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<\/a>But, since that time, all the days on ItsNotAboutMe.TV were taken up by time-sensitive stories, so this one kept getting put on the back burner.<\/p>\nBut, today being May 31, it\u2019s the last day of American Stroke Month, so better late than never. (I found-out about that designation not because of my health situation, but\u2014ready for this?–because an ad for it was running along the bottom of the Solitaire app on my iPad! I noticed it when I was playing the game in the middle of the night this week-end. So, that app finally came in handy for something, other than wasting my time!)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also appropriate to be running this story today because it\u2019s my little mo\u2019s birthday (even though she\u2019s no longer on this level of life,) so I had been trying to figure out how to honor her, (without being like the goony Facebook peeps who wish their deceased loved ones a \u201chappy\u201d one, when they really aren\u2019t celebrating anymore.) If this article saves even one mother from having to lose her own child, (or anybody else,) I’ve succeeded.<\/p>\n
Before I give you the guidelines I\u2019ve learned in the seven months since my own incident, I want to thank the powers-that-be in the world, because I totally know that I’m one of the lucky ones. I lived for a week after it happened, without being on medications or living differently! (A beautiful thirty-four-year-old, who was considered the \u201cQueen of Snapchat,\u201d was not as fortunate as I\u2014she died<\/em> from a stroke just four months after I had mine!)<\/p>\n I think many of you may know by now what happened to me, but if not, here\u2019s the very brief synopsis: On the morning of October 17, 2015, the left side of my tongue went totally numb, followed by that side of my face dropping, and then all feeling in the three middle fingers of my left hand went missing. But by the time Mr. X and I got ready to go to a hospital, because I knew something was very wrong, the episode was over, so I chickened out on going. Very<\/em> stupid of me!!! If anything like this ever happens to you, please don\u2019t be as idiotic as I was<\/em>!<\/p>\n It was an early Saturday morning, so by the time I could get in to see my basic doctor, and then he got me in to have an MRI, it was a week later! Let me repeat what a moron I was<\/em>.<\/p>\n After seeing the results, the doc called me the morning after those Friday night tests, (which made it exactly one week since I had experienced those worrisome symptoms,) and made me go right to the emergency room, where they were set-up for me. They made me stay for several days, and did many more tests, just to be sure what was happening. I really appreciate their thoroughness.<\/p>\n Since then, my life has changed in a few ways, some good, some annoying, but the main thing is\u2014I\u2019m alive!!! Yay!<\/p>\n –If you experience any real numbness, or a drooping face, no matter how slight, you absolutely have to call 911! There is no embarrassment if it turns-out that you\u2019re really okay. Better than not<\/em> going, and being correct about having a stroke!<\/p>\n –Definitely do not drive yourself, and don\u2019t even have a pal do it. Here\u2019s why you need to call 911, and get an ambulance: They make sure to take you to the nearest stroke<\/em> hospital, which not all of them are. You need a stroke team. The ambulance will alert them, and you\u2019ll be taken right in, which is very important.<\/p>\n –I\u2019ve heard different timelines for this, but basically, once they do tests to establish if you are indeed, stroking, they then do a blood test to determine which kind. It it\u2019s the \u201cright\u201d one, (I hate using that word for something so wrong,) there\u2019s a medication they can administer to save your life. But it\u2019s effective for only a few hours. That\u2019s why time (and an ambulance) are of the essence.<\/p>\n –But try not to let it get that far. Have annual blood tests to determine your stroke factors to begin with. If you have high cholesterol, or diabetes, you\u2019re very at risk. So, right away, change your diet, (and perhaps your supplements, too) and\u2014as much as I hate to say this one, but I must\u2014take your doctor\u2019s advice on meds. I\u2019m not a medication person, so, for awhile, I hated having to take them, especially because of the small side effects, but they are saving my life. Literally. Of course, get second opinions, but don\u2019t fight the meds for shallow reasons, (as I did,) because they could save your life, too.<\/p>\n –I\u2019ve also learned that exercise can greatly lessen your risk factors. So, get off that couch!<\/p>\n –And most of all, if you\u2019re even a tad chubby, please lose weight<\/em>!\u00a0 That’s the most important thing of all. And stop eating crap. If I<\/em>, the queen of junk food, can do it, anyone<\/em> can. Seriously. Just don\u2019t wait till you\u2019re almost not alive to do it. Really\u2014before this episode, I didn\u2019t cook, or even shop, but now I do. They\u2019re both necessities. You have to shop for yourself, to read all the labels, which is of the utmost importance. You really do get equally as sated by good food as by bad. Full is full. (If you live with someone, they\u2019ll have to be supportive. Thank goodness Mr. X always ate better than I did to begin with. That made the transition so much easier.) But I\u2019m not going to lie\u2014it is<\/em> torturous at first. But it becomes a breeze as you go along. (And once you re-learn how to eat, you\u2019ll be able to also do it in restaurants.) I\u2019m actually shocked now by the crappy food that most people eat! I\u2019m really not supposed to have sugar, salt, fat, flour, butter, and beef. I was super-strict for the first few months, But now that it\u2019s been awhile, I can have a tad occasionally, in real<\/em> moderation. I had gained a bunch of weight in recent years, after I broke my back, so I\u2019m thrilled that I\u2019ve lost twenty pounds, since the stroke, eating this new way. Yay! So I don\u2019t want to eat like I used to, anymore, anyway. (But I would still eat a barrel of real<\/em> ice cream every day, if I could.)<\/p>\n –I never drank alcohol to begin with, but once diagnosed with a stroke, you\u2019ll have to stop. So, if you\u2019re an imbiber, why not do yourself a favor, and just curtail your drinking, anyway, so you\u2019ll have a better shot at overall good health to begin with?!<\/p>\n –And don\u2019t go to chiropractors anymore! Especially if you have neck<\/em> pain! Go to real<\/em> doctors. A chiro broke my back to begin with, and basically killed one of my best friends, by making believe she was fixing the pain in my friend\u2019s stomach, which turned-out to be cancer. If she had been told to go have it checked-out, it could have saved her life. And the same happened to that aforementioned young lady who died, except that her neck pain turned-out to be the stroke waiting to happen. She should have been told to go to a real doctor for tests, not get her neck continually \u201cadjusted.\u201d Another one told a gullible family I knew that he\u2019d make their wheelchair-bound son walk again! I hate that profession!<\/p>\n –Last thing\u2014if your doc sends you for an MRI to diagnose your condition, insist on also having an MRA. Without it, they would have told me I\u2019m fine, and I may not be here now to be writing this! You have them at the same time, in the same machine. I didn\u2019t even know I was having it!<\/p>\n I know that this can wind-up costing a lot of money, even with insurance. But, it\u2019s absolutely worth it. Sometimes, you can have a stroke and stay alive, but you can also be very incapacitated, especially on one side. Please do not ignore symptoms. It\u2019s rarely nothing<\/em>, as we all like to think our symptoms are.<\/p>\n For more info, from the people who know so much more than I<\/em> do, click here: www.strokeassociation.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n And please take care of yourselves, always!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STROKE PREVENTION I\u2019ve been planning to write this column since I suffered my own mini-stroke in October. That situation made me learn so much about the condition that I really wanted to share my new knowledge, which could literally save someone\u2019s life. But, since that time, all the days on ItsNotAboutMe.TV were taken up by<\/p>\n<\/a>The most important thing that I\u2019ve learned since then is that strokes are, for the most part, preventable, so here are some tips for everyone:<\/p>\n