Headway Natal

Headway Newsletter : June 2003

EDITORIAL
Do you look forward to receiving your newsletter? Do you enjoy reading it and keeping up to date with our activities and news? Are you interested in keeping up with world-wide developments in neurological research? Do you wish you knew more? Hopefully everyone answered “yes” to these questions!! But, did you know that all of the above is available on our website? Do I hear some “no’s”?? Well, I do realise that not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to access the INTERNET, however for those of you who are able to “log on” I’d like to suggest at least one visit to our website – above – and in a single session you will be able to satisfy your interest in the questions with which I started. Not only that, but in every sphere your suggestions are always welcome, and, as is our philosophy, we will try to improve and grow to be the Headway YOU WANT - with your input. All suggestions and comments, negative and positive, are welcomed, so please be an active part of us. Rose

Welcome to...
This month we welcome Marjorie Clark, George Smith, Ntokozo Mhlungu and Eunis Essop. We are so glad that you have contacted us and hope we can make a positive difference in your, and your families’ lives.

General meetings...
I looked up the word “complicated” in the Oxford dictionary and came up with the following words – difficult, confused, intricate, complex. That pretty well sums up the subject of our talk given by Mike Friedman. He started by saying that the Satchwell Commission Report, which was set up in 1999 – (and is still not completed) - already amounts to over two and a half thousand pages, at a cost of R100,000,000. The mandate of the commission is as follows:

“To inquire into, and to make recommendations regarding, a reasonable, equitable, affordable and sustainable system, for the payment by the Road Accident Fund of compensation or benefits, or a combination of compensation and benefits, in the event of the injury or death of persons in road accidents in the Republic.”

Please note the words which I underlined, since, as I understand the proposals, the intention seems to be to compensate both the victim (as it does at present) AND the guilty party. I made notes at the meeting, and I really tried to understand what was being said, but to try to reproduce a coherent report of the talk is extremely difficult. What I’d like to point out is that, as the report stands at the moment, the general feeling amongst those of us who have been involved with MVA’s is that we are decidedly unhappy with the present proposals contained in the report. For those currently involved with pending cases, the good news is that all accidents which happened / happen before the implementation of the new policy will fall under the existing claim system.

What has now become known as the Satchwell Commission developed from a report formulated in 1996 by the then-Minister of Transport, Mr Mac Maharaj. The whole report was later passed from the Department of Transport to the Department of Social Welfare. After Mike’s introduction to his talk, and the distribution of copies he had brought of an “Executive Report” on the commission, the bulk of the meeting was given over to question and answer. What I can report is that Mike was of immense help to many of our members who were enabled to ask their specific questions. The legal system has been likened to walking through a minefield, and all I can say is that I heartily endorse that description, and can only suggest that if anyone would like to know more about the Satchwell Commission as it stands at the moment, then we have a copy of the Executive Report at Headway which is available for anyone with any enquiries.

X ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING X

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 6th August, at 5.45p.m. for 6.00p.m. Now, I can imagine several of our readers thinking oh! no! it’s winter and the evenings are cold; I really don’t like going out at night; I’m sure they won’t miss me if I don’t go! HOWEVER….. we would really like to encourage as many of you as possible to come along. You see, Headway is YOUR organisation, and we are as strong or as weak as the support we receive. Some of us involved with the running of Headway, and on your current committee, have personally experienced the trauma of brain injury/stroke, but any organisation needs constant and varied input in order to grow and move forward. Do you feel that there certain areas which need to be changed?/ considered? / introduced? How can we best serve you and continue to develop Headway? Please do come along because we need and value your opinions. The cherry on top is that we have invited Ubuntu Community Chest to speak about the wonderful work they do – we are one of the recipients of their fund-raising. We will provide tea and coffee, and good company, but we’d appreciate if you will bring along a small plate of eats for a bring and share after the meeting.

GENERAL MEETING ON WEDNESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER

Our next guest speaker will be Stuart Bartlett, a Biokineticist, who will be talking about the benefits and effects of Biokinetics after a Brain Injury / Stroke. Kinesiology is the study of movement in specific areas/fields, and Stuart will be talking specifically on Exercise Rehabilitation.

