Compassionate Spirit

I have suffered a stroke. It was relatively mild and it was NOT diet-related (and I have the angiograms to prove it).  I am finally home from the hospital and expect a full recovery. Tons of future blog post material has been thrust in to my life.

You will not hear from me on this blog at least until February 1, 2013, if then for a while.  The publication of Disciples will also be affected a bit, details to come.  I am also incapable of responding to e-mails, Facebook requests, or phone calls.  Some of you may legitimately need to contact me before then (like several business associates!).  I will try to contact you myself as time and strength permits.  Please don’t try to contact me directly through any means, but go through my wife, Kate Lawrence, or via U. S. mail (which Kate will filter).  You may contact Kate via e-mail (kate “at” practicalpeacemaker “dot” com) or by phone (we’re in the Denver phone book; no big secret).

I hope to see you all again soon.

CORRECTION January 4, 2013:  I visited the neurologist today. She brought some good news — she told us that they are unable to find any evidence of permanent damage to the brain or loss of brain function.  Therefore, this is NOT a stroke, contrary to previous reports.  It is just a brain hemorrhage.  This hemorrhage could have resulted in a stroke or even death, but it didn’t result in any loss of brain function, and therefore wasn’t a stroke. (The original diagnosis still stands, see below.)

UPDATE January 31, 2013: February 1?  Let’s make that April 1 just sometime in the future.  Disciples will come out sometime in 2013, I promise. Sorry, friends. I’m better, but I still have headaches, difficulty sleeping, and get tired easily.

UPDATE March 8, 2013: After talking with more professionals, it’s clear that my neurologist (January 4 update above) was not fully informed; the original hospital diagnosis of “mild stroke” stands.

Also, I can’t make specific predictions as to when I’ll be blogging again, but it will likely be some time well after April 1. Improvement is steady but glacial.  I can read and write, but only for short periods, and writing (or serious reading, or anything “serious”) is difficult, and makes my headaches much worse if I go very long.  To give you an idea, if I started blogging right now, I could probably churn out one blog every six weeks, but rather than do that, I’ll just wait until I’m closer to normal. My first blog will likely be on something like “vegans and strokes.”