templetonnewsletterjan2011

“Dedicated to Excellence” Vol. 10, Issue 130 January 2011

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EASTER CAMP—

(BLAST)

April 22-25, 2011

For info, visit website: turtletalk.ca

Easter Camp BLAST 2011 April 22-25, 2011

Ingredients:

2 tbsp.................Vegetable oil

1 lb .....................Lamb stew meat, cubed

2 cups ................Beef broth

1 cup ..................Dry red wine

2 cloves..............Garlic, minced

1 tbsp.................Fresh thyme, chopped

1/4 tsp ...............Salt

1/4 tsp ...............Black pepper

1 .........................Bay leaf

2 cups ................Butternut squash, peeled, seeded & sliced

1 cup ..................Parsnips, sliced

1 cup ..................Sweet potatoes,

www.templetonstrokerecovery.com

Templeton Newsletter Mailing Address:

204– 2929 Nootka Street, Vancouver, BC V5M 4K4 Canada Published every month, if possible. Contributions are always welcome. The articles should be in, not later than day 25th of every month.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in Stroke Recoverer’s Review newsletter: articles, submissions and spotlights are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Templeton Stroke Recovery or the editor of Stroke Recoverer’s Review. Editor reserves the right at any time to make changes as it deems necessary. It is the purpose of this periodical to share a variety of viewpoints mostly from stroke survivors.

Contributors: Ollie Stogrin Loy Lai Werner Stephan Deb Chow Valerie Offer Jose Suganob

Production of SRR:

Jose Suganob Email: [email protected]

Printing Person: Kiyoko Akeroyd 604-434-6513

Inside this issue:

1. It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.

2. Never give up on what you really want to do. The per-son with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.

Seniors…

I’ve sure gotten old! I’ve had two by-pass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes.

I’m half-blind, can’t hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circula-tion, hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can’t remember if I’m 86 or 95. Have lost all my friends. But, Thank God, I still have my driver’s license.

—Submitted by Loy Lai Templeton Stroke Recovery

JOKE

I feel like my body has gotten

totally out of shape, so, I got

my doctor’s permission to

join a fitness club and start

exercising. I decided to take

an aerobic class for Seniors.

I bent, twisted, gyrated,

jumped up and down and

perspired for an hour. But, by

the time I got my leotards on,

the fitness class was over.

chopped

1 cup ................. Celery, sliced

1 medium.......... Onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup .............. Sour cream

3 tbsp ................ All-purpose flour

Directions:

1.Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan, and brown the lamb meat on all sides. Drain fat, and stir in the beef broth and wine. Season with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

2.Mix in squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery and onion. Bring to a boil, or until the vege-tables are tender.

3.In a small bowl, blend sour cream mixture into the sauce-pan. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup of the hot stew mixture.

4.Stir the sour mixture into the saucepan. Remove the bay leaf and continue to cook and stir until thickened.

Recipe Encouragements

2

EASTER CAMP BLAST is moving ahead...

2

Last Month’s Happening

3

Bill Blair

4

Holiday Reflections J-Notes

5

January 2011 Volume 10, Issue 130

Page 2

“There’s life after stroke”

RECIPE: “Lamb & Winter Veg’s Stew”

EASTER CAMP BLAST is moving ahead...

ENCOURAGEMENTS

S t r o k e R e c o v e r e r ’ s R e v i e w

We’ve had a great offer

from Whistler Healing Arts.

Colleen Fraser, RMT, will be

coming down with a team

(5-6) to give everyone

massages Saturday.

Other Volunteers of note,

are Heather Brascombe

from Abilities Neurological

Rehabilitation.

Teri Damiani from yoga2go

will be coming Sunday

afternoon and most likely

bringing a friend or two.

Elizabeth Dao from The

Brain Behavior Lab at UBC

has volunteered to spend

the entire weekend with us.

We’re still working on

bringing more money in.

Every little bit counts.

Today (1/27/11), Jose

brought $42 in pennies.

That’s a lot of one handed

rollin’! Thanks, Jose.

—by Deb Chow

Templeton Stroke Recovery

April 22-25, 2011


Don’t know if our members are aware that Debbie is responsible for putting up the tables and the chairs every Wednesday night with her neighbor for Thursday Templeton Stroke Recovery program? If she and her neighbor didn’t set them up, we would have to put them up every Thurs-day morning. That’s very much appreciated by us. Also, we really appreciate Constantino, Orlando and George for putting the ta-bles and chairs away after every meeting. That all means a lot to us.

It’s also good for our mem-bers to feel that this is their Templeton Stroke Recovery Branch, that they are part of a team, Thank you, eve-ryone.

It is so good to see our members helping out, like Athena’s taking lunch orders, Jeanie leading the exercises and helping, too, in the kitchen, Lilia (a care-giver) helping Olga make the sandwiches and having fun getting the lunch out. There’s Nancy cleaning table clothes and putting them away. All this is bene-ficial to our members in their recoveries. As, it is also being a part of our team at Templeton but so helpful to us, volunteers, are so hard to come by. We couldn’t run the stroke recovery program without all your help.

