Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Ebola and Elbowla Viruses

Every news carrier globally is talking about the Ebola virus. The fact is, it has been around for centuries and it kills most leaving very few survivors. This is covered fairly completely on the web, television, newspaper, and radio. So if you want more info, please go to one of those outlets.


Today, I'm talking about another virus that strike far greater numbers and can be just as deadly when trying to put your best foot forward, the Elbowla virus...typing as with one's elbows. It is otherwise known as typos and grammatical errors that run rampant in documents.

Your mama may have told you to keep your elbows off the dinner table, but elbows don't belong on your keyboard either.

Now I have a couple excuses for my having this disease 1) brain damage because of my strokes, and typing with one hand tied behind my back. (not really tied, but paralyzed.) Still they are just excuses for sloppiness on my part.

My letters twist sideways and change position too.

February of last year was the challenge I made for myself to type one handed 45 WPM. I failed. My best was 40 WPM. Then I went and had a second stroke dropping my WPM down to 30.

This stroke I lost most of my reading comprehension without reading a sentence four or five times to make sure I understand what my eyes and brain are telling me is correct. A worsening of my dyslexia, or at least I forgot all the helpful cues I had established to read letters and numbers. I was put back to square one again, but coupled with the loss of comprehension makes reading for pleasure too much work. Forget about writing. Although this blog seems fairly well thought out and cohesive it takes me days to accomplish it.

But just like my physical and occupational therapies, if you don't use it you lose it, or at the very least, you don't get it back. For example, the word "back" in the previous sentence, I typed as "cakb" because that's the way my mind told my fingers to type it. Of course, I got the angry, squiggly line telling at me, "That ain't right, stupid!"

Most times, Elbowla virus strikes when a person doesn't know how to type, or is adjusting to a new way to type.... with one hand or a new keyboard. Or even typing while distracted.  At least that's when Elbowla hit me worse when I had two working hands. No wonder texting while driving is illegal. I couldn't do it with two working hands.

I'm a four-finger and a thumb typist, but that's better than a two-finger hunt and peck typist, isn't it? I dunno. I'd go back to the two-finger hunt and peck, if only I could. Then, the size of the keyboard wouldn't matter. So these days the Elowla virus has hit my keyboard. Part because of brain cell damage and part because I'm distracted. A focused effort will fix the problem as it would for anyone else. Focusing is hard work, but I get by. That's why I can write this blog as a literate person. This is my rehab exercise and my curing the Elbowla virus.

Nothing is impossible with determination.