"12 Days Later" or "Medical Hostages": You pick this entry's title

June 30, 2008

"12 Days Later" or "Medical Hostages": You pick this entry's title

I suppose that if I were to choose the title of "12 Days Later", it gives off less of an impending pity party, which could quite possibly follow any way. However, if I were to choose "Medical Hostages", you, the reader, could certainly expect a rather wordy-written pity party. So, being that I'm be getting to right now at 12:54 a.m. Monday morning, let's go ahead and "I'll choose "Medical Hostages for $100, Alex..."

If you're currently bored, reading this will not likely to change your mood; just so you know. Bring on the "Blah, blah, blah..."
Okay, what is a Medical Hostage? Until these past several weeks, I never even thought of the term, but I suppose I would explain the term to be used in any scenario where a person is suffering from some sort of medical malady that prohibits that person from pursuing or experiencing their routine or normal lifestyle, as it was prior to the medical issue, taking precedence. Anyone who reads this blog knows of all the things that are going on with me, at least within two weeks of "said" activity that's going on with me... so with that I'll bring you up to speed, though it's not far from the norm:

Over the past 12 days. I have experienced attacks, nearly daily, and sometimes two attacks in a single day, let alone night attacks, which I am not directly aware of, in that, I tend to sleep through them, to an extent, but the muscle spasms are enough to wake up CC out of the cold sleep. It is commonplace is to wake up in the morning with my pillow stuck to my head, bottom sheet and top sheet stuck to me as well, due to sweat; a complete body print is visible on the bed when I get up. The day before yesterday (Saturday), turned out to be a very productive day for the most part. As a family, we all got different tasks accomplished in the house and outside the house and we ventured out to have a family date watching the movie, "WALL-E" (very good, refreshing), during which I remained in my motorized chair, and only consumed snacks and food that we specifically made and brought from home. We then drove to Rockland and dropped Missy off at a friend of hers for an overnight stay, and then on our way home, CC, Joshua and I stopped by a restaurant that we have not been to together as a family, called Ruby Tuesday's. The food was excellent, and the waiter was very attentive to my particular needs, including a manager following up with us at the end of our meal; we were very, very impressed.
It was looking like we had completely succeeded in a venture out of the house without me succumbing to an attack triggered by either exhaustion, heat and/or food... before we could make it home though, the oxygen tank that was thought to be securely situated directly behind me, turned out not to be securely situated, and it fell making a very loud bang directly behind me; for the second time in recent memory, and attack was triggered within me, because of my being very startled. My arms and legs immediately froze in the positions that they were in; I was unable to move my fingers, my toes, ankles, knees and wrists. Breathing became difficult; short breaths and gasps were all that I was able to manage while the spasms begin to take control. CC explained to me that we got home and into the driveway, and that Joshua was unable to get the normal wheelchair under me, as she lifted me out of the van and tried to put me into the chair. So I ended up falling against the chair and then onto the ground, onto my back. It was not Joshua's fault; the legs of the wheelchair turned out to be extended too far so that he was unable to get the chair far enough forward for me to sit into it. God brought a good Samaritan to us, in the form of one of our neighbors across the street; she approached and asked CC if she needed help. CC said yes.
The Samaritan noted that I was not "skinny", shall we say, so she suggested that she would go and bring a couple of men from another neighbor to come and help. According to CC, the four of them were able to lift me up and get me put into the chair and then CC and the original good Samaritan helped get me into the house and onto the couch, much to Annie's panic that an intruder had walked into her home and I was incapacitated (Annie has become very in-tune to me and my medical condition; it is not unusual for her to be the first one aware that I am not well. She will begin barking in a panicked sort of way and then running to where family members are in the running back to me, back to family members, back to me, until somebody comes and follows her to where I am. While I am lying on the couch, if my arm and hand are not covered by a blanket, she will put yourself in a position where she can very softly, slowly and very gently lick my hand and my fingers and arm. It seems to be her way of caring for me and treating me the best she knows how). Anyway, I think I spent the next six hours or so, on the couch in what was a very long and painful attack.
This morning was productive as well as yesterday was, but today's attack hit around 3ish as I was sitting down to a snack and some brief TV...3 to 4 hours later, the attack was ebbing but we needed to pick up Missy and her friend, so I managed my way into the van and remember very little from the errand out; I couldn't be left alone at home while the errand took place. I have no recollection of any dinner...? The meds I take make certain that my short term memory gets "formatted" (like a hard drive) several times per day. CC goes nuts daily with all of my repeated questions...Praise God she loves me, and I mean that most sincerely

