New Update Mini Stroke or Ear Infection -- MIR this AM

Went this AM for the MRI, they also did an MRA and ANOTHER fasting blood test. The MRI/MRA was facinating. First time I've ever done it. They put you on a table and put headphones over your ears, she asked what music I wanted, I of course said Rockabilly, but the best they had was late 50's early 60's rock and roll, oh well, finally a framework goes over your head and shoulders. Then you're slid you into a chamber, and it starts, They tell you not to move. I remember thinking  this is what it's like inside a jackhammer. But, once you're used to it it's kind of peaceful. I was in there about 30 minutes or so, didn't move at least I don't think I did. I meditated on a blue line that ran right in front of me, lengthwise along the top of the tunnel. When it was over went and got blood drawn, fun, fun, fun...
The neurologist Dr Johnson called me at home, so I figure it's possibly bad even though she played it down, otherwise why would she call personally. She said she looked at the MRI, and it wasn't a stroke, that was the good news, so now ear infection, brain tumor, MS, and stroke have all been pretty much eliminated. But the bad news was that while the MRI was ok, the MRA wasn't. Apparently there's an artery or vein that goes to the back of the brain. She said that it didn't appear to be allowing the blood through as it should. So now I have to have what's called a CT Angiogram I think she said. They inject dye into the blood and follow it with a CT. If that's the problem, she said it requires an operation, meaning I guess they open up my head.
So that's where it stands until they scedule the test and I go for another CT. It is interesting, and I said earlier even this is better that it having been MS, even this can be fixed, MS can't. So I figure I'm still ahead....

Lee Murray

Trunk Lift - Outside Trunk Lift One of the Two Original Lifts for Scooters

When I first started selling Rascals in 1998 there were only two lifts available, and the Trunk Lift was one. The other was the Rack & Roll which I'll talk about later. At that time the Outside Trunk Lift was not available yet.

The Outside version came about in the early 2000's and was invented by one of us sales rep's, not by the company. It consists of an L shaped bar.  One end, the small L extention that would slide into either a class II or class III hitch,  the bar itself is about thirty inches or so, runs  parallel to the passenger side of the bumper, and on the end is a socket that the Standard Trunk Lift upright fits into. The bar is what makes a Standard Trunk Lift an Outside Trunk Lift. The Trunk Lift itself  consists three parts, an L shaped bracket with a socket for the upright in the middle, it bolts to the floor of the car trunk, van, or pickup bed. The upright is round pipe about 30 inches or so, and the socket of the lift boom slides down onto it at the top. The lift boom is adjustable for length, and the electric motor is attached to it. A strap that has a hook on the end runs from the pully along the boom through a slot down to where it attaches by the hook to either the seatpost of the scooter or powerchair after removing the seat, or the Seat On Lift Bracket, which allows picking up the scooter or powerchair without removing the seat. This lift picks the scooter or powerchair up electrically, but requires the user to push it in and pull it out manually, as well as manuvering the unit in the air to clear anything that may be in the way, or turn it for clearance, so it does require some strength and co-ordination to use it.  It requires the most work by the user, but it is also the least expensive, and that's the trade off. It works very well for a person with the required strength and dexterity. There is also a fold-down model, which allows laying the lift down without taking it apart, I try to avoid selling that one because the Standard Trunk Lift comes apart easily and is stronger, and less likely to collapse under load. Our Standard Trunk Lift has a weight capacity of 250 pounds, the Fold Down and Outside Trunk Lifts have a weight capacity of either 200 or 250 pounds, and we also have a Heavy Duty Unit that has a weight capacity of 400 pounds for heavier or barriatric units. 

Now the downside, or upside if you have a van or pickup, is what vehicles will they work in.  If you have a car, unless it's a large one, ie older Lincoln Town Car,  Mercury or Ford with the same body/chassis, or a similar size older Chevy, Olds, Buick, etc. (for instance I had a 1983 Olds 98 that I could literally carry two scooters in the trunk), or a station wagon, forget it, it won't work. The newer cars either have too small a trunk, or too small an opening into the trunk, or both. An exception to this is if you can put a Class II or III hitch on your car, AND the trunk opening is large enough, AND the lift over height is not too high,  you can use an Outside Trunk Lift.
If you have a pickup, or van (either mini, or full sized), the Trunk Lift will work fine. SUV's are somewhere in the middle, sometimes it works, sometimes not, again you're better off with an Outside Trunk Lift, but measure first or email me and if you're not too far away I can do it, if you are I can possibly get a local rep to do it for you.  As I tell everybody my job is to make your life easier.

Lee Murray

Copied from my other blog written 1/16/10 Mini-Stroke??? or Inner Ear Infection???

