Hello. My name is Jim. I was born in 1967, my wife was born in 1975. We have no children. We live in a suburb of St.Louis , MO called St.Peters. We both work(ed) for the same company as computer programmers. Both of us consider ourselves to be Cardinals fans, not the rabid kind that can recite stats and never turns off SportsCenter but we can name the players and we enjoy watching the games. We half-heartedly follow the Rams and don’t watch professional hockey or basketball at all.
On August 3, 2006, I suffered a brainstem stroke. I survived it because of sheer luck, divine intervention, good medicine or a combination of all three. It left me with a condition called Locked In Syndrome. Essentially, this means that my body is completely paralyzed and I cannot communicate verbally. I’ve since learned that my condition is pretty rare and that no two cases are just alike. Some people who have also had severe strokes are better off than me, some are worse.
I have slight use of my right hand and can see well enough with my right eye to be able to utilize a laptop computer, augmentative software and a buddy switch to read, write and even speak, albeit slowly.
I’ve started this blog for two reasons: 1) I’d like to share my experiences with whomever is interested and 2) I’ve discovered that I enjoy writing and it constructively passes the time.