Kate Adamson
www.KateAdamson.com
1-800-641-KATE
(310) 546-8142 Fax
kate@kateadamson.com

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April 18, 2006

Happy New Year, my friends! We are well into the New Year. I can’t believe we just celebrated Easter!

Having a great journey! Wish you were here. Of course you are on your own journey. How is it? Do you think my journey through the dark tunnel of total paralysis was a really tough challenge? You are right, it was. But many of us – including myself – are paralyzed in so many other ways and don’t always know it.

Where do you feel you might be paralyzed? Do you know how to get un-paralyzed so you can move forward?

You have heard me say many times that if you want to do something but just can’t seem to do it; you are, in a very real sense just as paralyzed and frustrated as I was when I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move a finger. If this is your situation, you need understanding and help, not criticism. I am here to offer that support.

It is only right that I offer this support, because I had plenty of help as I overcame my physical paralysis. I had a professional medical staff, dear friends, and a fiercely supportive husband to defend my right to live and help me get “un-paralyzed.” They didn’t criticize me for being paralyzed – they helped me get un-paralyzed. Now I am here to help you, not criticize you; to understand and defend your right to live – really live – and deal with the personal, financial or business paralysis that keeps you from moving to your next level of personal and professional accomplishment.

January I was in Scranton, Pa., speaking at a prayer breakfast for Pennsylvanians for Human Life. While there I spoke at the Bishop O’Hannan and Bishop O’Hara high schools. It was enlightening for the students to see firsthand how someone effectively copes with a serious disability. They had a lot of fun when a couple of brave souls ventured up front to try one-handed activities.

In February, I was in Colorado testifying for the Colorado legislative, Senate Health and Human Services Committee and boy, was it cold! Morning temperatures of 6 degrees Fahrenheit warmed in the afternoon to a toasty 20 degrees above zero! I’ll stick with the sunny California weather, thank you very much! But I did enjoy the snow – from a distance – as I enjoyed lunch at a cozy restaurant - appropriately called Kate’s - before heading to the capital.

As I juggle my speaking and writing career and my duties as a disabled mom, I often find myself overwhelmed – paralyzed – just as you do. While I’m still adapting and adjusting to my disability, my daughters are growing in leaps and bounds and adapting and adjusting to each new phase of their young lives. And sometimes pleasantly, and sometimes not, I get to deal with those new experiences right along with them. Recently, I had to deal with a new situation – head lice. Any of you parents reading this have no doubt had to deal with lice. The phone call from the school, “Mrs. Klugman, we need to see you in the school office.”

Why did they have to call me into the office like some errant child? Why couldn’t they just embarrass me over the phone – it is much easier on everyone. Well, it is complete shock and disbelief denial you know, the whole process – MY children? Not MY children. Why them - why me?! But you have to hide your dismay from them so they don’t end up with warped self esteem. So, you suck it up and off you go to the drug store for the treatments.

Can you imagine dealing with the problem with only one good arm? Try washing one hand. Try washing two traumatized daughter’s heads with one hand. Talk about feeling powerless. Just when I thought we were rid of the problem – the critters were back! I felt totally helpless thinking about even trying to put on latex gloves lathering shampoo into their hair, then combing the nits out section – by – section with one good arm. Now I understand the expression “nit picking.”

For days, I was constantly scratching my scalp! I was just sure I could feel the little critters crawling around my scalp. (Here’s where a nanny comes in handy) This was a task that required rubber gloves (try putting them on with your teeth – they taste horrible) two working hands and a lot of patience! The solution? Ask for help. Trust me – I know everything I need to know – or ever want to know – about head lice.

National Stroke Awareness Month

National Stroke Awareness Month is coming up in May. Let’s get Kate on Oprah. Kate's Journey offers hope to the survivors of stroke and their families and friends. Click here for more information.

Are you familiar with the warning signs and your risk factors? Many of you have read my book and know that I was walking around with warning signs of a stroke, shrugging my shoulders and telling myself, "It’s nothing; whatever it is will go away!" How many of you have told yourselves that when experiencing some pain? Review the warning signs by clicking here.

Kate’s Journey; Triumph over Adversity, recounts my experiences from the time I was placed on life support completely unable to communicate with the outside world, to my near complete recovery, which has been nothing short of miraculous. Dr. Jeffrey Saver has commentaries throughout the book.

This is the perfect time to recommend the book to your book clubs. I will participate via telephone on Q&A for discussions. Write or call your newspaper or local radio and suggest the book as a topic for review or coverage. If you know of an organization with a Web site or newsletter, recommend posting a story about the book. A staggering 700,000 people suffer strokes every year, and it doesn’t just impact the elderly. Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death and a leading cause of serious long term disability in America. But there are signs to watch for, and things you can do to prevent or minimize the effects of stroke – and if you or someone you love does have a stroke, that doesn’t mean that life has to end. There is still hope and the potential for a full and happy life!

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Corporate America, health care professionals...Are you looking for a dynamic, inspirational speaker?
What is the theme of your conference? What do you want your people to take home with them? Would you like me to inspire your corporation to a higher level of productivity and profit by overcoming the paralysis that keeps it where it is? Believe me, I will prove that anyone can move to the next level of productivity and profit by focusing on what they want (not on what they don’t) and what they can do (not on what they can't). Your Human Resources performance management system will never be the same – and neither will you.

What about the legal necessity of providing reasonable accommodation? Is your organization providing it because they have to or because they want to? Even more effective than accommodation is appreciation. “Appreciation before Accommodation” is a powerful tool that helps protect your company against employment actions arising from discrimination and failure to accommodate issues. Invite Kate to raise your company’s awareness of the financial and practical value of employing and reasonably accommodating the disabled worker.

Let's talk about it! Call me: 1-800-641-KATE (5283)