Thursday, October 05, 2006

Tips on recognizing a stroke immediately

Based on personal experience, I cannot stress enough the necessity of recognizing the signs of stroke at the earliest possible moment. So, when I read Kevin Kelly's site, I thought of posting some of its contents in my blog in order to help spread this information.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim quickly he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed and getting to the patient within 3 hours, which is tough. Sometimes, symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. But doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by performing 3 simple tasks:

1. Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE. (Coherently, ie: It is sunny out today.)

The American Stroke Association lists more warning signs of stroke, and these are:
* 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.

Not all of these warning signs may occur in every stroke. In my case, I had numbness on the right side of my body, severe pain in my left eye and difficulty speaking. I could not even recite the alphabet. The important thing to remember is not to ignore signs of stroke, even if they do go away. Unfortunately, we don't have 9-1-1 in our country. The best thing to do under the circumstances is to bring the individual to the nearest hospital so that the doctors may give the proper medical care and attention. If diagnosed early, the stroke may still be easily reversed, depending on the damage.

Arming yourself with this knowledge may just save another person's life.

(P.S., you might be wondering when the stroke happened. This happened to me 2 years ago and I'm ok now. FYI.)

33 comments:

Unknown said...

hi, blog hopping here! nice blog you have...

Unknown said...

oist, married ka pala to a former badminton champion. Wow!

ladybug said...

alma ritchel> Thanks for dropping by! Hope you have an enjoyable weekend. See you around! :-D

ipanema said...

Thanks for that info. Be extra careful now. Nice to read you again. :)

Anonymous said...

Ladybug,

Thank you for sharing the information.

(:

And have a nice weekend ahead of you!

Anonymous said...

It must have been a scary experience for you. Thanks for sharing this.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tips ladybug. Now I know how to test myself. My family on my Dad's side has a history..

ladybug said...

ipanema> I'm being extra-careful nowadays. Lots of tests being done now that I'm preggy. But mine was a rare occurrence. I think the Lord still has a plan for me.

ladybug said...

kyels> Hope you have an enjoyable weekend too! :-D

ladybug said...

niceheart> At first I was in denial. But then came acceptance. The important thing in these kinds of experiences is recognizing the signs and immediate proper medical care and attention. Hope this helps at least an individual out there. Hope you have an enjoyable weekend ahead of you. :-D

ladybug said...

snglguy> Please take care of your health. Aside from eating habits, it can be brought on by stress. Kaya huwag na munang maha-high blood sa pldt. Have a nice weekend! :-D

Rafael Garcia said...

hehe,, cge.. tnx..

nalink na rin kita!! :D


umh, san2 ka nglalaro ng badminton? :D

Jen said...

w00t. stroke signs. never actually known anyone who's had a stroke before. but i suppose its always good to know.

badminton rox. heh.. my aching arms..

Mochadora said...

thanks for your note and nice to meet you!

Luke said...

hope you are ok ladybug. fully recovered?

interesting about the stroke signs. being a 2nd year medical student, am just starting to learn about it(strokes, nervous system n control etc.)its all quite interesting to pick up, at the same time worrying because you never know when these things might happen, esp to a close friend or family.

ps: thanks for popping by! =) I'm playing more badminton this afternoon! :)

Anonymous said...

My lawyer-uncle, when he was still alive, used to determine if he has a stroke by reciting the definition of a negotiable instrument. :)

I didn't even know that you had a stroke. I'm quite shocked. But I'm glad you're okay now.

ladybug said...

paeng> Thanks! Medyo hinto muna ako sa paglalaro ng badminton ngayon kasi delicate yung pregnancy ko eh. But before, I usually play at powersmash in makati or at a friend's court. I would recommend you join queuing sa mga courts if it's available kasi dami mong makikilalang bagong friends. :-D Good luck!

ladybug said...

jen> Thanks for dropping by! And hope your arm gets better soon. :-D

ladybug said...

doramocha> Thanks for dropping by and for the nice message. :-D See you around.

ladybug said...

