OT: Aspirin vs Rat Poison ** Was: Blood Thinners-Now Stroke, maybe OT...

[Guest guest]

Butch wrote:

 

> Gary .. I recall your stroke .. and you pretty much missing the symptoms to

the point that you were lucky to have reached the emergency room when you did ..

and later you told the folks on the list how to not make the same mistakes you

made .. you wrote ...

http://health./message/54257

>

 

Well, Butch...believe it or not, I've been working on an update of that

stroke post....

 

So....Oils gets it first....<G>...

 

*******************************

 

Hi Folks....

 

Back on 12/27/07, I had a clot type stroke in the cortico-spinal area of

my brain....I was left with a paralyzed right side, a vague awareness of

what was going on, and a face out of a B-rated Horror Movie....

Because of the extent of the paralysis, I was told I faced the prospect

of assisted living...

 

That scared me more than anything....

 

Today, I am existing independently, though I need a brace and cane to

get around.....My right hand (the prior dominant one) has maybe 20%

function, with no fine motor control to speak of...Everything is harder

to do, essentially one handed, and I do get tired easily....

 

I'm not griping....I'm glad to be alive, and an independent

Survivor....My cognition was essentially unaffected....My face is

normal, as is my speech....I'm one of the luckier survivors.....

 

The thing is....had I recognized what was happening to me, I might have

none of these affects....

For a clot type stroke, there's a 3-4 hour window when it can be

reversed.....I got to the hospital too late to reverse it, but soon

enough so I lived...

 

How common is stroke? It's the third most common cause of death in the

US.....Eighty percent of all strokes are the clot type....There are over

*6 million* stroke survivors in the US alone....

 

How to ID a stroke.......S....T....R.......

 

*REMEMBER* the 1st Three Letters.... S...T...R...

 

S.....Ask the individual to SMILE.

 

T.....Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)

Example....It is sunny outside today....

 

R.....Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

 

If the person (or you), have a problem with any of these tasks, it's

time to call 911...

 

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours

he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the

trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the

patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

 

They've recently extended the window to 4 hours in some cases...

 

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.

 

Hopefully this bit of knowledge will help some folks in the future.......

 

Surviving a stroke takes a lot out of a person, both physically and

mentally.....

 

How successful one is depends a lot on the support they have, and

believe me, I can personally attest to the need for that support...And

thank the folks that provided it to me, from the bottom of my heart...

 

I found a great online resource for Stroke Support.....It's a free site,

started, run by, and for, Stroke Survivors and Caregivers....If you are

a Stroke Survivor, or Caregiver, or know someone who is, give them this

link.....

 

I suspect they'll thank you....It puts you on the Forum discussion page,

and you will meet folks who are walking the talk......As a guest, you

can read the posts, to get a feel for what the site is about....

 

http://www.strokeboard.net/

 

 

Care to All....

 

 

 

--

Gary W. Bourbonais

L'Hermite Aromatique

A.J.P. (GIA)

http://www.facebook.com/Le.Hermite