Now, we have a new mem-ber from the island? (Ed. Note: Lulu Island) Rich-

mond, ahhh. Diane Shaylor. She has been around for a number of years. Only, she attended another branch. I have known Diane since Easter Camp days. We wel-come Diane to our group. I’m sure she will be happy to joined us as we are to have her join our group.

We had Ann, a new volun-teer for a week, unfortu-nately her grandfather passed away. Hopefully, she will be back soon. Also, if any of you know of anyone that would like to volun-teer, please let one of us know as we can always use an extra hand.

At our program two weeks ago, we said ‘goodbye’ to our Bill Blair. Our Valerie gave a tribute to Bill with our members. We are going to miss our Bill with a booming voice. I think, our members felt there was no closer as there was no memorial for Bill. It seemed that’s the way Bill wanted it. Only, after Valerie did a small service for Bill. It seemed there was now a closer for Bill’s departure. Thanks, Valerie, very well done to us Bill was remem-bered the way the mem-bers remembered him.

It was nice to see John B. this year! It’s only 3 weeks in to 2011. As sometimes John isn’t around for weeks as he volunteers his time for studies that are done to prevent stroke. Which is wonderful, as these studies are very important in the research of Stroke. Thank


Page 3

you, John for participating in these studies.

I have talked about ‘Easter Camp BLAST 2011’ to our members. I’m hoping some of you will attend the Easter Camp. As more people that will attend the price will be reduced. It is such a great experience, our Debbie C. along with Karel L. and Martha H. are trying so hard to make this a success. As Debbie recalls how going to camp was a ‘turning point’ in her recovery. And, she is wishing more people could have that opportunity in their recovery.

Again, ‘Strides For Strokes 2011’ will be in Saturday, June 25, 2011. We are hoping to go with Coquit-l am /P or t Coq u i t l am ‘Strides’ again in Rocky Point Park in Port Moody, BC. As that seems to be the most convenient walk for most of our group with an eating place nearby and wash rooms close by.

Not much has changed when it comes to Handy-Dart. It is very difficult to run a stroke recovery program when HandyDart refuses to pick up our mem-bers earlier. It’s not as if we are getting paid by the com-munity for our program. All our ‘Stroke Recovery’ programs are volunteer run. The only one that is paid is our coordinator (which is very minimal). We are not running a ‘drinking club.’ We provide help for the community, for the stroke survivors. When our

LAST MONTH’S HAPPENING...Ollie Stogrin

members can’t come till 10:30am when the program starts at 9:30am. That shouldn’t be acceptable. We are just same as ‘adult day care’ as most of our members are adults from 30 years and up. Where would our stroke survivors go if it wasn’t for our programs? These people need to have a life after stroke. Stroke Recovery is where their life takes on a new meaning. That’s why our program is so important and that’s why we need HandyDart to get our mem-bers to the program in time. As we can’t have a two (2) hour program. Stroke people don’t move fast. It takes time to get people moved from one area to another. Two (2) is not acceptable. It seems HandyDart doesn’t listen when we tell them that they don’t bring our mem-bers till 10:30am. We can’t tell time??? There’s no one to talk with. As the same people have been at the HandyDart for 100 years? And they refuse to listen to anything we have to say. When one can’t have com-munication with Handy-Dart, where can one go??? Anyone know??? If you do, then tell us or is it just Templeton that has this problem.

Next month, either Key, Debbie or Jose will be writing here as I hope to be in Australia.

—Ollie Stogrin Templeton Stroke

Recovery




At the center of our being is

an awareness of an end to

a valued friendship. We

remember Bill. Our hearts

ache and we feel a deep

and tender wound because

he is no longer here with

us. We grieve because of

his physical absence but we

rejoice in the memories of

the times we shared with

him.

Bill came into my life about

6 years ago when I started

at Templeton Stroke Recovery.

One of the first things,

I remember about him is

being impressed with his


Page 4

BIG, BAD, BINGO: That’s BILL BLAIR...


posture, he stood so tall

and erect almost at atten-

tion. Therefore, I was not

surprised when I learnt that

he had been a police officer

as he had that military

stance of one who had

been on the force. He was

so proud the year we did

the YMCA skit at Christmas

dinner and my brother gave

him a Vancouver Police

Force shirt to wear for it.

Do you remember the

whole costume with the

toy guns, handcuffs, police

helmet and even a sheriff’s

badge? He really got a kick

out of wearing it.

Over the years, I learnt that

Bill was very intelligent and

there were times when

I had to curtailed his

intelligence or else no one

else would have been able

to answer the trivia questions,

as Bill had an extremely

amazing resource of trivia

answers stored away and

was always willing to blurt

out the answers. He had a

great sense of humor and

loved to laugh and did not

mind if we even laughed

with him like when he

squeezed the whoopee

cushion or called himself

“Bad Bill Blair.” As everyone

knows he loved his Bingo

and really enjoyed helping

Athena call the numbers.

