This Post Could Save Someones Life!

I have thought a lot about this post the past few days.  I worried that I would look like I was looking for sympathy, but I feel it's important to share cause I may be able to help others avoid tragedy.  

So here it goes. 

This story starts last Wednesday, I was busy finishing up helping kids with homework and cooking dinner when Les got home.  We had the usual kiss and hello, and I muttered something about needing to fix the ice slick we were calling our front walk.
 It is really a danger zone!  

After more homework and cooking  I went looking for where Les had disappeared to.  I found the sweet guy on the front porch trying to scrape off the ice.  This is when he reported, 

"Somethings wrong with me.  My legs feel weird." 

 "OK," I thought.  

He then tells me he got up to go to a meeting at work and his legs felt weird, like there was a giant rubber band around them. 

 "Is that a sign of a heart attack or stroke?" I ask.

  "I don't know," he replies. 

 So after dinner we checked on line and talked with a neighbor who works in health care and decided to wait till after our meeting at church to see if it got better or worse.  He was stumbling a little as he walked.    

At the meeting, Les was stumbling, running into walls, and veering to the right when he walked. After we got home he was eating a cracker and the cracker just fell out of his hand.  After getting on line again we knew this could possible be a sign of stroke, but it just didn't seem that bad and we just didn't know what to do.  We called some neighbors and had them give Les a blessing.  Even though in the blessing we were told that things would turn out fine we knew we needed to go to the hospital.  After being rushed back at the ER and after an MRI we were told that, yes, Les had just had a stroke.  

Wow! 

 I think we were a little in shock.  He is only 43; too young to have a stroke.  He ended up being in the hospital for two and a half days.  

We were so blessed with friends and family who brought us meals, helped with our kids, shoveled our walks and prayed for us.  Lots of love and concern through phone calls and Facebook.    We were also blessed that only his walking and a little bit of numbness and tingling in some of his fingers on his right hand seemed to be affected and that with time should returned to normal.   

We have learned that there is a 3-4 hour window to be able to treat a stroke.  In other words if you get to the hospital with in 3-4 hours of the first symptom they can often greatly enhance a person's chance of recovery.  So please if you at all suspect just go!  We were so fortunate that Les' stroke was mild, because we waited and didn't get there until way after that window. Stroke symptoms depend on which part of the brain the stroke is happening in.  Here are warning signs of a stroke from the National Stroke Association.  

Stroke symptoms include:

• SUDDEN numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg - especially on one side of the body.
• SUDDEN confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• SUDDEN trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• SUDDEN trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
• SUDDEN severe headache with no known cause.

Call 9-1-1 immediately if you have any of these symptoms

Note the time you experienced your first symptom.
This information is important to your healthcare provider and can affect treatment decisions.

I am in no way a Doctor or specialist, I just hope that sharing our story can help someone else. 

I also want to express my gratefulness to my Heavenly Father. 

 He is forever watching over me and my family.  

Even when things get hard and scary he is there. 

 I know he had a hand in everything this last week.

 Thanks for stopping by!