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Stroke Awareness
By Susan Lowe
On April 1, 2005 my husband,
who had just turned 58, had a stroke.
On our last "normal" day together, we went to dinner at a new
restaurant, watched a little television, and went to bed.
My husband tells me (I slept through this part) that he woke up about
11:00 p.m., because he smelled something burning. He looked outside but
didn't see anything, and went back to bed.
About 2:00 a.m., he woke me up, saying something was wrong. He was
dizzy, couldn't walk without stumbling, and had what he described at the
worst headache in his life. We sat up in the living room for a
couple of hours, seeing if he would get better. He'd had one previous
episode where his blood pressure spiked and I took him to the Emergency
Room. At least that's what they said it was. Symptoms were similar, but
not as severe. I think he may have suffered a first stroke back then.
We went back to bed for an hour or two. When we woke up, he was no
better, so I took him to the VA clinic when they opened at 7:30 a.m.
They immediately assessed him and sent him to the local imaging clinic
for an MRI. The technician there was not supportive when my husband
started to freak out. I asked if they could sedate him so they could
proceed, but they told me no. We went home, stopping to tell the doctor
what had happened. He said he would have ordered sedation if the tech
had called. I tried what more could I do? They said to take him home and
if he got worse over the weekend, take him to the ER. Monday afternoon
he had an open MRI. He was still scared, but they let me sit on a chair
and hold his hand through the procedure. It was after the VA clinic had
closed by now, and so we went directly home. About 5:30 p.m. the doctor
called me and says he'd had a stroke. I remember my response, "Oh,
really?” He told us to be back at the clinic first thing in the morning.
He had some trouble walking the first couple of days, but no paralysis,
no loss of speech or body functions. And, as I told my girl friends, he
didn't drool! (~_~) Sometimes if you don't find the humor in the
situation, it becomes way too overwhelming and depressing.
He tried to drive that first weekend, before we knew it was a stroke.
After he ended up on the wrong side of the road, going the wrong way, he
pulled over and I drove (if you knew me, you'd find that amazing--I
avoid driving whenever possible). But stroke changes you, not just the
person who suffered it, but the caregiver, too.
It does get easier, but every day is a struggle.
Now I know that he had four of the five warning signs of a stroke. We
waited five and-a-half hours before seeking medical treatment. The
doctor told me if it ever happened again, he needed to be taken to a
hospital within the hour, to prevent more extensive permanent damage.
Knowledge is power. Be prepared! The following information comes from
the National Stroke Association website,
www.strokeassociation.org.
Stroke is a medical emergency. Every second counts.
Know these warning signs of stroke and teach them to others:
 Sudden
numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of
the body
Sudden
confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden
trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden
trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden,
severe headache with no known cause
Call 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms!
Time lost is brain lost!
An honor student in high school, who dreamed of being a newspaper
journalist, Susan turned down a full tuition scholarship to Humboldt
State University to marry at age seventeen and go on to have three
children in the next five years. Susan's husband had a stroke in 2005,
and they became a multi-generational family, moving in with their
younger son, his wife and two grandchildren. She is passionate about
family, friendship, reading, cooking, wine tasting,
walking/hiking/backpacking, stroke awareness, and scrapbooking.
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