The Hostage Aspect:
I'll strive to make this shorter than my last diatribe. To my memory, this disease has held me hostage from my working for a living, from my privilege of driving, from my being able to ride bikes with my family, and specifically with my children, from walking without a cane, and not having to have oxygen on during the day times and during the night times, preventing me from chaperoning Missy's school dances, preventing me from being able to drive my children to and from school, from attending my nephew's graduation from high school, from attending my nieces graduation from high school, from attending one of my very good friend's wedding in San Francisco, from being at MPPC for Doug's final Sunday service, from finishing Vern's choir recordings, from being realistically considered to take my family and join the rest of my extended family up in Oregon this year, from being able to take a plane flight that is over a couple hours, from being able to romance my wife with the freedom we once knew, from eating nearly every single favorite food I have ever known, from just being alone, by myself for an extended period of time...to name a few...
this disease does not just told me hostage but it holds my whole family hostage. It creates an awkwardness in weirdness between me and my friends, because so many don't really know what to do with what I am going through, and I'm sure that somewhere inside, they have the previously un-thought question of "what do I do if he all of a sudden goes into an attack. And I am the only one there with him?" I try to put myself in their shoes, but that just makes me feel more awkward and uncomfortable.

Well, it is time to end this entry; I have "partied" enough for one morning, no? I just couldn't try and go to sleep one more night while thinking the thoughts I have noted above, knowing that I had not let them go yet. Now I have; they are out of my head and into my blog.

More history awaits tomorrow to become the present and then invaluable memories.

The accounting of the past week and a half, or so...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Greetings all, It's been several days since I have posted; it seems that I find myself apologizing for not keeping this as current as I would like. The challenge is that the attacks have been more frequent, which means the recoveries have been ongoing and I find I spend much more time in bed or on the couch than I do sitting upright in looking forward to writing things on the blog.

It was recently suggested to me that this blog will prove instrumental, If not critical, to my future care as soon as I am able to find a physician familiar with this disease and active in caring for it, being that this blog is kind of my case history, autobiographically. That being said, I was encouraged to be as detailed as possible regarding the attacks, the recoveries, etc., so that the doctors will have the most information available to them for their use and study.

Okay, having said all of that, I unfortunately cannot be terribly clear over the past 10 plus days since my last blog entry. But as I recall, the last entry included information regarding five attacks out of seven days and then the following week there were four attacks in seven days, but those four attacks were particularly vicious and each one was a degree worse than the one preceding it, culminating with an attack on a Thursday, which hit me during the daytime and the attack lasted hours instead of minutes. Once again, that attack included paralysis and an increased difficulty in breathing and sharp chest pain. When it gets to the point that I can't breathe, I begin to panic, regardless of what my brain tells me that I will be okay and that people are there to help me. The lack of the ability to breathe comfortably creates a panic within me that I just have to ride out.

I am seriously blessed that CC is generally always here during these attacks, and she helps me to breathe by talking to me and encouraging me. Most of the time I can remember some things from or during an attack, but it is normal for me to not remember the whole attack because the brain fog that accompanies the attack can be pretty thick.

We are praising God, that we have been given oxygen to use here at the house, because it has made an instrumental difference in my recovery from the attacks as well as keeping my head clearer than not, during the day. I guess the harder part of having the oxygen is that the nurses have suggested that I remain on the oxygen as often during the day as possible. My right lung is not as strong as my left; I'm not sure specifically why that is the case, but, as I understand this disease more and more, some of the answers lie within the understanding of the disease itself and how it progressively battles the body on a minute by minute basis. Bottom line for me, is that I have decreased use of my right lung which makes it difficult to breathe deeply, properly and effectively, especially when it comes to getting through the attacks. The use of oxygen is pretty important in my case, and I'm taking that very seriously.

