FOLKS…MAY IS STROKE AWARENESS MONTH!!!
Odds are Stroke will impact you, through someone you know, or God
Forbid, yourself, in your lifetime…There are about 6 million
Stroke Survivors in the US alone…I’m one of them…
HOW TO ID A STROKE…REMEMBER the 1st Three Letters…
S…T…R…
S…Ask the individual to SMILE. Look for a droop in features to
one side… T…Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently). Example…“It is sunny outside today”…Listen for
slurred or missing words… R…Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
Does one drift downward…
If the person (or you), have a problem with any of these tasks, it’s
TIME to call 911…You can save a life, maybe your own…
NOTE: Another ‘sign’ of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick’
out their tongue… If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one
side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.
The CDC ranks Stroke now as the #4 cause of death in the US. 80% of
Strokes are of the clot type. There is a 3-4 hour Window, within
which a Clot Stroke may be reversed, so time is of the essence.
As I mentioned, I am a Stroke Survivor…I missed the 4 hour Window
in which it possibly might have been reversed, but got in soon enough
that I did not die. Today, my right arm has about 20% function, no
fine motor control, and I wear a brace for Dropfoot on my right leg,
and use a cane, to get around. I am a lucky Survivor. I’m disabled,
but I live independently, by myself. I cannot drive a car. There’s
other issues, too, but as I said, I am a lucky Survivor…
I spent 5 weeks in “Acute Rehab”…Read, I lived in the hospital. I
hadda come back from full right side paralysis, to pretty much where
I am today…As I’ve said…I was Lucky…Some of the affects of
folks I met, and lived with, those 5 weeks, were heart-wrenching to
see…
Make a mental note of how to ID a Stroke. You may save the life of a
loved one, or maybe your own. I would not wish a Stroke to happen to
anyone…Surviving is a life wrenching experience…It slams into
and changes your life, Forever.
Care…
Gary W. Bourbonais
L’Hermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)