A Question Of Trust

The Question: As a stroke survivor, caregiver, family member or health care professional are you concerned about where to find trustworthy health and safety information?



Submitted resource:

When given the challenge of recovering from a stroke, it’s important not to become overwhelmed with the flurry of information, tips, and guides that follow. Survivors and caregivers must sort through these readings and find the most trustworthy sources, without a clear solution on where to go first. The American Recall Center aims to make that easier.

With a focus on making medical news easy to understand, The American Recall Center offers news and safety updates on important health topics. From dangerous prescription medications to steps to avoid a potential hip replacement, our site always has the patient’s best interest in mind.

By breaking down the FDA’s jargon-filled news and updates into straightforward terms and put them in plain-language, patients can go into a doctor’s visit with knowledge and confidence to know exactly what questions matter to ask.

Another helpful offering on the site is Patient Safety Alerts, a notification system that sends personalized updates on the medications that matter to you. Simply select the drug or medical device categories relevant to you, and when the FDA releases a safety update pertaining to that category we send an update to your email. Never worry about missing news that can affect your health and save time by signing up for Patient Safety Alerts.

http://www.recallcenter.com/

When Stroke Survivors Can't Communicate...

Mark Lttleman author of "the Teaching of Talking"

Communication is key in all of our lives. Just imagine what it would be like to lose the ability to speak. Personally I don't have to imagine it because when I had my stroke I came face to face with the reality of not being able to speak.  It was a major shock!

Thankfully, my loss of speech was only temporary and the ability to speak came back in only a short while. Slurred at first it improved with time. During my rehab I asked for and received speech therapy. People would tell me that I sounded great but I could feel that my old voice was gone and my new one was just not the same. As time has passed I have grown more accustomed to my new voice and have grown to accept it as my own, like my new signature is different since my stroke. Just two of many changes post stroke that have become my new normal.

Many stroke survivors are not as fortunate when they lose the ability to speak and communicate as they once did. They are left with varying degrees of speech and communication deficit. Unfortunately, insurance coverage and government funded rehab are routinely only short term while the deficits become a life long journey for the survivor and his or her family.

There is a man who has recognized the challenge of long term recovery in this area and has developed a viable solution to this problem for survivors, families and health care professionals world wide. His  name is Mark Lttleman MS., COC/SLP a forty year speech pathologist who lives and works in the United States.

I think Bob Miller does a great job of introducing Mark in his interview. Bob hosts a weekly podcast called "The Incredible Breakthrough Show" and had Mark on as one of his guests. As you will learn, Bob is an Incredible Breakthrough story in his own journey of recovery after stroke.

Listen in as Bob interviews Mark. 

Stroke Recovery and Tips to avoid another Stroke

image credit: Google Images

We are pleased to feature this guest post by Alanna Ritchie

One in four Americans who has a stroke will have a second stroke, which may be more severe, and often deadly, as they may affect parts of the brain that have already been injured by the original stroke. Of the nearly 800,000 strokes that occur every year, around 185,000 of them happen to people who have had a stroke before. Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted, and part of the stroke recovery process requires taking whatever preemptive steps are possible to stop another stroke from happening.

Eight Tips to Prevent Strokes

Some stroke risk factors like age and medical history cannot be changed. Others risk factors are in your control, allowing you to take steps ahead of time to lessen the likelihood of recurrent strokes. These controllable risk factors include lifestyle changes. Unchecked, an unhealthy lifestyle can have physical consequences, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high blood sugar (diabetes) and high blood fats (hyperlipidemia). Making lifestyle changes is a vital way you can protect against future strokes.

Change lifestyle habits to prevent strokes with these tips:

1. Stop using tobacco products and avoid areas where others are smoking.
2. Stay active for 30 minutes a day, even with low-impact exercise like housework, walking around the neighborhood or gardening.
3. Spend time planning meals to make sure you consume at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
4. Shy away from sugar and manage diabetes closely, if you've been diagnosed, as people with diabetes are four times more likely to have a stroke.
5. Strictly monitor alcohol use, as studies show that over two drinks a day may lead to increasing the risk of stroke much as 50 percent.
6. Snack on whole-grain crackers and fresh fruit instead of foods with high amounts of salt, fat or sugar.
7. Schedule a yearly doctor's appointment to check blood pressure, blood sugar, blood fats and weight.
8. Speak to your doctor if you've been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) -- an irregular heartbeat -- to see about taking medications to reduce stroke risk.