To take a break from accounting for my days, I must share that my life, right now, is surreal. In so many ways, my life was somewhat surreal when I had my job at Menlo Park Pres. as well as having my job at Fair Oaks Pres, in that, God blessed me with two awesome jobs, working with incredible people and being in a position to make significant, if not life-changing church improvements, regarding their technical capacity and products. From 1998 until sometime in 2006, I was blessed with the opportunity to work with interesting, caring, brilliant, loyal and loving coworkers and fellow employees. Even just one of those attributes can be difficult to find in today's working world, yet I was blessed with all of them during my tenure as a Chief Audio Engineer and Director of Media Technologies. I am reminded of the challenges that all of that brought, along with all the rewards; always a matter of checks and balances in one way or another, and to me, that in itself was pretty surreal. Flash forward to now, from 2006 through till today, Wednesday, June 18 of 2008, this disease (HypoKPP), in coordination with other medically contributing factors, such as hyperaldosteronism, type II diabetes, Hyperphosphatemia and the un-known issues with my liver, find me living a surreal life, though 180° from the life that I lived the previous 8 to 10 years or so. With that change comes the inevitable exchange or loss of contact with former colleagues and friends, to some extent. Only occasionally do I find myself hosting or posting a pity party of such a nature, because God has blessed me with the most supportive and incredible family a man could ever, ever even hope for.

I am blessed, regardless.

So, where was I before I digressed as noted above? I guess I was thinking of the differences between life before the diagnosis (and the multiple attacks preceding that diagnosis), and life as I know it now, which includes nearly daily attacks of paralysis as well as muscle spasms, short term memory loss, etc..

So today is Wednesday, which means that this past Monday preceding, was an unpleasant lengthy attack; painful paralysis as well as spasms. To get to the bathroom and back on Monday night included the unquestionable use of the Walker. Tuesday brought an opportunity to go to physical therapy and have Mark McCoy work on my muscles and help me stretch. My aunt brought me there and I used the Walker to get in and get out. Moving very slowly as to cause the least amount of pain, and not trigger any other issues (it's like walking on eggshells in some ways, keeping a constant fear in front of me that if I stepped wrong or move too quickly, the façade of being independent and mobile could come crashing down at any point.) I stayed on the oxygen for the visit, which was very helpful in keeping my head clearer and helping me to breath. I slept when I got home from the appointment for approximately 4 or 5 hours, sleeping with minimal pain on the couch. CC woke me up to let me know it was time to go to bed, but Missy wanted to watch one of the movies that they had rented so I watched the movie with her as kind of a daddy / daughter date time while CC went up to bed and Joshua joined her so that he could have some time with mom.

I woke up this morning feeling far better than I did yesterday and I am able to walk with only the cane instead of the Walker. I have no doubt in my mind that I am walking this well, and feeling as well as I am, thanks to the work that Mark did yesterday. I am scheduled to go back to Mark tomorrow (Thursday) and CC is planning on taking me there, though, we will have all of "our" kids with us, which means we will have Jessica and Jayden along with Missy and Joshua, so I am trying to figure out how to be creative and occupy the kids time, so that CC can also have some deep tissue massage done by Mark as well.

We will just have to see how things turn out.

I'm going to include in this entry, an e-mail that I sent out to the list of periodic paralysis people who I can connect with on a weekly basis, sometimes. It is an e-mail list made available through the Periodic Paralysis website and the list includes people from all over the country as well as some folks in Australia and England; all over the world, I suppose. This e-mail list has been most valuable to me in my learning and understanding of this disease, so when I learned some information that I thought was sure would be beneficial to others on the list, I put an email together and sent it off to everyone. Shortly after its posting, I received several e-mails of appreciation; each explaining how the information in the e-mail helped to tie up loose ends for them, which was exactly what happened to me as I learned the information. So without further ado, here is that e-mail:

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Greetings all-

The last number of weeks has been challenging ones for us. Last week alone, I had attacks five out of seven nights, though none of them landed me in the ER out of our choice to just treat it at home.

Since my last contribution/inquiry of the listers, my doctor approved home health care for me, for a period of time. It started out with nurses coming three times a week to where we are now, which is once a week; they come to the house and draw labs, they assess my condition, and they direct us in our immediate care of my needs.

It is because of one of these nurses that I wanted to write you all and share with you some of the things that I have learned. So here is what I have learned:

1. Nausea/Mucous: I have been experiencing nausea on a daily basis now for roughly a month and a half and we have tried to treat it with different medicines that help with upset stomachs, including Phenegran, but I have learned that the nausea only goes away for a brief period of time and then returns. The nurse explained that when the body has a potassium dump or Spike, it creates mucus in the stomach lining and the intestines to protect the walls; it goes into auto-defense mode, trying to guard itself against issues that would happen due to the potassium change. The production of the mucous upsets the stomach and can cause cramping as well.

2. Chest congestion: as we deal with this disease, our lungs take a fair hit from our lack of exercise as well as the build up of the mucous in the system, creating chest congestion as well as increasing our susceptibility to bronchitis and pneumonia.

