On my way to lunch at Saddlebrook, my brother called and spit out a lot of information at me. What I caught was this: there might be a stenosis of my PICA and I might have had a small dissection which caused the lack of blood flow to my cerebellum. I could have another scan (CT angiography?) of my neck which might or might not determine if I had a dissection. But even then, it might not change the treatment. I’ll bring this up with my PCP next time I see him.
Category: Personal
Christi was going to post on her blog every Thursday what she was thankful for. I guess she ran out. 
I owe an update about my stroke to everyone, but am not in the mood to write another blog post after my Toastmasters one. So I’ll just publish a rough draft of one I started January 9th. Back in the hospital… View full article »
Today I helped out a company wanting to create a new Toastmasters club. NEI (or something) Relocation. Before the meeting we were told people wanted to know about the different officer roles, but by the time the “sample” meeting was over, there was only a couple minutes left so we didn’t have time to go over them.
I was also hoping to tell them about easy-speak.org and this: View full article »
I’ll try to catch you (really just myself) up with what has happened since my last blog post.
Monday was a holiday (New Year’s observed) so I did nothing.
Tuesday afternoon I went to see the PA (physicians assistant) at the ENT. The regular guy was too busy. Christi dropped me off and I waited for a couple of minutes. A little girl Alyssa went before me. I was led to the examination room by the PA (who didn’t introduce himself until we were in the room – weird). He asked some questions, but I think he was mostly going by what notes were sent to him. (From clinic doctor, ER, Christi? I don’t know.) When he left to get something to remove some excess ear wax I really didn’t feel like I had any answers. I had a hearing test done and then went to a different examination room to meet with the PA again. I was determined to get more answers. And I did. He answered all my questions and then gave me his 3 guesses: Ménière’s, labrynthitis or headache. View full article »
Friday at 3:00 PM I walked from my cube on the 4th floor to my car parked ½ a block away to put in my last 2 dollar coins so the meter would be paid until 5:oo PM. I ran down without a coat since I wouldn’t be that long.
I reached down into the car and grabbed the 2 dollars. When I stood up I felt “off”. I was slightly dizzy. I’m not sure if my neck “popped” as it usually does or if it just hurt. I noticed that the right side of the back of my throat felt icy cold and I was walking with a slight gait to the right and was bumping the right wall if I didn’t consciously pull myself to the left.
I noticed my right thumb and index finger “go numb” as if they had “fallen asleep”.
As I reached my desk I looked up the systems for a stroke which included dizziness and numbness along with a crooked smile and slurred speech. I checked my smile with a small mirror at my desk. Nothing different – I naturally have a slightly crooked smile. I mumbled to myself and thought I sounded ok, but to be sure I called my wife at home. She concurred that I sounded ok, but mentioned my company’s in-house doctor’s clinic and suggested I stop by. View full article »
We had an explosion in our kitchen tonight! My wife bought one of those glass containers for food storage. It was sitting on the counter when it inexplicably exploded. I was mowing the yard (100 degrees! (where’s the degree character on this iPad?)) when Alyssa and her friend ran up saying something glass broke in the kitchen. I raced inside for fear that Christi was hurt and saw her dumbfoundedly (I can make up words) staring at 1000′s (well, at least hundreds) of glass shards on the counter and floor. Bret (over for dinner) and her had heard the explosion but didn’t know what it was from. We seriously didn’t know what had exploded for several minutes. With my Sherlock Holmes-like skills I determined it was the glass food container. What a mess. We were able to verify that it had exploded because there was glass on the other side of the counter, over a raised portion. (Pics coming soon)
We decided we couldn’t sue because no one was hurt until… Alyssa put her hand on the counter later and a shard that had stuck to the edge of the counter went right into her finger. Poor thing.
(Note to self: typing on an iPad sucks!)
Hear what people are saying about Adam!
Dedicated and fights for what is right.
Focuses on quality in his work.
I like his listening skills. Adam is always ready to help others.
Always provides excellent out of the box thinking for technical problems.
Excellent and well rounded technical skills. Amazing code documentation. Very good at trying out new technologies and integrating them into your projects. I learn things from him! I can tell he has a passion for this stuff, which is a rare commodity.
If I ever have any tech questions Adam is the first person I would ask. I appreciate how he gets things done without complaining.
Adam seems to always have a positive, happy attitude. Sometimes things at work can burden us, but Adam will say something funny and everyone will laugh even early on a Monday. Thanks!
Great sense of detail and ability to find things that others overlook. Passion for the job, quality, and the people is evident in everything he does.
A patient collaborator that values your input.
Tonight Joel went to be with Owen, a stuffed puppy. Alyssa came out of her room and said that she couldn’t sleep without Owen, so I went in Joel’s room and asked if she could have Owen. He said no and Alyssa started bawling. After a couple of minutes, Joel called out to me and gave me Owen, saying that Alyssa could have him. What a wonderful gesture from a 3 year old.
(via email)
Mom: If you could have anything for your birthday, what would you pick?
Me: … it would be to wake up in the morning rested and jumping out of bed instead of dreading getting up and cursing life.
Mom: (no response yet)