Medication to Prevent Strokes

Doctors may prescribe medications to treat and prevent strokes, depending on the overall health and pre-existing conditions of patients. Taking medication can be a precaution that stops health problems from becoming exacerbated to the point of causing strokes.

Types of medication to help prevent stokes include:

• Antiplatelet agents, like aspirin
• Medication that lowers blood fats
• Medicine to control blood pressure, like calcium-channel blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors
• Medications to control blood sugar, for people who have diabetes
• Blood thinners like warfarin and Pradaxa

Risks Associated with Pradaxa

Be sure you are aware of possible side effects before taking a new medication. Trials, studies and reports of adverse events together have shown that Pradaxa is associated with increased risk of heart attack and may lead to uncontrollable bleeding events that can be fatal.

In 2010, Health Canada approved Pradaxa (dabigatran), which offered patients an alternative to high-maintenance blood thinners like warfarin. Boehringer Ingelheim spent millions advertising Pradaxa as a convenient alternative to other drugs, but reportedly minimized its dangers.

In just one year, 2011, the FDA received reports of 817 adverse events involving Pradaxa. The same year, QuarterWatch, a publication for the nonprofit Institute of Safe Medication Practice, compiled reports from additional sources, gathering a total of almost 4,000 adverse events. Of this data, 542 cases were fatal.

Alanna Ritchie writes about dangerous prescription drugs and medical devices for Drugwatch.com.

"Everything You Are Is In Your BRAIN"...

"Everything You Are Is In Your BRAIN"

Would you like to find out more as well as have a deeper understanding of how stroke can effect our brains?

Watch this very interesting video to learn more...

Our brains are amazing parts of our bodies. In fact, brains can also learn and adapt. If you or someone you know or love has been affected by stroke, you need to learn about HOW to teach the brain.

Lets start with a well written book: "The Brain That Changes Itself"  (now available on Kindle)

Follow with another of my favorite books on the topic of stroke "Stronger After Stroke"

And now lets get to work: "Stroke Nation" (Stroke Nation can help through it's growing library of videos available to you, no matter where you live. The video library is available on their You Tube channel) Stroke Nation Video Library

In conclusion of this post I also want to introduce you to "StrokeLink" What is StrokeLink?

It is an application (App) available only for Apple products at this time to help: "StrokeLink empowers stroke survivors throughout their care journey by providing knowledge and self-care tools to bridge the gaps in care delivery. It provides a comprehensive toolkit of health reference material and a powerful tool for rehabilitation designed to guide and actively engage patients as they recover and regain independence."

If you can, check out StrokeLink and take it for a spin. I would LOVE to know what you think by leaving a comment . Thanks!

If the content on this post is helpful to you in any way, I would also LOVE to know. Please leave a brief comment to let me know. Thanks!!!

You can also sign up (top Right of this page) to be notified by email whenever we post to our blog.

Smiles,


Gary
Stroke survivor since 2002

p.s. Please visit our Facebook pages: "PEIStroke Recovery" and "My Life After Stroke"

Let Me Tell You A Story About Stroke Recovery

Receiving  a 2012 Volunteer Recognition Certificate for outstanding volunteer service to the public library of Prince Edward Island and Montague Rotary Library.

Stroke Survivor Gary Gray receiving volunteer recognition award from Minister Allan F. Roache (R) and Mayor Richard Collins (L) photo by Swarna Chandrasekere

This noteworthy milestone in my stroke recovery life gives proof that stroke survivors can recover to a level that will allow them to give back to their community. In order for a stroke survivor to reach this level of recovery they must regain the confidence to work with groups made up of people who are not stroke survivors.

Of course stroke survivors can achieve this level of recovery. Let me tell you my story.

As a stroke survivor we would find it absolutely amazing to stand up to receive a certificate of volunteer recognition for working with a group who are not survivors. Who are in fact members of the community at large. Well there I am receiving just such a certificate from the Provincial Minister of innovation and advanced learning along with the Mayor of the community where I now reside.

How did this happen? After my stroke in 2002 I began the first of many trips to the local library to obtain books about stroke. As my trips grew more and more frequent I became well known to the Librarian.  Along about six years post stroke she invited me to take part in a writers group which had been formed as part of the libraries Winter activities.

