[YAK] May is stroke awareness month

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)

Thank you Gary, for putting out the very good info on stroke survival
and rehab. It is like being hit by a transport truck - it only takes
a minute to have an entire life altering brain accident. I hope you
still go on hoping that your body can still improve. A doctor in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, did not accept his medical
advice of “accepting” his condition and began to walk, then sort of
amble jog, and then finally run, albeit with an altered gait. His
entire right side was paralyzed from the stroke - and today he is
back working in the medical field. So it can be done but with a lot
of hope and effort. Good luck and my most sincere best wishes for a
full life.

Blessings,
Barbara

I am also a stroke survivor, and will second Gary’s post! Do note
that women, in particular, may not experience “normal” symptoms. I
experienced severe light headedness, overall weakness, and then my
left side “vanished” - I could see it, but not feel it at all! A very
strange, and very scary, experience.

If you even think you MIGHT be having a stroke - go to the ER!!!
Better to go and not need it, than need it and not go. I have a
friend who was alone when he had a major stroke to the extent that he
could not move to reach the phone - and lay on the floor for over 14
hours before someone found him. He is almost completely disabled now,
and doesn’t go out at all.

Thankfully I only lost the left side, not both, and my husband was
home and could take me to the ER immediately.

Don’t accept denial on your part, or on the part of a friend or
family member - go to the ER!!!

If you do have a stroke, or a friend/family member does, insist on
therapy! And start it on your own even in the ER!!! I attribute much
of my recovery of the use of my left side to starting therapy on my
own even in the ER. I’m still weaker on the left, and still have
other lasting impacts from the stroke, but am MUCH better than I
ever expected to be.

Beth Wicker
Three Cats and a Dog Design Studio

My word to you all is strop putting it off see your doctor for your
annual checkup.

At mine last year we heard a change in the sound of the flow in my
left carotid artery. A few months later and three different scans I
had 70% blockage. Within two weeks I was in for a 45 minute
operation. The artery was temporarily bypassed, opened up and the
blockage was removed. a patch was sewn in to enlarge the artery as
the opening was closed. 24 hours later I walked out of the hospital.

I will honestly tell you I did not know I wasn’t 100%. I had no
symptoms. I was a heart beat away from a stroke. Don’t put it off!
How am I now? Like I said I always feel great but three days after
the operation I became aware of how good I could feel. I felt & feel
fantastic! It was a life saver and changer.

Bill
Reactive Metals Studio, Inc

Gary,

Thank you for so generously sharing this and reaching
out here to help others.

Very best thoughts and wishes for your ongoing recovery and day by
day improvement in quality of life.

Cyndy Wolf

The incredible part of the community of Orchid is that whatever it
is you are facing, jewelry or personally, mention it here online, and
there will be many replies, most usually thanks and suggestions.
Hyperbaric chambers have helped even a long time after the original
episode.

One knows that they are not alone within Orchid, so open up and
express yourself, you have no idea what few words will reach deep
into you.

Gary is generous with his postings, the replies alone have validated
reaching out.

Hugs and Thanks,
Terrie

Teresa Masters
www.metalsmith.co

Thank you for so generously sharing this and reaching
out here to help others. Very best thoughts and wishes for your
ongoing recovery and day by day improvement in quality of life. 

Barbara, Beth, and Cyndy…

Thanks for the comments! And yeah, in 4 some years I’ve made decent
progress…

Having a Stroke, is such a PITA, that after you Survive one, you do
not wish it to happen to anyone…

Had I known what was going on, with my type, it could very possibly
been reversed…I’m reminded of that, every day, when I get up…

I post Stroke ID stuff once a year, to the mail lists I belong
to…As the case is, it is an Off Topic post for most of the
Non-Stroker Lists…

I always get the permission of the List Owner…

My special thanks to Hanuman…!

I won’t post this again until next year, but if anyone ever wants to
contact me about Stroke issues, or Support related things…

Please feel Free to Do So…

Gary W. Bourbonais
L’Hermite Aromatique
A.J.P. (GIA)

PS. Stroke went from the #3 CDC killer of Americans

Gary - my husband is a survivor.

Blessings

Barbara, on a clear night on the island where the fox spent most of
the day on our lawn, catching some rays and working on her tan. (At
least I think it’s a her.)