Nancy Mayo and Getting On With The Rest Of Your Life After A Stroke

Charlotte Comrie - Nancy Mayo - Gary Gray photo credit The Guardian


Hi to all of my stroke survivor readers

This post is for all of you as well as your caregivers and your families.

Being able to accept the abrupt change in your life that having a stroke can bring can be very difficult to come to grips with let alone manage your life after a stroke..

The health care system in North America and the world deals mainly with stroke from a clinical viewpoint So where does that leave you when you are discharged  from rehab and left to get on with your life after a stroke?

Dr. Nancy Mayo of McGill University in Montreal Canada is a true pioneer in this field of research.

I first met Dr. Mayo in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island in November of  2007 at 5 years post stroke. ( that was when the picture above was taken)

We were both in Charlottetown to attend the "Strategies for Stroke Recovery" conference that was being held there.

I gave an address on Friday Night that was titled "The New Normal" and Dr. Mayo gave the keynote address the next morning titled "Getting On With The Rest Of Your Life After Stroke". As I had been invited to attend Dr. Mayo's presentation I took along a recorder and recorded it. The recording is in audio only so you don't get to see the visual side. {the slide presentation)

There are many great points that Dr. Mayo highlighted in her presentation. As she was addressing a group of  health care professionals that day the first half hour is a bit dry with clinical background information. In the last half hour she begins to draw out the needs that are faced by a stroke survivor and family that is being discharged from rehab and facing life after stroke back in the community.

Since November 2007 Dr. Mayo  has developed a 36 page booklet called "Getting On With The Rest Of Your Life After Stroke" that is designed to assist stroke survivors and families to cope with life after a stroke.

In April of 2009 the Prince Edward Island government included in their annual budget announcement that Prince Edward Island over the next four years would be adopting an "Organized Stroke Care Model" to deal with the challenge of stroke within our province. (see my 4 page background report prepared and distributed to all of our provincial elected reps prior to the budget being announced)

In April 2010 the opening of both the Acute Stroke Care (Unit 8) and the Rehab Stroke Care (Unit 7) were announced for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. At the same time the announcement for the Secondary Stroke Prevention Unit for the Prince County Hospital in Summerside was postponed to October 2010.

I am going to stop there for today. There is more to this story and I will get into that another day as we continue to explore this journey of getting on with the rest of your life after stroke together.

In the meantime I welcome any stories and/or comments that you would care to share with me and all of our readers about your life after a stroke.

thanks!

Gary