This group had no stroke survivors and was made up of library members at large who had an interest in writing. I thought,  this might be an opportunity to help my brain recover in both logical and creative thinking, as well as provide much needed help for my writing skills. As I began to attend the writing group sessions, I found the people to be very supportive and willing to help.

After a few months of meeting and reviewing writing pieces by members of the group, we began to kick around the idea of publishing a book of our works. The excitement mounted, as the different parts  of the book came together. A  central theme, pieces of content, images, proof reading, formatting   the front and back covers, a PDF file, a library system identification number. wow, this was really happening.

Fast forward to our June session  and all 200 copies of our book "Prince Edward Island Tales", packed neatly in cardboard boxes sat in our midst. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

Over the following four years two more books appeared from the group. The creative spirit had taken root within our group. Some members went on to do other things and new members took their place. Some members worked on and completed their own book projects. The writing group continued and I remained a part of it. I was more than pleased with how the therapy of writing through this group was helping my stroke damaged brain to recover both the logical left and the creative right.

In the fall of our forth year I was asked to lead the group. By doing so I have kicked my brain therapy up another notch with skill recovery in the areas of organization, time management, team building and planning.

This brings us up to where we began our story. Now, with over 30 writers on our mailing list and the number of published books growing I was asked at our last session to stay on as leader through our upcoming year. As well, I was  surprised and amazed on Monday last with the presentation of my volunteer recognition certificate by the Library.

I relate this as an example of Project based stroke recovery. This is where we identify a project. In my case it was to recover my logical and creative thinking through joining a writers group.  Set a goal such as to improve my writing skills so that I can communicate in a better way within  the stroke community. Work at it every day. The result has been an amazing level of recovery and the opportunity to become part of the greater community once again while giving back to others. Even ones outside of the stroke recovery community.

I do have other projects that help in my recovery but those are stories for other blog posts.

I would like to express a special thanks to Dr. Nancy Mayo, a Montreal researcher and member of The Canadian Stroke Network for her work within the stroke community and especially with the notion of getting on with the rest of your life after stroke.

Dr. Mayo, our meeting in the fall of 2007 has improved my post stroke recovery and changed my life for the better. - THANK YOU!!!

Working To Be The Best That Your Body Will Allow You To Be!... The Garrett Mendez Story

Today I was reading Chapter 14 of the book "The Man With The Bionic Brain" by Dr. Jon Mukand. This is the chapter that talks about a young stroke survivor, Garrett Mendez. I met the Mendez family through an email from Garrett's mother Eileen a few years ago. Eileen had been following my posts about another young stroke survivor and his mother who lived near me. Eileen was requesting to be introduced to the mom as the two boys were both recovering from brain stem strokes.

Through emails from Eileen I got to follow Garrett's amazing recovery that Dr. Mukand describes in his book. Garrett has created an awareness and support web page and has posted amazing videos on You Tube to help us better understand his recovery.

Click the arrow in the middle of the image below to watch one You Tube video of Garrett and his mom Eileen being interviewed.

I really want to congratulate Garrett for his amazing determination and consistent efforts to be the very best that his body will allow him to be. I also want to commend Garrett's family and in particular his mother Eileen for the amazing support you have given Garrett and by extension the entire stroke community. 

Gary

stroke survivor since 2002

Kathy Spencer's Story Of Recovery After Stroke

I was just reading chapter 11 of the book "The Man With The Bionic Brain" by Dr.Jon Mukand. He tells us of Kathy Spencer and her recovery from stroke. It was in this chapter of this book that I learned about Kathy and her You Tube video. She tells us how she has used the tools that were available to her while being faithful to her daily exercises. She had learned how to re-teach her brain and by setting a goal to play the piano again, she did what I call "project based stroke recovery".  She became along the way a stroke myth buster and an amazing advocate to persons and families affected by stroke.

Kathy says it much better than I ever could, so just click on the arrow in the middle of the image below to start the video.

If you liked Kathy's story and you would like to be notified when we put up a new post, you can sign up to receive an email just by entering your name and email address at the top of this blog. You will be asked to "confirm" by clicking on a link in an email that we send you.

Thanks for reading our post. We hope you are as encouraged by Kathy's story as we were.

You can also find us on our Facebook Page that was created for stroke survivors and their families, friends and caregivers as well as health care professionals.

CLICK HERE to visit "My Life After Stroke"

Gary

stroke survivor since 2002