Pynchon

On Sunday a friend of ours had a stroke. It has been a bit of a shock.

Bobby Blue is 35 years old. He is tall, slim, healthy (so we thought), drinks moderately and has been known to have the odd cigar. He is married to the lovely Lana. I have mentioned her before once or twice. It is she of the turquoise eyes. He has two kids under the age of ten from his previous marriage. From 2000 through 2004 he was Lorraine's boss at The Company. At the time Bobby worked for The Company I thought that he was a bit quiet and standoffish. I honesty cannot remember a single conversation I had with the man during that period. Lorraine loved him. She thought that he was a very good boss and mentor and kept in touch with him and Lana after they had both left The Company. I'm glad that she did. We were invited to their wedding in a couple of years ago and have spent good social time with them.

From what I gather from people at work, on Sunday Bobby was out training for some charity run thing when he collapsed in the park. He was taken to hospital complaining of pains in his head. Currently he is conscious, but his speech has deteriotated and he has no mobility (a nice way to say that he is paralysed). The Doctor's are waiting for the results of a cat scan. Obviously we have tried to contact Lana, but she has not got back to us yet. I'm sure that she has got other things on her mind.

Hell. I don't even know what causes a stroke. This is what Wikipedia says about it.

"A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is an acute neurologic injury whereby the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted, either by a clot in the artery or if the artery bursts. The result is that the part of the brain perfused by that artery no longer can receive oxygen carried by the blood and it dies (becomes necrotic) with cessation of function from that part of the brain. In addition to tissue death, hemorrhages also cause damage from physical impingement of blood on the brain tissue. Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurologic damage or even death if not promptly diagnosed and treated. It is the third leading cause of death and adult disability in the US and industrialized European nations.
Risk factors include advanced age, hypertension (high blood pressure),diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol, and cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is the most important modifiable risk factor of stroke."

Can stress aggravate the cause of a stroke? I'm sure that I read somewhere that it can be an important factor. Can the application of stress cause damage that remains even after the stress is removed?

Something to consider. For the last 18 months of his time at The Company, Bobby was under incredible stress. I know that he quit at least twice and was convinced to stay by James Cunt with promises of increased resource, better procedures, better support from the board and less stress. For those 18 months I saw him turn in on himself, wilt, lose weight and go grey. Understand that he and Lana were always the first into the office and always the last to leave. They would often work from home into the evenings and weekends. Frankly, it was fucking ridiculous and Lorraine wants to emulate them now that she is doing most of Bobby's job. From my last conversation with him Bobby said that his new job is quite 'busy' and 'tiring', but the difference is that he is enjoying himself and he feels progression is being made, which was definitely not the case with The Company.

It has to be said. I will never let The Company rule my life. I will never give them all of me.

I will be 43 in August. Bobby is 8 years younger than me. That has made me think.

A card went around at work today. I wrote on it, "If you think that this let's you off paying for the next big, dirty Chinese, you have got another thing coming". I am thinking that maybe that was a little inappropriate. I hope he laughs when he can.

I am not a praying man, but Lorraine is a praying woman and she has said a little prayer for Bobby.