While up on the ladder one sunny summer morning last July, painting my daughter’s room, I felt a little weird. That’s all, just weird. I thought nothing of it at first, so I painted on. The faintest bit dizzy is the best I could describe it.
I went out for lunch. Still feeling a bit off. But as I said, not really concerned.
By the time lunch was over, my lips were feeling a bit weird too; a little stiffer than usual. Everyone was out of the house for the day, so I just continued my painting in silence.
My daughter came home and I greeted her hello.
That’s when I got a little scared. The words didn’t come out right. They were a little slurred. Difficult to form. You know, like when the dentist
Something told me I should go to the drug store and buy some aspirin so I did. I looked up stroke symptoms on the internet.
Then I got really scared!
I told my wife after dinner, “I think we should go to the hospital.”
“Why?” she said.
That’s how subtle my symptoms were. Nobody noticed any difference in me, except me.
I explained the situation to her and she drove me to the Emergency Room. By then, nearly 10 hours after I initially felt weird painting, my mouth had definitely drooped.
After check in and a very brief wait, all hell broke lose.
Suddenly, I was in a room with nearly a dozen medical professionals seemingly all talking at once and wanting me to do things.
“Touch your nose, wiggle your toes, raise your arm, now the other one.” I could hardly keep up. They whisked me off to radiology for X-rays and CT scans.
“You had a little blockage,” they said. “What we call a TIA, a transient ischemic attack. It’s when the blood supply to the brain is temporarily blocked.”
“Often we’ll give medicine to open the blockage. But yours was so minor and appears to have subsided, so I don’t think it will benefit you. We’ll get you a room and keep an eye on it for the next day or so,” the doctor said.
That night, and the next morning, I really noticed a difference in my face and the actions of my left hand. I was scared my mouth would stay drooped forever and my hand uncoordinated.
Wow! How your life can change in an flash.
With nothing to do but rest in bed while thoughts of doom and gloom swirled in my head, I remembered a mind/body enhancement training I participated in a few years back.
There were two parts I remembered best.
The first was bouncing a golf ball on a rubber mallet or steel hammer. I had no such items here, so that was out.
The second I could do. I had gotten really good at it a few years back. Ben Franklin used to do it. It’s writing, in cursive, backward, with your left hand. (This is for normally right-handed people, lefties would do the opposite)
It seems impossible, but just as you got good at writing in elementary school, you can do it. It takes practice to get smooth, but it was easier than I expected when I first tried it.
You hold it up to a mirror afterward to read it. It’s like you were writing in secret code. It’s fun! Like magic to kids.
It takes intense concentration to do it, as you can imagine. You have to focus the entire conscious power of your brain on thinking of the letter’s form backward, then triggering the myriad of left hand muscles needed to create the proper action. Then a word is formed. Mind-muscle coordination.
It seemed perfect for this situation. I needed my left hand to work better and they say the sooner you start rehab the better. So I started that day with the pen and paper I had.
The next day, the hospital rehab specialist came in to evaluate me and offer me tips. My symptoms were mild, though very concerning for me. Especially the thought of my mouth drooping forever!
She told me to
I’m
I was only 57 at the time, in great physical condition. I went to the gym weekly and walked for at least 30 minutes nearly every day. Just 6 months earlier, at my last checkup, my doctor asked, “Are you a runner?”
“No,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Your heart beats like a fine Swiss watch,” he said. “slow and steady, we usually see that in runners.”
So me? Have a stroke?
It was the farthest thing from my mind.
I knew just enough to be dangerous. The medical staff at the hospital advised me, “Never wait. “If you feel symptoms, get to the hospital immediately.”
But what symptoms? How bad should they be? How do I know what to look for? (I don’t want to look foolish running to the hospital for every ‘weirdness’ I feel.)
One of my mentors, Bob Bly, is about the same age as me. He wrote an excellent book on Stroke Prevention I would encourage everyone, of any age to read.
Because you never know when a stroke will strike.
It can sneak up, so suddenly, to anyone.
I was lucky.
Lucky it was not severe and left me paralyzed, speechless, or disfigured for life. Lucky I could get on
Lucky I knew enough to get myself to the hospital.
If you’re not an expert on stroke and all the ways it can sneak up on you without warning…
Click the link below to get Bob Bly’s excellent book on stroke prevention. It has some surprising information you should know before a stroke sneaks up on you!
The Elder nearly sunk the ship that day. But I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve. He may be wise in years, but he runs the body like crap.
Two weeks later, just to flex my young guy muscle, I took him kayaking for the first time. We had a blast. I just might buy my own kayak this year.
I’ve got plenty of other stuff I want to do in this life too. It just gets a little harder with The Elder always tagging along. (But, I’m kind of attached to him)
We’ll make it work!
“bene vivere”
Bob
[the FCC requires me to disclose that the link above is an affiliate link to a book, which if you purchase, will result in the author giving a commission to me for referring you. This does not increase your cost in any way, nor detract in any way from the important information contained therein.]
