well-meaning people – friends and family – who seem to believe that because an individual who had a stroke is less intelligent.   When a survivor has a different opinion, it is easy for these people to say something like “well, he had a stroke you know, just humor him.”  In the eyes of others, you are less than a real person….you have diminished capacity on all fronts.  It a surviv...

The other night I was driving with our son, Ethan. Out of the blue my eight-year-old boy said, "Daddy are you ever going back to work again?" Startled, I said, "I just don't know. The stroke really did a number on me. I just do not know if I can work anymore. And that is sad for me."  He said, "Strokes really suck don't they, Dad?"  Then he said, "If you don't go back to work, what do you think you'll do every day?" When my dad retired at 53, it was very hard for him. His identity was wrapped in the fact that he worked at Buttrey Foods and before that the B&B in Kalispell, Montana. When Buttrey Foods "big wigs" told my dad that he would be "retired" (Actually it was a cost saving measure because his pension was getting too expensive for the company so they actually fired him), it was a major shock for him and our family. Dad started work delivering newspapers when he was about 10, a...

On a recent trip to Placerville, Idaho, we passed Lucky Peak Dam. The bottom of the dam there is a park called Sandy Point. Some of my best childhood memories are in this park. During the summer when my dad was working, my beloved friend Carolyn and her son Doug would go to the park on Wednesdays and Saturday. We didn't have a lot of money and this park was a cheap alternative. She would drive her old Cutlass or Buick station wagon, pack a lunch for us, and we would play in the water for hours and hours. Carolyn insisted that Doug and I would place her blanket near an overweight lady. In that way Carolyn would laugh and say “I will look good by comparison!” She would read magazines or books, play her portable radio, and watch as Doug and I would try to catch minnows and crawdads. Those are vivid memories for me, but we were driving to Heather's cabin, I told her that sometimes the memories are too sad for me. I said that it is ironic that my stroke did ...

On May 28, 2013, I thought I was having another stroke. The last stroke happened on January 13, 2012. So, this was a massive shock.  How could it happen again? Why? Why me? Again? The day was normal, but I had an episode when I could not remember my last name. I could not read simple emails. I was so disappointed and terrified.  My wonderful wife tried to reassure me even though she rushed to   Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise For a surreal 28 hours, I was at St. Al's undergoing tests. Pokes and prodded and given shots. I had another MRI. Nope. That was not it which is great. During that 45 minute test, "I came back." Whatever happened, I recovered quickly. Then, I had a "EEG" (electroencephalograph) measures brainwaves of different frequencies within the brain. Electrodes are placed on specific sites on the scalp to detect and record the electrical impulses within the brain. Negative. Also great. So, what happened? It was not another ...