Tuesday 17 February 2009

Blimey, has it been that long?

Had another small stroke a little while ago. The medics like to call them 'T.I.A' -transient ischemic attack

Typically, a temporary stroke is when a blockage in a blood vessel in the brain lasts briefly, and the symptoms of stroke (F.A.S.T - Face Arm Speech Test) last a few minutes. Only in my case, it lasted a few hours - not that it was easy to tell :) Me being stubborn and pig headed, I thought I'd trust my gut instincts and ride with it. And I was right :) Phew. All I've been left with - on top of the usual - is periods of intense tiredness and confusion, which reminded me of the early days of my 'biggies'.

Not, I should hastily add, the recommended way of dealing with stroke symptoms, and I have been told off for it - but I'm an experienced stroke survivor, and to be honest, one can get pig-sick of hospitals. Me bad.

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At long last the Uk Government has woken up to a Stroke public public awareness campaign.

I like the tv adverts.




The message is being pushed by the Stroke Association UK

The message is simple, and I hope you don't mind if I repeat it?

F.A.S.T - Face Arm Speech Test call an Ambulance.

Face - is one side of the face 'drooping' - particularly around the mouth on one side and eye?

Arm - do they have weakness, and/or they've lost the use of one arm and/or leg?

Speech - is their speech slurred or confused? Do they have difficulty understanding speech?

Test - them all.

Though there are two main types of stroke (there are others) - a bleed or a clot - the clotting problem is more common. It's thought if more stroke victims can get an anti-clotting treatment within the first four hours, thousands of lives could be saved and many, many serious disabilities can be prevented, and those disabled will recover much more quickly.

I'd also like to personally add that it can happen any time, any place. Much like diabetic hypo's, it's not unknown for stroke survivors to be considered drunk - heck, it can happen when someone is drunk. If in doubt - FAST

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