Posted on 08/14/2010 12:39:00 PM PDT by Man50D
S. T. R.
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ..she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening
Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 PM Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough...
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(I..e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.
A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
Thanks
Very good! Thanks!
Thank you, and please thank your uncle for me.
Just one sad note..most of the time waiting for service in ER takes longer than 3 hours...My aunt was found dead on a gurney 6 hours after she arrived at ER after a suspected stroke. They said they were processing her paperwork..they never looked at her.
Thanks for posting this.
Some years ago, I was drinking coffee early one morning while using the computer. I took a sip of coffee and immediately had the sensation that someone had put hot, hot pepper sauce in my coffee. Then the burning sensation in my mouth spread to my cheek and jowl, the right side of my neck and down my right arm
In a slight panic I hied to my wife’s side and explained what I was experiencing, and engaged in discussion of any other potential symptoms of something irregular. Balance, speech, mobility were all normal and the burn subsided after about five minutes, leaving only a strange minor tingling sensation in my neck, tongue and arm.
After many, many diagnostics, the neurologist diagnosed it as a likely TIA, or “mini-stroke.” Our personal physician gave my wife holy hell for not calling 911 immediately, but it didn’t really occur to us at the time.
I’m an aspirin-a-day man now, for life.
TC
Thank you for the post....I have seen this before and will forward it from home and at work......this information can be a life saver......
Thanks for posting!
So easy to remember. Thank you. Love thos thing that have letters to help you remember. STR plus tongue. Got through the red cross test with letters like PAIL...puncture,abrasion,incision,laceration.
I whole-heartedly agree. Last year, my aunt had a stroke. Within a couple of hours, she was being administered clot-busting drugs at BUMC in Dallas, after being seen by the head of the neurology department upon arrival in the ER. Yes, she had to go through PT, OT and ST(physical, occupational and speech therapy) but she is back to normal now, with no lingering effects. She is on Coumadin, however, for the rest of her life.
I believe it is still current doctrine to give a stroke victim aspirin soon after a stroke. But it is a question if it should be given before they get to a hospital.:
http://www.webmd.com/news/20000601/aspirin-after-stroke-helps-prevent-another
“Researchers have concluded that giving aspirin to stroke victims as soon as they arrive at the hospital reduces their risk of having a second stroke.
“In the first few days after having a stroke, patients are at high risk of having another one, says Richard Peto, a professor at Oxford University and co-author of an analysis published in the journal Stroke. “We found that aspirin didn’t do very much for repairing the damage done already by the initial stroke, but ... it reduced the likelihood of having another stroke in the hospital.”
“What’s more, he says, it appears to be beneficial to give aspirin to stroke victims right away even if doctors aren’t 100% sure which type of stroke the patient has had.
“There are two kinds of strokes: ischemic stroke, caused by a clot that blocks a blood vessel supplying the brain with blood, and hemorrhagic or bleeding stroke, caused by a leaky blood vessel that bleeds into the brain. A CT scan of the head can help a doctor determine if a stroke is the ischemic or hemorrhagic type.
“Aspirin, which thins the blood and thereby prevents clots, is currently used to reduce the long-term risks of a second stroke in patients who’ve had an ischemic stroke. But giving aspirin to patients who’ve had a hemorrhagic stroke is considered dangerous, as it can cause more bleeding and more damage...”
“I think aspirin should become routine for suspected stroke in the way that it is for suspected heart attack,” he says. “What we have shown is that ... the sooner you go ahead and act, the better, in terms of avoiding recurrence.”
Thank you very much, man50D. I knew none of this.
Good info. Thanks.
My cousin had some sort of ‘attack’ and sloughed it off. She felt better quickly and thought it was just one of those things that come with age (early 60’s at the time) and didn’t go to the hospital. Then she had another occurence and went to the hospital. Tests revealed she’d had strokeS, but so far, so good. She left the hospital, never followed up on any of the suggested treatments or tests and had a massive stroke a couple of weeks later.
She’s still alive, but doesn’t talk, doesn’t socialize, and while she can walk, she can barely get around her home. At a time when she could be enjoying her retirement and still getting out and having a life, she’s home bound, ill, and depressed.
If you have a symptom, get it checked. If they tell you to have more tests or go on meds, do so. It’s all very sad, she was a bubbly person who is a shell of her former self now.
Funny ... and a good way to remember STR ... just keep that picture of Nixon in mind.
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