StrokesRicky Powell

University of Chicago

My Story

Right after we got married, my husband had a stroke. He was working in a trailer plant where he painted the trailers. The place was not ventilated as it should have been, so my husband was breathing in a lot of the paint fumes. My husband also had had a wreck about 10 years prior to the stroke. The wreck had broken his neck and he had four smashed discs at the top of his spinal cord. My husband, Larry, was also experiencing some very bad migraine headaches.

My Story ContinuedWhen it happened, his right side of the body went numb. I had to call his dad to help me get him to the hospital. They placed him in intensive care for about three days. He flat lined once while they were trying to bring down his high blood pressure. By the time that I finally got some medical help for him, it was too late for rehabilitation. My husband did his own rehabilitation exercises at home. He gained back his speech, vision, and most of his motor skills on his right side. He still limps but considering, he did an amazing job at regaining all of the body functions.

What is a Stroke?

If a stroke happens in the left side of the brain, like it did in my husband’s brain, the right side of the body is affected by it.

What is a Stroke? Cont.

A brain attack (stroke) happens when the flow of blood to the brain is disrupted (Overview, 2014). This disruption could occur when a plaque piece or a blood clot blocks a vital brain blood vessel (Overview, 2014).

kidshealth.org

Functions of Nervous System that are Apparent and/or Impaired

The brain is compromised so a stroke affects the nervous system (How Does, 2007-2014). The brain does not fully recover in some cases (How Does, 2007-2014). Nerves get damaged and sometimes are unable to continue sending signals that are accurate to the body to tell it to react or move (How Does, 2007-2014).The parts of the nervous system that were affected by the stroke my husband had were speech, vision, and most of his motor skills on his right side. Larry had numbness, tingling in his right arm and leg, and pain. Although we could not afford the rehab that he was supposed to get within the first 3 months after his stroke, he did exercises at home and regained the usage of his right side of his body.

Parts of Nervous System Affected by Stokes

People who have had a stroke usually have:• Problems with their sensations and movement,• Problems with their vision,• Problems with no feeling in one side of their body

(my husband had no feeling for a while in his right side of the body),

• Problems with their thinking and their language, and• Problems emotionally (Stroke Health, 2005-2014).

A Better UnderstandingThis class helped me to develop a better understanding of strokes. I have learned there are two kinds of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic (Mason, 2014). Until I took this class I did not realize which type of stroke my husband had. He had a hemorrhagic stroke. This class taught me about hemorrhagic strokes. This type of strokes is caused by ruptured blood vessels (aneurysms) that occur in the brain (Mason, 2014). Mass general.org

A Better Understanding, Cont.I learned that my husband’s blood pressure was a factor that contributed to his hemorrhagic stoke. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a major risk factor for developing an aneurysm (Mason, 2014). One last thing this class made me aware of was if there are no doctors around, do not give Larry blood thinners. Since Larry had a hemorrhagic stroke, blood thinners could prevent a clot that might be blocking a bleed in his brain (Mason, 2014).

References

How Does a Stroke Affect the Nervous System? (1997-2014). American Speech-Language-

Hearing Association. Retrieved June 14, 2014, from http://www.asha.org/

Mason, P. (2014, May). Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life.

University of Chicago. Chicago, IL. Retrieved July, 6, 2014, from https://

class.coursera.org/neurobio-001

Overview of Stroke. (2014) University of Miami Health System. Retrieved June 14, 2014,

from http://uhealthsystem.com/health-library/neuro/disorder/stroke/overstk

Stroke Health Center Stroke Rehabilitation-Overview. (2005-2014). WebMD, LLC.

Retrieved June 14, 2014, from

http://www.webmd.com/brain/default.htm?names-dropdown