MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 - STROKE WEEK

 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 - STROKE WEEK

A while back, a friend wrote this on Facebook:

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“I woke up feeling something like gray.

It took me a minute to connect the date on the calendar to the hurt winding its way around me like a vine twisting itself through my deep state of being.

Today is my love, Leo’s birthday. Leo had his stroke on this day 24 months ago, and no day since has been the same, no reality quite as hopeful.

How may I find the strength to dig up a smile and a chocolate cake?

On September First two years ago we became a member of the ”now society.” The ones who live moment to moment.

We know. Millions of us know that as swiftly as you can offer a smile, the life you knew, ends. Just ends. Like that. Like the snapping of your fingers. Like the breaking of your heart.

He cannot drive, cannot stride, cannot sing, or dance. Stays in the quiet of home, in the captivity of stroke which changes everything. Everything.

We have no choice but to carry on and do our best, and we mostly do, but we always sense the wolf at our door. We know its smell and sound and we know it will surely come again—those of us who really know.

The loss of possessions, of hope even, is hard. But the loss of the self, the one you were, the one you love who was—-that’s the hardest of all. And ohh—is it lonely.

So if you see someone with that look in their eye, with that slightly slower step, who doesn’t seem so happy as the rest—see if you can offer a hand. Because, my friends, the knowing is hard and heavy to hold. The Now Society doesn’t offer comfort nor care. We pass each other and recognize our survivors' stories and the silence is all we hear.

So today let me be graceful. Help me, dear universal compassion, buy a sweet card, a flower, and a cake with a candle. Let me be glad that despite all our roads, rocky and smooth, we are still here for as long as we are here.

Help me find the color. Perhaps it will be the denim blue of his eyes and the white of his hair. Let me find the music of his voice and celebrate our love—our Leo.

Happy birthday Leo. Congratulations on another trip around the sun. Perhaps today will be good. Perhaps the best is yet to be.

 

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Leo had a stroke.  

My friend says “He cannot drive, cannot stride, cannot sing or dance. Stays in the quiet of home, in the captivity of stroke which changes everything. Everything.”

Everything changes with a stroke - your brain has lost some (or quite a bit) of its ability to function, think, or act.

I really don’t know much about strokes.

Mayo clinic says “A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. Brain cells begin to die in minutes.

 

A stroke is a medical emergency, and prompt treatment is crucial. Early action can reduce brain damage and other complications.

The good news is that many fewer Americans die of stroke now than in the past. Effective treatments can also help prevent disability from stroke.

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So, what causes a stroke?

The number 1 cause is High Blood Pressure.  “High blood pressure can cause the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the brain to burst or be blocked, causing a stroke. Brain cells die during a stroke because they do not get enough oxygen.”

OH MY!!!  I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure some 25 years ago.  In 2017, I had major aorta surgery as I had a blood pressure of 213 over 165 and a pulse of 161.  I have been on blood pressure meds since then.  On my recent trip to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska high points, I took my pill container.  (Yes, I do miss an occasional dose, but generally am pretty good at taking my medications).  [I just took my blood pressure and it was 145 / 83 - maybe a little high (but not too bad)

I’m not sure if I should be happy that my event in 2017 was my aorta (and I could have died, but didn’t) instead of a stroke blocking blood to some part of my brain.

The other major causes of strokes are tobacco, heart disease, and diabetes.  

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So, as I understand it, depriving a part of the brain of oxygen can lead to a stroke (ischemic stroke or transient ischemic. The most common type of stroke is where a blood vessel is blocked (ischemic Stroke or transient ischemic attack (Mini-Stroke), and the second most common is where the blood vessel breaks (a hemorrhagic stroke).

This week, I’m going to be looking at strokes (mainly for my own benefit) - to understand, to try to avoid a stroke, quick reaction, recovery, exercises, and remedies.

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Did you hear of the golf player who had a stroke on the golf course?  His foursome wanted him to count it!!

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One of the senior people I see seemingly had a mild stroke which affected her verbal center.  She can talk some but rarely does talk.  It is NOT dementia!!!  (She was a MENSA - the high IQ society!!)  But, strokes change things!!!  (But, she has been moved to the memory care area).

*****

LOVE WINS

Karen White, September 12, 2022, ©