3. Intestine sluggish/long periods in the bathroom: it takes muscles to push the food through all of the intestines as well as to avoid it out of the body and it is not uncommon to have the muscles around the intestines not behave as they are supposed to, creating blockages, constipation, etc. this is been a challenge for me, leaving me in the bathroom alone to try to figure out what the issue is causing this to take so long. I'm sorry if I'm giving you more information than you want, but, I was hoping that some of this may help to validate some of the things that people on the list are feeling or experiencing, like me.

4. Cold sweats: the cold sweats, we have always thought was directly related to what food I was eating, how much salt intake. It had, sugar intake, etc. the nurse explained that the cold sweats are in immediate indication that your body has just dumped some potassium and your body is reacting to that potassium dump. It is also par for the course to have that when you ingest liquid potassium or if you take several of the supplements at one time, you can experience the same thing, but it would be a period of time after those supplements have gone into the system. I deal with these every single day, probably like some of you do.

5. ER: One of her last pieces of advice was that when I start to experience brain fog and cold sweats and/or weakness in combination with those, to call 911 and get into an ER and establish another ER pattern to raise awareness within that system that I need better care than I am receiving. She suggested withholding the doses of potassium until in the hospital so that the labs can be accurate, instead of taking labs after I have already had an increase in potassium from home. My wife and I are still talking about this last one, because that impact of going in is not just on my wife and me but also on our children and her work.

Oh, I did also want to share that I was given software called Naturally Speaking by Dragon software, and this software allows me to use a headset mic and speak my e-mails in my blog entries into the computer and not have to type. Nearly every command in using the computer once it has booted up can be done via voice. And this software has been a huge blessing to me. Especially on days like today, where my arms and muscles feel beaten and sore from the previous night's attack. I would strongly suggest it to anyone on the list. If you read my e-mail and some of the words are out of place or odd in that sense, it's because the software wrote a different word that sounded like the word I wanted and I didn't catch what I proofread it. :-)

To close this out, I just wanted to share these different things that I have learned with you, realizing that we all don't experience the exact same things, but that I am feeling confident that the majority of the information I have received is good and helpful and validating.

With that, welcome to new members; I hope this list blesses you as it has me and greetings to each of you.

peace and blessings-

w

wade odum - HypoK - Sacramento, CA

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There was something else that I have learned that I did not include in that e-mail to everybody, unfortunately, and that is that it is normal for the attacks to be progressive; smaller attacks leading up to a larger, more vicious attacks which likely would need to be treated at the hospital, if at all possible. The problem, of course, is, that you don't know where you are in the attack process itself, i.e. You don't know if you are at the beginning and you have several more attacks to go or you are towards the end and the next attack that you suffer may be the one that you must go into the ER for in order to be safely delivered from it. It was suggested to me that continuing to treat these attacks at home is, in fact, very similar to playing Russian roulette. After hearing that, I talked very seriously with CC about going ahead and being seen in the ER more often than not as opposed to just treating it home and waiting for it to end. I cannot bear the thought, even the imagination, that something could happen to me while I am at home and, though we were doing our best to take care of it and treated at home, something bad happens and we are left/they are left with a pretty horrific memory. At least if I am in the hospital, the hospital is responsible for my care and my survival, not my wife and kids.

That's just part of my daily thought process, unfortunately.

A reality for us in considering doing the ER when attacks hit, is that we have two children with us that would have to go with us to the ER, unless we can find family (at the drop of a hat) to stay here at the house while CC and I go in. Another consideration is possibly having my aunt and uncle meet me at the ER and speak for me and watch over my care there while CC stays with the kids until something else could be arranged. All of this is pretty overwhelming, fairly scary and requiring a plan of some kind that has to be flexible and easy to implement in a moment’s notice. Having just said all of that, I am now motivated to go ahead and write up a tentative plan of sorts, that we can mold and shape and figure out how to implement as needed, so that the kids are covered in taking care of them and easing their fears while my care is addressed in a facility designed to address it medically. Your prayers are coveted as we try to figure out the right way to handle all of this; …is there a right way?

So, what has happened so far this week?

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Well I'm not sure where to begin on this entry, but I will do my best to fill you in regarding what all has gone on since Sunday night to today. That's not a very ominous beginning sentence for a blog entry, is it?

I believe it was this past Sunday, that we celebrated Joshua's birthday along with my cousin Chris's birthday, here at our house. My aunt and uncle and cousin all came over Sunday afternoon, and we all ate well and enjoyed one another's company, and the time was very well spent.