Donations...
What a lot of thanks you’s this month! We have been truly fortunate in the number and amount of donations this month and we are enormously grateful for all the generosity. Special thanks go to Ubuntu Community Chest – R1000; Westville Ladies’ Bridge Club – R1,500; 31 Club – R10,000 – (this has been put into our special “Vehicle Fund”); Westville Rotary Anns – R3,000 ; donations with renewed memberships - R100 - (and thank you for renewing your membership); hiring out of our premises - R250; anonymous - R7,250; Natal Accounting Services – R250; monthly friendship pledges from D. van der Reyden and S Warne – R200; and the monthly amount from Shirley Coetzee with which we pay the wages of our gardener, Alex, - R350. It may be of interest to many of you that the donation from the Westville Rotary Anns is being used to purchase an 8-piece Model of the Brain. We’re so excited about this, and hopefully will be able to report back by the next newsletter. Fingers crossed!! We have special thanks to give for another “donation” - that of someone’s time and expertise. Headway has undergone a revolution in terms of its power supply thanks to a friend, Colin Gordon, who is a Master Electrician. Our distribution suffered a setback - because of wear and tear, the earth leakage had grown old and tired and needed to be replaced. On contacting Colin, he was only too happy to come and test our power supply, firstly through the plugs and secondly through appliances. Hence we found the above earth leakage problem. Colin replaced the earth leakage with a spare one which he had, and installed it with no charge. This has made our power supply more stable and efficient. So a HUGE thank you to Colin Gordon of Westville for his time and effort.

Fund-raising...
Our on-going fund-raising projects have had a successful month too. Ann, Marlene, Thanusha and Happiness, our behind-the-scenes “gems”, have raised an excellent R1454 in the 2nd hand Shop, and R200 from Jumble. Honey Sales have raised R2218, marmalade, donated by Doff Reeves raised R21 (with a few payments still outstanding!), and “funny money” and 3 of our collections tins brought in R436. We are now raffling a beautiful painting which has been painted and donated by a very dear friend of Headway, Barbara Truscott. To all concerned, thank you so much for all your efforts.

Public Relations...
I wonder how many of you saw the photo and article about Headway in the Highway Mail which came out on the 25th June? Elise Tanner, who is the “local hero” of the La Lucia branch of Nedbank, nominated Headway as the recipient for a donation of R10,000. (this hasn’t yet reached our bank account which is why it wasn’t mentioned under Donations). This amount has also been earmarked for our Vehicle Fund. Nedbank’s “Local Hero Programme” requires their staff to be involved in their communities, and, fortunately for Headway, Elise Tanner is the Treasurer on our Committee. A double bonus – thank you Elise.

“Bouquets”
Each month we regularly have a number of “Headway Angels” who come along, quietly and self-effacingly, and who make a huge difference to the quality of the lives of the people who come to Headway. On Mondays, Jessica Perritt has a most amazing rapport with Kevin Hollinshead – they share a love of literature and poetry; on Tuesdays, Mavis Colley and Jenny Christie bring great joy and much fun with music; on Wednesdays, Rose Patterson and Ria Hoekstra have limitless ideas for sewing and crafts; on Thursdays, Peter Deighton and Kate Mackanjee run a most entertaining and informative social Stroke Group; on Fridays, Riet van der Elst brings out and develops the hidden artistic talent in her art classes. You are all wonderful, and we don’t know what we’d do without you!! Our heartfelt thanks to you all.

News from the O.T. corner...
(Report from Debbie, our O.T.)
“There has been much productivity as the attendees prepare and make items for the Craft Market in October. We are still needing bottles and/or jars, so don’t be shy! Many thanks go to Steve Butler at the Palmiet Nature Reserve for accommodating us at the reserve on the 19th June. We enjoyed a bring ‘n braai in the most beautiful surroundings. The Lions Club are building a wheelchair pathway, so the Palmiet will be a favourite spot for us. We had a spontaneous “Headway Idols” competition on 27th June, run by two scholars from Durban Girls’ High. Well done Simon, Cameron, Tim, Siphelele, Murray and Zipho for entertaining us – even the municipal workers were impressed!! And many thanks to Keshni and Semanthini for your efforts. A special welcome goes to Bea Reed and George Smith who have joined our Pre-voc group and Woodwork group respectively. A thank you is extended to Mandla for assisting Lesley with pottery and making his load lighter. So, from cooking to beadwork, and including the above, we are having a great time at Headway. Don’t miss out on the action - join us here for a programme that will extend your skills and your social circle. From Debbie, Lesley, Kerry and Zipho at the Occupational Therapy department – enjoy your July holidays and come back ready to be creative and productive.”

