LarryJameson's comments

Just Because You Can't See It... - Blog Entry

10 Sep 2009 03:40 AM

Andrea, thanks for a very important article. We had the mother of all hailstorms on June 30. A few weeks later we had an insurance adjuster check the house, and he found roof damage, siding damage and more. Then, a couple weeks later, our ceilings began to discolor with water damage - unknown at the time the adjuster was here.

So, we're sort of back to square one. Another problem we're having is that hundreds of homes were damaged and that makes finding someone to come install a new roof extremely difficult.

Early Sexual Activity in Children and Teens Linked to TV Viewing - Blog Entry

30 Jun 2009 01:50 AM

The lead researcher of the study, Hernan Delgado, MD, was quoted as saying, "Television and movies are among the leading sources of information about sex and relationships for adolescents. Our research shows that their sexual attitudes and expectations are influenced much earlier in life."

Parents need to have a continuing discussion with their children about these matters. We, as a nation, don't talk about sex. In most cases, we're not qualified to talk about it. But we are able to talk to our kids about anything and everything.

I remember my father coming to me and saying, "I don't know much about this because of my early life." He lived in an orphanage, then with an uncle before joining the Marines. He gave me a book, The Illustrated Guide to Sex (or something like that), told me to read it, and then we'd discuss it.

I also remember a phone call from my son. "Dad, Donna wants to get married. Got time to talk?"

All of us need to learn to communicate.

Born-Again Christians a Potential Threat to Mental Health Sufferers (1) - Blog Entry

30 Jun 2009 01:31 AM

When my wife was in intensive care with a 5% chance of survival, I was bombarded in the waiting room by the religious groups. I had been given almost no hope for my wife to live - and certainly was in no mood to discuss religion or anything else with anyone.

One day I heard my wife's name mentioned at the reception desk. I looked up to see about 8 people being directed to ICU. Not recognizing any of the people - not to mention that only 2 family members were allowed to visit four times each day - I went to the desk and asked who they were.

I was told the people belonged to a prayer group at my wife's church. Talk about livid. I was rather abrupt. I'm her husband. She doesn't have a church. Get those people out of there.

The leader of the group came to me and apologized. He said the church's pastor had requested their visit, and he thought everything had family approval. Then he said, "we just wanted to form a prayer circle around her and pray for her."

I looked at him and asked, "Why would you want to take so many germs into a critical care area and direct all those germs directly at the patient?"

He apologized again and left without answering my question.

How Music Therapy Can Help Your Child - Blog Entry

27 Feb 2008 07:13 AM

You're so right Kristyn. Our contact with numerous persons living with brain injury have shown improved memory, cognitive and behavioral skills due to music.

Living with a Person with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - Blog Entry

27 Feb 2008 03:32 AM

Real communication is THE common ingredient to overcoming, or dealing with, the many issues that arise in life. My wife developed a "cleaning" compulsion after her brain injury to the point that she ate oatmeal using the same bowl and spoon for every meal because she didn't want to get anything else dirty.

After eating, she would immediately wash what she had used. She scrubbed floors, walls, everything. Her brain injury resulted from an anoxic stroke suffered during a case of Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome caused by, we were told, bacteria that got into her bloodstream. Bacteria -- dirty stuff -- affected her life forever; she wanted no more "dirty stuff" in her life. So she cleaned and cleaned.

Knowing "dirty stuff" was a real fear in her life, we were able to communicate and eventually overcome the compulsion.