Reunion at EagleRidge and the Terry Fox Run

Yesterday, we had a reunion at EagleRidge Hospital for the patients in E1B - my home for the better part of three months. Not only was it a chance for the nursing, physio, speech-language, and occupational therapy people to see how everyone was making out, but for the patients themselves to get some sense of progress. After seeing many of the patients I was in the "big house" with, I have to admit that my progress is extraordinary. I really have no obvious deficits (until I talk or walk a long ways).

We did the Terry Fox Run yesterday (I walked) for about 5km. We had about 15 of our friend over for coffee, donuts and muffins before the run (our place is within 500m of the start). I still hit that wall at about 3km, and the last 2km home were awful for our friends to watch. But - I did make it on my own two feet, and within a couple of hours of finishing, the walking was more-or-less back to normal.

One year ago...

It was one year ago today that I put in my last day at Agilent Technologies Canada Inc. I thought I'd take a minute to recap what's happened this past twelve months...

- Bought a truck to tow the trailer.
- Went to Whistler with the Diack's.
- Sold the boat. Serendipitous?
- Had a stroke on October 5th.
- Jen and Mike were married in Calgary. I was supposed to MC the wedding, but I was in a hospital bed. I hear the wedding was great fun! Sorry I missed it.
- Ended up spending 93 days as patient at Eagle Ridge Hospital. Was discharged on January 5th.
- Spent a few days with Dave and Sherri up at Sun Peaks (Kamloops). Laura skied, I convalesced.
- Flew to Calgary in February to visit with Mike and Kelly. Mike was still walking, although started to get weak on his left side.
- Laura drove all the way to Palm Springs with me, Dave and Bo.
- Laura drove into LA to visit Disneyland with me and Dave in tow.
- I drove the truck and trailer from Palm Springs to Calgary in April - to visit Mike one last time. He was in a wheelchair, and his left side was paralyzed.
- We left the trailer in Hal's field while Laura and I drove back to Vancouver .

- I turned 50.

- Mike died May 22 from a Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumor.

- Laura and I drove back from Vancouver to Calgary for Mike's funeral on May 28th.
- Laura, Bo and me took the long way home and towed the trailer to South Dakota to visit Little Big Horn, Pompey's Pillar, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, Sturgis, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Lewis and Clark Caverns.

- Kathryn returned home from Turkey, and is now living in Kitsalano.

- I bought a new touring bike - kind of a belated 50th Birthday present to myself.
- We travelled to Port Townsend, with Kelly, for the Pacific Seacraft rendezvous. I stayed in Bellingham for a couple of days while the girls went to Nevada.
- Laura and Kelly went to Las Vegas for five days.
- Went to Whistler for three nights with Laura, Kath and Dave. Bo looked after by John and Mo.
- Laura went back to school Monday, Aug 30th.
 - Kathryn started UBC on Tuesday this week. Getting her B.Ed.
- I started an Internet Marketing course (www.challenge.co) last Friday - doing a few hours every day.

Overall, the year seems to have gone by quite quickly - I guess when I recap, much has happened.

11 Months and counting...

It's now 11 months yesterday (October 5/09) since I suffered the stroke. In retrospect, there's been tremendous improvement - from not being able to walk, brush my teeth, or say more than one word without breathing hard. I think things are continuing to improve, and likely will for another year or so. I can now walk about 3km without too much problem (even further, but I have a noticeable limp), I can bike at least 30km in one stretch (as I did last week), and can talk, even though it's still nasally - I sound like english is my second language and I have some kind of strange accent. I think that maybe the lasting effect of the stroke(s) will be my voice - I'm not so sure that it will ever come back to be what it was. I'm OK with that, considering the alternatives.
What all this has done, however, is put a real "best before" date on my life. If there is a purpose (even if it's self-imposed) for a life, it seems to me you have an obligation to see as much as your able during our brief visit here. To that end, I'm hoping that Laura and I will do something truly bold and non-traditional in the coming months. She's at school (taking ECE - Early Childhood Education) until the end of June next year - so I have until then to get as healthy as I can. After that, who knows?