Andrew Marr - Whu we should all sit up and take note

My thoughts and prayers are with Andrew Marr and his family today. It was announced yesterday that he has had a stroke. This is a subject very close to my heart. In 2000 my dearly departed Mum had a stroke. At the time she was a fit and well 75 year old, who thoroughly enjoyed life. She looked ten years younger than her age, went on four holidays a year and had a stable relationship with a lovely chap.

I will never forget the morning it happened. I was at a doctors appointment and as I returned I noticed an ambulance outside her house. She lived up the road from me. I ran up and found Mike, her partner distraught. She was like a complete zombie and was paralysed. An ambulance crue were giving her oxygen and she was taken to hospital. Initially she was paralysed down her right side and couldn't speak. She was taken to Barnet hospital, given a scan and put in a geriatric ward. This incensed me. She hadn't been a geriatric the day before? Sadly the truth was that she'd aged 20 years in a second.

The movement returned. Sadly the speech was always a problem. She lost her confidence to go out. Her relationship ended. She became a recluse, embarrassed at her situation. She was a fighter and lived independently until she passed away in 2008.

I sincerly hope Mr Marr has had a less serious stroke. The reasons for my mothers stroke were put down to being on HRT for 30 years. She'd refused to come off and had persistently high blood pressure. If you have a history of strokes in the family, have high blood pressure or choelestorol, I'd advise you to seek madical help. I've seen at first hand what happens if you don't listen. We all think these things only happen to other people. Strokes are one of the most horrible ways your life can be changed and they are avoidable. Please take note.

My deep personal sympathy for David Cameron

I was really quite upset when I heard the news that David Camerons dad died suddenly of a stroke, whilst on holiday in France. My own dear mum died of a stroke in August 2008. The week before, she'd been on holiday with me in Lourdes, France. On our return, I departed with my wife and children for a holiday in the USA. It was 4am in San Francisco when we got the call to say she'd had a massive stroke and wasn't expected to last more than a few hours. At 7am we got another call to say she'd died. I never got to say goodbye to her. Just over two years later, I still feel her presence. Sadly there are all too many things which remind me of her. Just this week when I was at the Council Cabinet meeting and Robert Rams announced that he wanted to close libraries and send all the old dears to Starbucks for their books, I felt her telling me "This man is an idiot". I got most of my political views from my mum. She was an avid reader, most week getting three books from the Library (large print as her eyesight was failing).

Our parents leave us an enormous legacy. They make us the people we are. I just hope David Cameron turns his awful experience to some positive benefit and uses it to advance the treatment and awareness of strokes. Maybe then a few less people will share our common experience of sad loss

I agree with Mike Freer's propaganda machine for once

The European Elections take place in a few weeks. There are strict guidelines on how parties can use the taxpayers money to fund propaganda for their parties. A clever politician knows where the line is drawn and how to obtain maximum advantage without breaching the rules. It's called sailing close to the wind.

A good example is Mike Freer's mailshot, reportedly at a cost of £45,000 telling local residents to get involved in the consultation regarding major trauma and stroke facilities at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

There is also a press release on the council's website. I'm no fan of Mike, but he's actually right about this issue. The Royal London is too far away. My mother had a stroke in 2001 and if we'd had to visit her every day in Aldgate, it would have been a nightmare. Health planners clearly don't understand the value of family support for people struggling to deal with a major change of life.

Maybe Mike has been crafty and used the wheels of power to get some good publicity for himself. For once I don't really object because it is doing something useful. It's just a shame that whilst he saw fit to encourage us to take part in a Healthcare for London Consultation, he didn't spend another £45,000 encouraging us all to object to the cuts to the warden service for Sheltered housing. Could it be because that consultation didn't portray Mike in such a good light with the local electorate?