Health awareness...
Last month, I did an article on Sugar, and how too much is not good for people. This month, combining the fact that we have a great bee keeping project and that we’ve been selling our “own” jars of raw honey, I want to mention the benefits of Honey and how good it is for people! The following are some of the well-documented uses and benefits, and also some lesser-known facts.

Honey is antibacterial and has wound-healing properties. Australian research shows that diluted honey - (must be raw honey), applied to a moist wound, produces hydrogen peroxide, an antibacterial agent. To help loosen phlegm and relieve congestion, mix 2t. of cider vinegar, 1t. and 250ml hot water and drink a glass full 3 times a day. Suffer from hay fever? Chew on a small piece of honeycomb for twenty minutes six times a day. Continue the treat-ment for at least three weeks. Baby teething? Mix one teaspoon honey with one teaspoon calendula tincture (available from registered herbalists) and gently massage on your baby’s gums several times a day. The famous “toddy” for a cold. This recipe is subject to individual taste, but the usual is to mix half a glass of very hot water, 2t. honey, a quarter glass whisky / brandy and 1T. lemon juice. Honey is natural liquid sugar bees make by converting the sucrose in the nectar of flowers into glucose and fructose, by means of an enzyme it carries in its body. It is the oldest known method of sweetening food. Both the Bible and the Koran mention honey. It was used in India for preserving food, and in ancient Egypt for embalming!!

So, do yourselves and Headway a favour, and come and buy some raw honey.

The Brain – did you know?
(These “facts” are taken from LIFE – Autumn edition.).
Brain Surgery – via the groin? The British medical journal, The Lancet, recently published a study supporting a European-based practice known as coiling, used to treat aneurysms. The most common aneurysm procedure in the US at the moment is called clipping, where the skull is opened up and the weakened, ballooning section of arterial wall is clamped. That sounds complicated enough, but the new procedure, coiling, involves weaving a thin catheter from the groin all the way up to the brain, with the aid of scanners, and filling the aneurysm with tiny platinum coils, which encourages the blood to clot before the aneurysm ruptures. According to the study, coiling reduces the re-bleed rate after surgery.

The brain is crammed with nerve cells but has no pain receptors, which is why a patient can be awake during brain surgery!

The average human brain weighs about 1400g, which makes it roughly the same size as the brain of a bottle-nose dolphin. By contrast, a cat’s brain weighs about 30g, an elephant’s about 6kg, and a jellyfish has no brain at all. Albert Einstein’s brain weighed 1230g, which is significantly below average!

It has long been known that male brains are app. 10% - 15% larger than female brains. As IQ testing has shown men and women to be of equal intelligence, the size difference has always been thought to correspond to the relative physical stature. What about internal differences? Neurosurgeons in the US recently found that men have significantly larger inferior parietal lobes, particularly on the left side of the brain. This discovery may provide a structural basis for the theory that men tend to have better visual/spatial skills than women. On the other side of the coin: Australian scientists have found 2 areas in the brain, thought to be involved in language function, that are appreciably larger in the female brain. And, more contentiously, many neuroscientists agree that the corpus callosum - (the band of nerves connecting the two hemispheres of the brain) - is larger in women, and differently shaped – perhaps suggesting that women are better at bilateral processing than men. Didn’t we already know that???

Back page snippets...
Just a reminder of our Craft Market on Saturday 25th October. We’re all working hard here at Headway preparing all sorts of different crafts for the day. In fact, along the way we’ve been selling some of our handwork, since people have been seeing what we’re doing and aren’t willing to wait for October to purchase our “goodies”!! We really would love to make this Craft Market one of our major fundraisers this year, but WE NEED ALL OF YOU TO HELP US! Each and every one of you can help in some way: make some items for us / help us on the day / come along and buy (for Christmas) / run your own stall on the day / tell your friends. The possibilities are endless, so P..L..E..A..S..E.. support us.

The purchase of a new vehicle (to replace our existing Toyota Venture) is starting to become an achievable goal!! If anyone would like to make a contribution to this specific project, we would be extremely grateful.

A reminder that we’re having some of our literature on Stroke and Acquired Brain Injury translated into Zulu, and we’d love to make this an on-going project since there is such an amount of literature. Bottom line, as ever, is that we do need financial help / sponsorship. Anyone interested?

Please don’t forget: we’ll be closed for one week in July – closing on Friday 18th (in the afternoon) and re-opening on Monday 28th .