Snow Presents Access Challenges for the Disabled

Having a physical disability which limits one’s mobility can be bad enough.  Add snow and/or ice and mobility.  I have fortunately been able to drive again since July 2008.  But just becaise I can drive somewhere doesn’t guarantee I’ll be able to exit my car once I arrive.

Visiting Straub’s for groceries  was able to get from the disabled parking to the store because they had done a good job clearing the parking lot.  However, for those not fortunate enough to have the freedom to drive a sidewalk like the one above means staying at home.

In many cases the sidewalk is cleared but getting to the sidewalk on foot or in a wheelchair can be nearly impossible.  In the case of Saint Louis University (above) I’ve asked them to give more thought to how & where they clear the sidewalks.

I took the above image on Sunday morning as I headed to brunch in my wheelchair.  Normally I’d take the sidewalk to the left to get to Washington Ave.  However, the public sidewalk became the storage place for a big pile of snow.  I rode in the street longer than I like and entered the sidewalk on the right via the parking garage curb cut.  My normal route was also blocked by snow from another parking lot on the foreground.    For me the above was a minor inconvenience.  For others, say trying to get 6 blocks to MetroLink, they may be forced to stay home rather than go to work, school, doctor, etc.

I can’t imagine living in a place where snow is more common.  Although those places may do a better job ensuring the disabled have continued access.

Introducing a Weekly Poll

Today I added a poll in the upper right section of the main page of this site.  For the moment this is not visible in individual post pages but I hope to reorganize & cleanup the sidebar on the main & post pages.

The first poll is about voter registration.  My question for you, the reader, is what sorts of questions would you like posed?  With 52 weeks in a year I’ll need lots of ideas.  Use the comments below to suggest ideas.

Candidate Questionnaire Open & Working

To local candidates:  For those of you who tried to complete the questionnaire but encountered a “survey closed” mesage, I’m sorry.  Somehow a number got entered in the field to limit the number of responses to one.  So after the first it would not accept antymore.  For this reason I’ve extended the response deadline to 5pm Monday February 9, 2009.  Again, please accept my apologies.

Updated 2/2/09 @ 6:30pm:

I have created a public version of the Aldermanic questionnaire  – virtually identical to the Mayorial version. The public is invited to take the questionnaire to see what  & how I’m asking the candidates.  Click here for the home version.

A One-Year Stroke Survivor

One year ago today my friend Marcia Behrendt was worried about me, entered my loft and found me on the floor where I had been for approximately 15 hours. I’d had a hemorrhagic stroke – a blood vessel in the right side of my brain burst the afternoon of Friday, February 1, 2008.  At first I thought it was just a headache but within 10 minutes I was on the floor unable to move.  I was certain my meter was about to expire!

That Saturday morning (Feb 2nd) I was taken by ambulance to Saint Louis University Hospital.  My friends tell me the emergency room on the day of the big Mardi Grad parade is a rather unpleasant place.  Sorry for my bad timing guys.

Here is a time line of major events:

• 2/1/2008 – stroke in late afternoon
• 2/2/2008 – found in the morning and rushed to Hospital
• 2/17/2008 – off the ventilator and no longer being sedated
• 2/18/2008 – friends post about my status, the first post for the month.
• 2/19/2008 – moved out of ICU to a regular room.
• 2/25/2008 – left SLUH for St Mary’s Hospital/SSM Rehab.  My first memory is from this date.
• 2/28/2008 – 41st Birthday
• 3/7/2008 – I dictate a post to Margie Newman who brought her wireless card for me to use on my laptop.
• 3/17/2008 – Feeding tube removed.
• 3/21/2008 – Left St. Mary’s for Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mt. Vernon Missouri – West of Springfield.  One of my brothers drove up from Oklahoma to pick me up and take me to hospital #3.
• 3/24/2008 – Guest on KDHX via phone.
• 4/4/2008 – My first visitor in Mt. Vernon.  We get permission to leave the hospital and go into town for real food.  We use a folding wheelchair at this point because I still cannot walk far and not without a therapist present.
• 4/24/2008 – Physical therapist authorizes me to be “independent in my room.”  I’m now cleared to transfer to a wheelchair or walk within my hospital room without a tech, nurse or therapist present.  But to walk 50ft to meals someone else must be with me.
• 4/25/2008 – My longest walk since the stroke — 500ft.
• 4/30/2008 – Returned home.  Met friends for Ethiopian dinner at Meskerem.
• 6/24/2008 – Purchased used Toyota Corolla after selling my beloved Honda Metropolitan scooter.
• 6/27/2008 – Driving evaluation.
• 7/2/2008 – Drove my car home by myself.  My first time driving alone.
• 8/7/2008 – Drove to Oklahoma City to visit family.
• 9/11/2008 – I took a shower standing up!
• October 2008 – 10 visits of occupational & physical outpatient therapy at St. Louis Rehabilitation.  The first therapy since April ’08..
• 11/4/2008 – walked 30ft without using a cane, still wearing leg brace.
• 1/25/2009 – Exited shower using straight cane rather than quad cane.

The above list is by no means complete.  I’ve had, and continue to have, lots of firsts.  I put together a short video which goes back to February of 2008:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKulXmp54g8[/youtube]

It has been an interesting ride.  I’m glad I stuck around.  It is quite the weird experience to think you are going to die.  Waking up from sedation a few weeks later and realize you lived is amazing.  I guess it was the joy of still being alive that gave me the strength to make it through the last 11 months.

Thank you to Marcia, Rich, Andrew, Dustin, Patty, Shelley, Sam, Lois, Dionna, Margie, Antonio, Randy  and so many others.   Thank you to my friend & neighbor Diane for help these last 9 months I’ve been home. Thank you to the many therapists along the journey.  I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone — thank you too.

Florissant Citizens Seek Financial Audit

Florissant, MO is one of 90+ municipalities located in St. Louis County.  Yes, one of over 90.  Recently citizens of this North County suburb of St. Louis collected and submitted signatures to have Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee the city’s books.  Montee is finishing up audits of the City of St. Louis following a similar signature drive initiated by the Green Party.

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