LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND WITH A STROKE

by David G Ray

As I prepare this report, we have just had the shortest day. As I type this report, it is warm and very sunny so we are having a very unusual winter in Wellington. In the north of New Zealand there have been what the experts call a Weather Bomb - extremely heavy rain with very strong winds with much damage to homes and in one case, death. In the South Island there has been very heavy snowfall, which has resulted in electricity lines, destroyed, farms cut off and many roads, including highway No 1 closed. However in Eastbourne we are enjoying sunny, calm weather. What a contrast. We are very sorry for people experiencing the horrendous fires in the USA. No doubt there are some stroke victims in that area and we can only pray that they are safe.

Last week at our regular meetings of the Lower Hutt Stroke Club we enjoyed making something out of "play dough" which reminded us of our childhood. We were then to explain to the group what the article was and how it related to our childhood. This exercise helped us use our memories and our fingers besides our ability to explain the article to our fellow stroke victims. It was an enjoyable 45 minutes, which had its very useful purpose in helping our rehabilitation.

In this report I will cover the exploits of one member of the Lower Hutt Stroke Club. John Anderson is our vice - president and despite his stroke is still able to entertain us on the piano besides his writing and filmmaking.

There's the story about two mice that fell into a jug of cream. One mouse frantically climb up the steep sides of the jug to escape drowning but the sides are slippery and eventually the mouse drowns. The second mouse swims frantically, pawing away for hours until the cream turns to butter. The second mouse lives to tell the tale.

John likens himself to the second mouse. Left paralyzed and without speech after his stroke, he is back working again as a filmmaker, author and musician. Recently he showed us his latest film, an education film about an area known as the Wellington Red Rocks. In the film he looked at the rocks, how they came to be there, the flora and fauna and the legends associated with the area. John, who is in his 60's, started the film in 1996, but work was interrupted when in 1997 he had his stroke. The paralysis went in about 6 months and the speech is coming back. I feel he is being modest as although very slow, his speech is excellent.

He does use the wrong prepositions at times and he does have a friend who edits his work. He says that he gets frustrated but don't we stroke victims all feel the same at times. But he doesn't get angry. Like other stroke survivors he has difficulty in contributing to any conversation because other people go so fast and he says that when he has something to add to the conversation, it is often over. (Tell me about it I hear you say.)

John produces, directs, films, records sound, casts and writes the music for his films and says he hasn't had to make any concessions since his stroke. He does however, have a friend help him give final instructions to cast members when filming. At present he is writing a book called "Exploring New Zealand Rocks" and is updating an earlier work to make it more applicable to today's school curriculum. John believes that he made a faster recovery because he has these projects and that this motivation is paramount in getting over a stroke. I can only but agree with this thought.

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009