There came a point in the early evening where I began to feel quite poorly and tried to get up the stairs by myself. Missy saw me and called for her mom and they helped get me up the stairs and into bed. Once at the bed, the attack hit more effectively and I was unable to move, except for my head and neck. Jaw was locked, etc. Paralysis remained into the night and subsided around 3 AM.

Monday night brought another attack; I think it was just Josh and me in the house when it was clear that I was not only feeling poorly, but I all of a sudden began to become fearful and scared, very similar feelings to what I had felt when I was still working at FOPC, and I was in The Family Life Center, while I was working on the church's new microphone rolling chest. The attack that I suffered in the FLC over two years ago is chronicled at the beginning of my blog, but this attack was not the same as that, because in this attack, I did not lose consciousness as I did in the FLC, however the perception of fear was very similar. I put myself on oxygen and sat on the couch until CC returned. Once back, she realized that the oxygen tank that I was using needed to be changed and so she began to change the tanks. In the process of changing tanks, one of the tanks, the new tank that is, did not seal properly, (which I'm sure is not an uncommon case, using tanks that are used over and over and over again) and when she turned the tank on to check its pressure and begin its use, it made a very loud “GASP” sound when she turned it on and that sound, being loud, startled me, triggering an attack and literally freezing me at that moment. I was unable to move anything. Everything had frozen; my jaw, my hands, my arms, my fingers, my eye lids, etc. I was able t swallow, but not without great concentration and effort.

CC managed to get medicine into me and wanted to keep me on oxygen while going up the stairs to our bedroom which presented a slight 250 lb problem (me). She called Missy downstairs and Missy helped get me up the stairs. After having managed to get me up the stairs and into the hallway, they were able to both carry me and get me onto the bed. By this time, I was no longer frozen, but I could not move my arms, my legs, or my feet; they simply did not respond to my commands to move. I remained that way until the early hours of the morning, but then it hurt too much to move. On Monday, I spent pretty much all day in bed, the only real movement I was able to muster was with the walker to the bathroom and back, and that was a very slow travel.

Come Tuesday morning, it was very much the same as was Monday morning; hardly able to stand and hold my own weight and requiring the use of the walker to go from the bed to the bathroom and back. Debbie, the Home Health Care Nurse, came out Tuesday morning and took a full set of lab's from me and also confirmed that these attacks are all in-line with HKPP. She reiterated to us that I needed to be on oxygen, more often than not, especially following medicine intake, and that it is critical that I be on oxygen during and after an attack. Tuesday night brought another attack, completely depleting any energy and strength that I had gained from resting the previous days, while recovering.

Sunday night, Monday night, and Tuesday night's attacks were not as a result of food or anything of that sort. Sunday night, the attack was the same as Tuesday night’s attack; both due to a drop in potassium or simply low potassium. Monday night, the attack was triggered from me being very startled. My most recent labs have shown that my potassium has been running low, regardless of the number of supplements I have had. The nurse was concerned that I had become loaded on potassium due to all of the supplements and liquid potassium that I had ingested over the last few days, but all the labs came back showing my potassium to be lower than higher; by no means, was I loaded on potassium, in fact, my body was continually dumping the potassium out of my system. Each time there is an exchange of potassium in my system, I tend to suffer an attack as a result of that exchange. It is kind of just that simple.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and I'm thankful that I did not have an attack yesterday morning, afternoon and evening. By Wednesday evening, I was using the cane and just going very slowly instead of going with a walker.

I'm pretty sure that I did not mention that June 3 was CC's birthday! She and her mom share the same birthday; pretty unusual, huh? I managed to arrange to have some flowers delivered to her here at the house yesterday, but other than that, I was unable to go and get her gift to open on her birthday. I felt, and still do feel, like crap for not having gone out while I was feeling better, and purchasing her a gift. Most unfortunately, the kids did not remember or realize that it was her birthday, so neither of them wished her a happy birthday in the morning when she woke them up for school. To top it all of that off, I wasn't even able to take her out for dinner, due to feeling poorly and then suffering the attack. She took Joshua to his gymnastics class, which he has on Tuesday nights and Missy remained with me in the house, watching TV while sitting next to me on the bed. During and immediately after an attack, there really isn't very much that can be done for me outside of being in an emergency room. They just have to wait until the attack is completely done.

