Oh, that’s why I just saw someone posting signs for a stroke elsewhere. I thought it was just random helpful advice. I guess I’ll pass it along.
B is for Balance: Loss of balance may be a sign of stroke.
E is for Eyes: Someone having a stroke may suddenly lose vision in one or both eyes or have blurry vision.
F is for Face: Smile and see if one side of the face droops. That’s a possible sign of muscle weakness or paralysis, which often show up on just one side of the body.
A is for Arms: Raise both arms. Does one arm drop down? That’s another sign of one-sided weakness.
S is for Speech: Say a short phrase and check for slurred or strange speech. A stroke can make it hard for you to talk clearly or choose your words.
T is for Time: If the answer to any of these is yes, call 911 right away. Remember to look at the time and write down when you first saw any of these stroke warning signs.
The advice I saw on bsky was that if someone tells you they thought they were having a heart attack or stroke, but it turned out they weren’t, to tell them you’re very glad they went.
Sometimes I wonder if a stroke is a better way to go compared to other means of death.
Like, if you’re sitting in a chair, and then discover that your left arm has mysteriously stopped functioning, and you’re getting the worst headache you’ve ever had, would you want to be saved?
An express natural exit like that may never come again. Besides, a slow death from CJD could be how you ultimately go out if you’re rescued.
Here’s the thing - if the stroke doesn’t kill you, you can have a super shitty quality of life afterwards. Entire side of your body is paralyzed and suddenly you can’t drive/walk anywhere without significant assistance (like my gram), or incontinence + mental degradation (like my other grandma).
Yeah, a close friend of mine had a brainstem stroke in his late 40s. He’s made a good recovery, but was a real mess for months after it happened, and still has balance and coordination issues and nystagmus (eyes spinning around like in the cartoons when someone gets hit on the head with a mallet). And he had no obvious risk factors before it happened, it was just a weak blood vessel that sprung a leak in a very inconvenient part of his brain. There are parts of the brain that can be removed without it being catastrophic, and other parts where loss of a cubic millimeter can kill you. The brainstem is the latter type.
It’s tough. A big sudden stroke that wipes you out seems better than a lot of other options, if it gets you quick. None of us live forever, anyway.
I think of a relative who died from a heart attack and was dead before he hit the ground. He died doing what he loved - being pissed at his lawn mower - and probably had no idea what was happening before it was done. That doesn’t sound bad, either.
I guess my personal take is if you’re recognizing the symptoms and there are other people around, it’s likely not going to get you so neatly, in which case it’s better to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
I have a brother-in-law that had a heart attack. He was talking to my sister and remembers saying something isn’t right and the next thing is waking up later in the hospital after it was all over. If he’d been alone when it happened he would have died and never known what was happening. If I have the choice, that seems like an easy way to shuffle off the mortal coil.
My dad had a couple of heart attacks, 15 years apart. The second one killed him, he was close to a hospital, but they were unable to save him. The first one however, he described it afterwards as feeling like a horse was sitting on his chest.
Here’s to hoping Senator Murphy has a quick recovery from his stroke.
he described it afterwards as feeling like a horse was sitting on his chest
At least it wasn’t sitting on his face.
The stroke would have to be either massive or in really unlucky place of the brain to kill you. Much more likely, you would be either paralyzed in half of your body and/or have trouble speaking or understanding speech for the rest of your life.
Would death be more certain with cardiac arrest? Natural causes sure sounds spotty when it comes to guaranteed death.
I watched a guy have a horrific stroke a few weeks ago, got to a hospital, was cured, and now he has barely any symptoms. Just has to watch for signs of another one
Damn, 53.
Probably runs in the family. I expect with his access to healthcare he was on statins, too.
Hope he recovers
Treatment in less than 4 hours - very good prognosis and likely full recovery
Better not have been the pro-Israel stroke cannon again.
