Take care.....

Photo Credit: Southern Hills 

Many of you know about the current  event that has affected my family. My oldest sister suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on July 31, 2012. My immediate family and I have always been very  close. The strange thing is you know these things may happen in your family, but you don't expect it to be one of your siblings. At least, I didn't.

 Our father passed away at a young age - 56 - of prostate cancer. He passed away almost 17 years ago this October. We couldn't get  prostate cancer. So, I think we were a bit neglectful in our doctors visits. It seems the men in our family tend to visit the doctor with more regularity than the women. For me, it was because I was scared of what I might hear. My maternal grandmother lived to be 100 years old - pretty healthy until the last few years of her life. I guess i just thought we would have the same health emergency free life.

 That is until a little over a month ago - when we received the phone call from my brother-in-law.Isn't weird how your life is moving along just as it always does. Then, you get a call such as this and think "How weird that I was laughing with my husband and cousins while she was suffering?". It still sends chills up my spine.

Hemorrhagic stroke accounts for about 13 percent of stroke cases.

It results from a weakened vessel that ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. The blood accumulates and compresses the surrounding brain tissue. The two types of hemorrhagic strokes are intracerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures. Two types of weakened blood vessels usually cause hemorrhagic stroke: aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). 

An aneurysm is a ballooning of a weakened region of a blood vessel. If left untreated, the aneurysm continues to weaken until it ruptures and bleeds into the brain.

     - Information from American Stroke Association.

 I mentioned earlier how the ladies in my immediate family just do not go to the doctor. I must correct that - I do go when I need my asthma medications refilled. I don't have a full on physical. Just enough to help treat my asthma.  The sister who suffered the stroke had not been. The doctors think that she was probably walking around for at least 10 years with untreated HBP (High Blood Pressure). Both of our parents have HBP and now our sister. So, guess who will be making appointments for physicals? 

 Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. Go get your  check ups. 

  My sister has a long way to go to relearn everything that once came so naturally to her. Things like how to swallow, how to talk, how to walk, brush her teeth. She has done a lot in just the last month. She is now going thru intensive therapy. Pretty much an 8 hour day of some type of therapy (physical, occupational, speech, etc.) . Her husband and the rest of the family will be with her every step of the way.  Most importantly, God is with her. 

 There have been so many wonderful organizations that have reached out to us and helped us. I can not thank God enough for bringing these folks into our lives.  I will share more on each of them in later posts.