Other than the exercise

program, Bill was always

game to try anything and

thoroughly enjoyed any and

all outings. He attended

Easter Camps, Bowen Island

Retreats and all the large

bus outings. Although,

I knew little about his

personal life and upbringing

I know, he was extremely

proud of his son, who is a

lawyer and he told me that

even though he had been

divorced for many years, his

wife and he had remained

good friends over the years.

Most weeks, Bill would

buy two Cokes from the

machine, one for him and

one for me. He, even did

this the last time he was

here at our Thursday stroke

meeting which was the day

he passed away. Although,

we all knew he had cancer

and was progressively dete-

riorating, it was still a shock

to lose him so quickly.

I wish him a safe, final

journey and hope that all

his Bingo cards are lucky.

Goodbye, Big, Bad, Bingo

Bill. I will miss your boom-

ing voice and that lovely

twinkle in your eye.

—Valerie Offer

Coordinator,

Templeton Stroke Recovery

Bill has a mind like a steel trap.

He has so much general

knowledge stored in his brain,

how do you know that, he is

often asked. I just know, he says.

—Helen Singh “There’s life after stroke”

HOLIDAY REFLECTIONS — W. Stephan, NSSRC—West Vancouver Group

Just recently somebody

asked me what my most

memorab le C h r i s t m a s

dinner was. I had to think

about it, but one dinner in

the late 60’s in Yukon

seemed to come to mind

i m m e d i a t e l y : A work

colleague had invited me to

his cabin near Whitehorse,

where he lived with his

native wife or partner

(I never found out what her

status was). The cabin did

not have electric power and

the light was supplied by an

oil lamp. The dinner opened

with smoked bear meat and

lots of beer. Suddenly, a

bell rang and the ‘wife’

grabbed a chainsaw. She

came back to the cabin with

some wood which she had

cut to feed the stove. As I

said, we drunk lots of beer

and I don’t remember much

afterwards, especially not

what we had for dinner or

dessert. I asked my friend

later about the bell and he

told that it was operated by

thermostat (when it got too

cold in the cabin) and was

powered by batteries. From

him, I heard the saying first

than in Yukon ‘men are

men and women know it.’

It was not the dinner but

the whole spirit that made

that particular Christmas

memorable. As I said, it was

the 60’s and it happened in

the North Country.

You think that things are

different now? True, there

was no dinner and

Women’s issues were not

yet at stake, but the following

story might amuse you

never-the-less. It happened

at a navy base in Washing-

ton State. One of the crew

members was English but

had been living in the area

for a long time. As a hobby,

he was breeding dogs.

It happened in the early

90’s, terrorists were not yet

an issue and security was

lax. The base was secured

b y g a t e s w h i c h w e r e

manned only infrequently.

Security was mostly con-

cerned with drugs. This par-

ticular day, the gates were

manned and the guards

checked all cars for drugs.

To do so, they used sniffing

dogs. When it was the turn

of the English fellow and his

car, the dogs went wild.

They must have smelled the

female breeder dogs scent

and the guards started to

check the car

HEALTHY TIP:

2 glasses of water after waking up helps activate internal organs.

1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion.

1 glass before taking a bath helps lower blood pressure.

1 glass of water going to bed –avoids stroke or heart attack.

HANDYDART WOES

When the new company MVT, at first, took reins of HandyDart, they have a lady customer relation officer that took care of the passenger needs. After a year or so, she was gone. The HandyDart is going back to same problems we had before. And, now, we to find a way to talk to HandyDart. Because the customer relation, if it is, is bad. Old people in the new company tends to do the same way they do before. ‘If you don’t want our services, you have to find another way of transporta-tion.’

I thought, HandyDart is for all disabled people. Not only for dialysis patients or going to doctor person, but every disabled person.

The HandyDart drivers is doing wonderful job, that’s for sure, but the booking needs of the disabled persons can be improved.

—Jose Suganob


Page 5

more in detail. I was waived

to pass without checking

which enraged the English

fellow. He shouted to the

guard, “That guy is German,

you should check him and

not me.”

His protests prompted the

guards (who were young

and could only recall recent

history, like Vietnam and

not WWII) to really take his

car apart. He was stuck for

hours. How do I know all

this? He told a friend and

I heard about it later.

I told both stories to my

wife and she thought that I

should share them to show

how much things have

changed. We di d not

discuss whether it is for

better or worse. That is a

matter of opinion, anyway.

Why do I waste your time

wi th tal es about an

oppressed woman and an

i nnocent Eng l ishman,

although, both issues are a

matter of personal view-

point? Well, work (if one

can remember what ‘work’

is) is not all boring and

stressful. It can have its

lighter moments with bear

and moose meat and lots of

beer.

—by Werner Stephan,

NSSRC, West Vancouver

Group


J-NOTES...Jose Suganob



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