luke> Yes, I've recovered from it. It was a rare kind of stroke, caused by carotid dissection. Thanks for the concern and for dropping by! Hope you enjoy playing more badminton. :-D

ladybug said...

bugsybee> Hmmm...haven't heard about putting aspirin below the tongue. I suppose that depends on the kind of stroke. For me, the best thing would still be early detection and immediate medical attention. Thanks for the info though. I will certainly look it up.

ladybug said...

toe> Definition of a negotiable instrument? Kahit yata wala akong stroke di ko na kayang i-memorize yun eh....hahahaha. I was not able to recite the alphabet...kahit letter a di ko maumpisahan. Tsaka I was asked to name 5 animals and I could only name 2.

Anyway, it was actually TIA since it was reversed after one hour pa lang. It was hush hush. I didn't want it to spread around kasi in denial pa ako nun. I was not obese, I was still young and quite healthy. I could not believe I had a mild stroke at that age. Pero I had an MRI after 3 months and the block has already cleared. The doctor told me it was unfortunate that I had a stroke, but still quite fortunate that the cause was carotid dissection. Medyo confident sila na di na daw mauulit. Pero shempre ingat pa rin ako.

vic said...

Both my parents were victims of stroke, in their late seventies, my brother had just one about 7 years ago and is doing fine now.
The tips you posted are very useful. The same tests my neu does to me regularly, although my BP is under control merely due to our excellent Universal Health Care system. Another tip, unless you are allergy to ASA, a coated 8l mg daily dose is now prescribed by lots of Physiscians as one cheapest way of prevention. Caveat; as with every medication, check first with your Doctor and always be alert of Adverse Reaction..Support your local Heart and Stokes Foundations.. thanks

Anonymous said...

I am glad to know that you are okay. I thought it (the stroke) just happened recently.

Thank you for the very good information.

ladybug said...

vic> Both parents? That must have been very difficult for your family. I'm glad to see that you're ok now. I'm not sure if there is a local heart and strokes foundation here but I heard there's an association of previous stroke victims. I'm really interested in joining one but I'm not sure where to start. Hope you take care of your health by eating well, ok? See you around. :-D

ladybug said...

myepinoy> Thank you very much. This happened to me 2 years ago. I guess when I feel comfortable enough, I'll post about my ordeal here. Hope you're feeling better now. :-D

JMom said...

These are really helpful reminders, ladybug, and it's always good to be reminded over and over again. Most women, like me, when we get symptoms tend to dismiss them or ignore them.

I'm glad to hear you are doing ok now after your stroke. I couldn't believe that you've had one either. We tend to attribute strokes to the elderly, or obese as you mentioned, but it can hit anyone really.

Lory said...

What usually irked me when I was still working at a clinic (open 24/7) in PI was people would bring patients who obviously had a serious condition (like stroke), not realizing that a clinic is usually not complete in life-saving equipment, so we tended to make a very quick assessment (which actually delays things, but we try to avoid being labeled as "not doing anything") before referring to the nearest hospital). So I would like to emphasize to those in PI, if you think you are having stroke, go to the nearest HOSPITAL (as posted by ladybug), not a clinic.

Lory said...

ladybug,
habol lang, take care of yourself ha...

ladybug said...

jmom> I cannot stress enough the importance of the early recognition of the warning signs. Ignoring them will not make the stroke go away...in fact, it will make it worse, even fatal. And yes, I'm ok now. But my experience is proof that it can happen to anyone.

ladybug said...

manang> Wow...you worked in a clinic before. Hay nako, tama ka dyan. A clinic is not well-equipped to handle a stroke patient. For one thing, it doesn't have a CT scan and MRI and other machines which that are needed under the circumstances. It would even be better if the hospital has a stroke center or unit.

Thanks Manang. Nag-iingat talaga ako ngayon. Thanks for your concern. Kayo rin diyan, ingat ha. :-D

maks said...

Nice blog...I would love to hang out in here since it's all about badminton hehehe. Thanks for the comment.

ladybug said...

maks> Thank you also for dropping by. Hope to see you around! :-)