RECOVERY STATUS OF PJ

GENERAL RECOVERY STATUS OF
YOUR ASSOCIATION 'MANAGING DIRECTOR' (MD, pj):

Per my best seat of the pants calculations, I believe I have recovered from the two primary after effects I had to deal with, using a scale of 1 to 10, as follows:

a. Substantially diminished verbal communication skills;
b. Short/long term memory losses;

With original impairment ratings of 3 to 4 for both a. and b. above!
I feel I am now at 8 to maybe 9 for a. I'm able to speak (and write) much better now, compared to what it was like for me 25 to 35 years ago! And I'm somewhere between 6 1/2 to maybe a weak 8 for b. While I have achieved fairly substantial improvements with my memory, my short and long term recall capability still wants to bounce around from time to time!!!.

HERE'S A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME (your association MD):
I was a quick witted young guy - the life of the party, the person everybody looked to for the funny one liners and the ability to see/find humor in just about everything!
I was a real whiz at math, multiplying sets of 3 numbers (example - 387 x 543) in my head in just a minute or two. I could remember many different number sequences like street addresses and phone numbers going back many years, social security, various licenses, credit cards, serial numbers, etc, etc.

Needless to say, my life as I knew it changed very dramatically immediately after my brief but profoundly devastating encounter with CO!!! I feel I have managed to repair some of the damage I sustained from my CO exposure by using the many different mental processes I randomly developed over these past several years! A lot of what I did was hit or miss. I'm the first to admit maybe some of the methods I used didn't really help me much at all. But, at the same time I also firmly believe at least some of my home spun therapies definitely did help speed up my overall recovery to put me where I'm at with my life now (approximately 80 to 90% restoration of my verbal communication skills and 65 to 80% improvement with my short/long term memory)!

AS AN ADDED BONUS, I also got a real big emotional lift from using my self-constructed versions of my cognitive skills repair therapies, even the procedures not really helping me to actually achieve some improvement! Without exception, they all gave me the 'HOPE' I would someday have a better life, and, they all gave me the 'WILL' to keep on working, every step along the way!!!

I now have a fairly normal life. However, I'm still dealing with lingering memory problems, bladder control mishaps and a few of the other issues discussed above (some of which I want to think are part of the aging process???). But, for the most part, I am able to verbally communicate fairly well once again. I'm no longer reluctant to stand up in front of a group and give a lengthy dissertation and/or to conduct round table discussions or other types of open subject forums, etc, etc. And, I still use some of my self taught mental exercises on a regular basis!

One thing I think we can all agree on is the recovery process is continually ongoing... We must be constantly trying to improve/improve/improve!Like Paul Hornung, former Green Bay Packer running back/place kicker, used to say in his television commercials a few years back (I told ya' my memory has gotten better), "all it takes to do well is to practice/practice/practice"!!!

NOTE: It is my opinion, based on personal experience (see INTRODUCTION paragraphs), the only positive help I received from any source was from my one (and, only) oxygen treatment while I was being attended to at Milwaukee County General Hospital. I believe the one hour I was in the oxygen chamber at approximately 30 pounds of pressure saved my life... and at the same time, it helped to also minimize the severity of the reduced communication skills and the memory losses along with at least some of the other a.e.'s I would have to grapple with for the rest of my life!I also believe, with the current state of the art technology the oxygen chamber providers should now be able to offer, even more significant recoveries should/could(?) be occurring for people suffering from 'acute'
and/or 'chronic' exposures to CO!

THIS ASSOCIATION EXTENDS AN OPEN HAND TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 'OXYGEN CHAMBER' INDUSTRY AND TO ANY OTHER ENTITY/GROUP WITH AN INTEREST IN WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH!
WE INVITE THEM ALL TO BEGIN A 'DIALOGUE' WITH US!
WE LOOK FORWARD TO FORGING MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL, LONG LASTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ANYONE WHO CAN HELP US MOVE AHEAD WITH THE WORK OF BEING OF SERVICE TO OUR 'GENERAL' MEMBERS!!!