To the doctor

I am going to start adding pictures to my posts --- that are totally unrelated to the topic. This is Amanda.

It is time for my monthly visit to the neurologist. My doctor is a sparky dark-haired man with a warm straight-forward temperament. He lectures me (strongly tells me) not to mess with my medicines and listens for as long as it takes to figure out what I need and asks for clarity and specifics when I descibe symptoms. No matter how many people are in the waiting room or how long over my appointment time we go. Phone calls come in during our appointment, but he always apologizes before and after taking them. He usually runs late, and he apologizes for that, too.
A doctor that has the knowledge without the attendant arrogance. Being a NW gal, I have never been fond of educational arrogance so I am lucky my doc does not embrace that. So is he for that matter. (Last week I went to the tumor neurologist. He looked at my MRI and said... well, I can't tell anything from this come back in December. So I guess I will be going back in December.)
My vision seems to be getting worse, bouts with dizziness sporadic, my ability to resist sugar non-existent. I am back on glorious glorious caffeine daily and we have joined the YMCA so I am exercising. I give him updates and he talks to me. I am still not satisfied with the unknown diagnosis of the cause of my stroke, but realize in our tightly-controlled insurance-driven medical field it will not be answered.
On the bright side... my decision whether to take hormone replacement therapy or not has been made for me, I am no longer eligible due to the stroke. So I need to put no energy in that decision!

Stroke support - this is a cranky post.

We are a quiet bunch. I don't see us on the news doing fundraising walks (or rolls!), being interviewed with all sorts of hope for recovery, our friends and family all wearing a certain color in support. I have been thinking alot about this, how from day one of this stroke experience I have experienced less than stellar support, mostly because I have crossed over into the danger zone of health. I don't know if it is because it is a head trauma, and can change the way we interact with the world, or the chances of reoccurence and further disability are increased so we are (possibly) less able to contribute to society, but there is a definite difference there.
I immediately decided cancer would be easier to handle than this... because there is so much friggin' info about cancer treatments, alternatives, expansive support groups, specialized doctors and the anonymous community support for cancer survivors. I am not saying it should not be that way -- just that stroke research needs to have that level of energy and money expended on it. At the very least the medical field needs a whole lot more education beyond "stroke is the beginning of the end." I have heard bonehead things out of doctors mouths (not my neurologist, he has the training, but all my other docs.) We are still loving, vital parts of our communities and families - don't make us invisible.
Oh, and I may still be in the angry part of recovery....