A number of weeks back CC and I had planned that I would go down to the Bay Area on Thursday (today), so that I could be in town for my niece's Friday morning graduation from high school. That plan stayed in place all the way until yesterday, when it was made really clear to me that I'm not in any real condition to travel, and that, should I make it down to the Bay Area in one peace without any problems, the graduation itself is going to be outdoors with no shade, approximately 2 hours long, and the weather prognosis indicated windy conditions. The handicapped seating is going to be middle-center of all the seating, which would be very awkward for me, should something go wrong.

This week has turned out to be vicious and very disappointing, at least so far. I do agree that it is not logical for me to try and make the graduation ceremony, and I do agree that just the traveling itself could cause problems at this point in the game, but my heart is there with my sister and her family, and especially with my niece Kirsten.

As it stands today, I believe that my parents are planning on coming up on Sunday afternoon and bringing with them, one or possibly two electronic chairs for me to test out and try out, so I hope that that will end the week in good stead, that is to say, 180° from how it began.

Last night, Missy attended her school's eighth grade graduation, which was held at Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, where I used to work. My very good friend Rob ran sound for the event; Rob was my Chief Tech when I finished my tenure at FOPC, and he became the head of the department, fulfilling my responsibilities in my absence. Both Missy and CC attended the graduation itself, and both said that the sound was excellent, something that does not surprise me one bit. Rob is excellent at what he does and he is passionate to do the best job each time he steps into the booth. I wish that could be said of all techs in all churches, but unfortunately, it cannot. FOPC is very fortunate to have such a skilled and passionate craftsman as Rob. The same is true for First Pres Roseville having Craig Fetter at their technical helm; they could not ask for, or want for more. Both churches are impressively blessed to have these two superb technicians and I am equally blessed to call them my friends.

This sentence concludes this entry in the blog; we shall see, what this evening, and then tomorrow holds in store.

Missy's "This I Believe" Essay

Missy was tasked with writing an essay called "This I Believe" and she asked me if I would want to put it here on the blog so that others may know how she feels and what she believes.
It left me speechless and humbled and blessed, to say the least.
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My dad is a super hero

“Batman! Look Mama, it’s Batman!” a little girl screams. Ha. That little girl is me, in my mind. I love to watch cartoons of Super Friends, Superman and Batman. “Batman!” he was always my favorite out of every hero. I always thought that super heroes were the special ones. People who had super cool powers and amazing costumes. Then I thought of my dad, and how he could pass as a super hero for Halloween. He is a man, strong, brave, a good actor, and a perfectly awesome father.

Then it occurred to me. When my dad has bad days when he is sick and having attacks, he is brave, strong, and a fighter. Maybe he is a super hero, I keep thinking. He’s strong, like Superman, and protective like Hawk Woman. He helps me when I cry. He’s always what I need to make a day seem like a day that is the best ever. My dad is like an angel, always watching over me. “My dads a super hero!” it made sense that he could be one of them. He’s strong like Superman, caring like Wonder Woman, always thinking like Green Lantern, and never gives up just like Batman. How cool it is to have a super hero dad. And to me, he is the best hero that has ever lived.

He fights for freedom from the sickness that he has. He also fights to protect his family and friends. Isn’t that what super heroes do? Fight for the freedom of who they’re saving. And don’t they have people that they care for? Mothers, girlfriends, boyfriends, or fathers? My father also trusts the people around him. He trusts my mom and me to help him when he is going down. He calls on friends to help pray for him. Hopes from others can help almost as if they were there with him. Heroes need help to. Batman has a butler that helps him with information that he needs to find. On the show Super Friends, the heroes also need help, help from each other. Not one of them is ever alone. They always stay together, to help and support. They depend on each other.

Even though he’s physically ill, he is still as much a hero as I believe that he is. And even if he has to stay in bed for the day, I can still see him thinking of when he was playing tag with me and my brother, or practicing volleyball with me. And having that feeling of being able to be in the outside world. Not just being inside, but feeling the freedom in the world is an amazing thing to feel. And super heroes feel that almost every day. In the movies and TV shows, they fly around or are always on the move to help someone or go and meet or plan with someone.

And one of the most important things a super hero has is a heroic name. For example, Flash has that name because he is able to run at the speed of sound. Hawk Woman has that name because she has wings like a hawk and she has the attitude of one. And my dad has a heroic name just like them too. Dad and Father. They may be names that most kids call their fathers, but mine I say with pride. For my father is the one and only perfect father that I could ever ask for. And that makes him look like Superman to me. This I believe.

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