In an effort to bring the blog back to Earth, more real, a friend mentioned I was getting too esoteric, I posted about how hard it is to sell Jags, in upstate NY.
Now I'll tell you about the first serious blip in my health, other than broken ankles, since I was a kid. It happened on the afternoon of December 11, 2009, and I don't mind saying...it scared me. It's easy to talk if you've never been ill, and even now I'm not 100% sure, but it was enough to scare me.
I was feeling fine, and was cooking some bacon to make a bacon sandwich. Always been one of my favorites, a pound of bacon, two slices of bread and Frenches Mustard. Anyway, the light was out in the hood over the stove. So while the bacon was cooking, I bent over and looked up under the hood, taking the screws out so I could get to the light bulb. Suddenly I felt dizzy, so I straightened up. The dizziness went away. I got a new bulb, and again bent over and looked up, changing the bulb and replacing the cover and screws. Suddenly I was dizzy again. This time so bad I almost fell, I sat down and it went away after a few minutes, when I stood it came back, so bad if I didn't hang on to something I'd have been on the floor. I finished cooking the bacon, put it on a plate, cleaned the frying pan, then took the bacon and went in my room and laid down, taking a nap. When I woke it had subsided. But now when I stood and walked I veared to the right, and if I turned my head too fast the dizziness returned. I worked the following day, driving was no problem, it only bothered me when I got out of the van and walked or stood. A couple days later I was going to work again, so in a bout of self medication, I took 10 Tylinol, 8 Centrum Vitamin tablets, a couple of allergy pills, and 4 or 5 Echinacea pills. Which I WON'T DO AGAIN. The next day I noticed that the right side of my head, starting at the nape of my neck, passing over down my face through my nose, and stopping at my chin was numb. The right side of my mouth felt like I'd had a Novocain shot. Also I could only swallow food with difficulty, if I took too big a bite, it would block my throat, choking me. Fortunately I was able to cough up the food each time. Over the last couple of weeks this has not gone away, but has susided to a mild numbness, the skin only is numb. I've learned to take small bites and chew. Everything works, there's no droopyness in the eye or mouth just numb skin. I have wondered if this was something else, perhaps a pinched nerve, from sleeping on my side, head, not neck supported. As it stands at this point, I'm fine except for balance issues if I move suddenly, numb facial skin, and overall weakness/lack of stamina. I was convinced I had an inner ear infection (although it showed up suddenly), others have me two thirds convinced it was a tsa or mini-stroke. Also for some time I've had poor circulation in both lower legs, and laying on my back under a car working on it would make me dizzy and nautious, but it went away as soon as I sat up. Everybody thinks I'm an idiot for not going to the hospital, or a Dr. but I'm convinced that they couldn't tell me any more than I already know, take an aspirin daily, and they'd charge thousands of dollars running tests to tell me that. Maybe I am an idiot, I guess we'll see.

Lee Murray

From my other blog Update Mini-Stroke or Ear Infection????

To recap briefly, 12/11/09 cooking bacon and changing light bulb under hood on stove. Got dizzy, light headed, nauseous and threw up. A couple days later skin on right side of face went shot of novocain numb, and couldn't swallow except with difficulty choking easily. Since I wrote the original post on 1/16/10 there have been changes, improvements, different diagnosis'...
To start the difficulty swallowing and choking on food finally pretty much went away around the end of January. The numb skin is better, less but still numb. It starts at the nape of my neck, comes over my head down my face through the nose to my chin. My head is split right through the middle, right side numb, the left side normal. I got several opinions from friends that it was a TIA, a stroke, a brain tumor...
I broke down and got medical Insurance, and found it incredibly difficult to find a doctor. I had a list from the insurance company and called them. Nobody was taking new patients. Finally one considered taking me on, so I filled out a bunch of paperwork about two or three weeks ago, and they finally called two days ago with an appointment the end of this month, on the 28th. It's nice to see the medical profession doing so well that they don't need, or want, new customers (patients). Anyway, tired of waiting, I went to the hospital in Hamilton last week. Everyone was very nice, I saw the ER doctor, after talking to me and doing a cat scan and blood tests, he came back and said not to over-react, but they had found several ???? infarctions in the pictures of my brain. That he didn't think it was a stroke or a brain tumor, that based on the infarctions it might be MS. That I should make an appointment with the Neurologist, get a MIR which will give better pictures, and not to worry... Right, don't worry.
So I called, made an appointment, and saw the Neurologist yesterday. After talking to me, doing some simple tests, watching me walk, etc. She told me that in her opinion, it wasn't MS, that I'd had one or more TIA's. She'd looked at the pictures from the CT scan and it was too unclear to say what the problem was for sure.
So I'm now taking more tests, before I left the hospital I had two ultra sounds, one of the arteries in my neck, and one of my heart. The one of my heart showed a possible small hole, I think she said in the atria wall, which if it's there, could possibly have allowed a clot to pass through, maybe causing the ATI, if that's what happened to me. The MIR is being set up, who knows what else. So far they've told me to keep taking the baby aspirin, which I prescribed myself in December when this started.
So now I go back today for more tests, some kind of bubble test ultra sound, and to see a cardiologist. The good news is it's a heart problem. As I said to a friend, a heart problem can be fixed, MS can't, so I'll take a heart problem. So that's where I'm at now