Strokes
Strokes are everywhere. My mother had a stroke which eventually killed her in her 79th year which wasn’t old for a family who lived into their 90s.
I worked in a huge 1000 bed nursing home on Long Island where many patients had strokes, and were incapacitated. My mother-in-law had a stroke and never recovered.
Six years ago I awoke feeling quite normal. Before leaving the house as I talked to my wife she said that I sounded like I had just been to the dentist and had my mouth frozen. I laughed about it. I drove our car into the city, dropped my son off at the university, and went to work. My second client commented on how much energy I had that I had been to the dentist already because my speech was somewhat slurred. I assured her that I hadn’t been to the dentist and we laughed about it.
I went to see my doctor simply because I had an appointment with him already scheduled. He saw there was a problem and after consulting with a colleague said I had Bells Palsy and gave me a prescription for medication.
Later I had lunch with a couple of friends, both hospital chaplains, and they indicated they were not happy with this diagnosis. I thought they were over reacting but when I phoned my wife to tell her what had happened she was dismayed. She said we had to go to emergency. I resisted, but I was worried and my wife was insistent, so I went.
At emergency after six hours of waiting the emergency doctor took about two minutes to tell me I had had a stroke. This diagnosis scared the dickens out of me as I had seen so many people terribly damaged because of strokes. I has some treatment, never returned to that incompetent family doctor, have had endless support from a loving family and was put on proper medication. I seem to be as good as new, but I wanted to remind everyone that strokes are everywhere. In fact, not even doctors necessarily recognize them.
Here are the warning signs of strokes: Weakness, trouble speaking, vision problems, headache and dizziness. Of these I had somewhat slurred speech and the corner of my mouth was somewhat turned down. This is only a primer about strokes and I encourage you to learn more so that you are ready, can diagnose yourself and those you love if a stroke occurs. It was the last thing I expected. I was planning to go on a trip the next week to Africa and I had no premonitions of trouble.
Since this incident, two people have told me that they had bells palsy when a description of their symptoms convinced me that both had had a stroke that had never been treated. That is scary. Clearly we have to be our own best advocates for our own health.