Code red
Monday 1821
Have you (or any of your family members) ever experienced a stroke attack?
Few moons ago, I received an email about how we’d be able to detect if someone is having a stroke attack.
It’s the STR method.
It says, when you saw a person fell ill and suspected that he/she maybe having a stroke…the way to confirm it is very simple….STR.
S=Smile : Ask the person to smile.
T=Talk : Ask the person to speak or talk a simple sentence coherently.
R=Raise : Ask the person to raise both his/her arms.
If he/she has any trouble with any one of the tasks, you need to call the ambulance right away cos he/she definitely is having a stroke.
Another email came up yesterday adding another way to detect stroke attack.
By asking the person to stick his/her tongue out.
If the person’s tongue is crooked or it goes to one side or the other…then that is a sure sign of stroke.
I am no medical officer to testify if this is true but there are logical explanations to this method told.
When someone is attacked by stroke, the person will be developing loss of brain functions due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can lead to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand and formulate speech and inability to see one side of the visual field. - wikipedia
My dad suffered a stroke attack years back.
It was very early in the morning, around 4am.
Dad woke up early to boil water.
He felt dizzy but thought it was just the effect of rushing to get up.
He even went jogging around the house to get the blood pumping.
Little did he know that the dizziness was the sign of his blood vessel had been blocked.
Just when he stopped to catch his breadth, he heard a ‘pop’ sound on his forehead and that very instant, he fell down on the ground.
Fortunately, mom was already awake and saw dad on the floor.
Mom woke us up (me and my youngest brother) and asked us to help carry dad into the car.
It’s a good thing our house wasn’t far from the hospital.
So, mom was able to get dad to the hospital within few minutes.
And he was saved.
From stroke attack.
Doctor said, he could die if we didn’t get him to the hospital a.s.a.p.
The forwarded email brought up the memories of that particular morning.
I vividly recall the brief seconds when I clasp my hands, eyes in tears and prayed to God that dad would be ok.
The surge of panic mirrored on mom’s face.
She was definitely clueless on what was happening to dad.
I just could not imagine what would happened if mom could not drive (we were very young).
It may took a longer time for us to get dad to the emergency room.
And we could be too late.
We didn’t know a thing about stroke attack.
It was fortunate for us that the hospital was just a few miles away from home.
If you happen to witness someone who suddenly fell down with no signs of physical causes, you may want to try the above method.
Although, most people would jump in panic and instantly think of hospital (which of course is good).
Well, just something that maybe useful in the future bah.
Who knows…
Ya jangan lagi lupa itu *tuut* ni kali.. Ngehngeh..
mama mia said,
April 21, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
Thx for sharing Chegu..:)
u’re welcome
Miss Mathew said,
April 21, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
I knw how u must hv felt whn ur dad collapsed. My late father had stroke b4, & frm wht ur dad explained, he experienced the same thng…I remembered my dad said tht he could see blazing fire approaching. He managed to recover frm d stroke although it took me quite sometime to help him wth uttering words.Tht was in 2004. 2/3 of his arteries were blocked. Thn last year dad passed away due to heart attack.It happened really fast & the doc told me dad didnt suffer & I thank God for that. Thx for sharing ths info ya.
I’m sorry to hear about ur dad.
Doctors have warned my dad the possibilities of recurring stroke attack since he has high BP.
Even till now, he slurs when he talks, have to drag his left foot when he walks and one side of his hand is not strong enough.
Post stroke effect.
Thnx for sharing yours.
Just said,
April 21, 2009 @ 1:20 pm
Good info. Thanks..
You’re welcome Just.
Nick Phillips said,
April 21, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
Thanks for the tip Carol. My grandfather had a stroke and we all didn’t even know what to do. These things may come in handy one day
You’re welcome Nick!
Cyril Dason said,
April 21, 2009 @ 9:26 pm
In Biology, a stroke is termed as a block blood vessel by a clotted blood, most particularly in the brain…If I’m not mistaken that is.
Yes, from what I read, your explanation is correct.
cicak said,
April 22, 2009 @ 2:22 am
My late grandfather died of stroke. He fell and hit his head hard on the floor.
It’s ironic as when he was alive he always tell us that he wants to “leave this world at a ‘ngam-ngam’ age”. He was 80 when he left us last year.
BTW, thanks for sharing.
That was a very ripe age.
I’m sure he had lived a good life and left this world in peace.
papajoneh said,
April 22, 2009 @ 10:57 am
thanks for the tips.. this can help for sure. hope yer Dad stay strong and healthy, Amen.
thanks papaJ!
Sabrina said,
April 23, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
Thanks for the info. Oh btw, check out my blog, u’ve been tageed chegu!
Cheer. have a good day!
Hahaha! Tag? Tida janji lah ah Sab
jacq teo said,
April 27, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
my dad recently went to singapore (Mount Elizabeth Hospital) to get an MRI.
belum sembuh satu penyakit.satu lagi datang.
been like these since i dont know when.
one penyakit gone,another 1 come. its like a cycle.
at 1st doctor suspect mild stroke.
cause he’s been having headaches for few weeks.
when they got the results,
his brain lost a lot of water during his 7 hours operation.
dehydrated pula his brain.
ubat dia?
minum byk2 air and ubat dari docktor.
RM10,000 gone,just like that.
but like my dad always says
“we cannot take our health and life for granted. if u feel there’s something wrong with your health, just go see a doctor. no harm in consulting a doctor. nanti, lepas masuk keranda, menyesal menangis kuar darah pun tidak dapat kasi hidup balik oh”
it scares me to lose my father.
hospitals.operations.ICU.
he’s been into all that.
emo sudah sy.
:~(
thanks for the tips.
i might need it.
have a great day.
*sigh* try telling that to me mom.
i cant blame her for not having faith in the modern medicines.
she has had bad experience with it (well, mostly gov hospitals that is). hence, the skeptics about relying too much on modern medicines.
glad ur dad isn’t having any serious case.
mummyZuan said,
April 28, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
my grandpa was having a stroke 2 years back and none of the family member knows that he had stroke.luckily dorang cepat2 hantar p hospital.now dia lumpuh sebelah badan and cannot talk..
stroke is really a worrying case now kan…even yg muda2 pun can get stroke attack. not to mention heart attack lagi…