Stroke- Act F.A.S.T!

When Mom sees this blog post, she will undoubtedly balk at being referred to as ‘elderly.’  I love you, Mom, and I want you and Dad to have the best care possible, no matter how old you are young you feel.  😉

Now on to the public service announcement…

You owe it to yourself and your parents to begin educating yourself on conditions common in the elderly people your parent’s age.  If you are local to your elders family and they depend on you for help, know the signs and symptoms of different emergencies and when to take action. If you’re like me, your elders parents are not open to alternative medicine and a traditional foods diet.  We must be prepared to deal with the medical needs they have, within the realm of comfort that they have in relying on mainstream medicine for their diagnoses and treatment.  The fact is, if you have a elderly parent with mainstream beliefs, you might one day find yourself dealing with the medical community as they go through a stroke, a heart attack or illness from another cause. There’s no better time than now to begin educating yourself, so you aren’t side-swiped like I was this week when we hit a speed bump.

I have learned much about natural remedies in the last ten years, but this week has thrown me for a curve ball.  My dad had a minor stroke.  Mom and I were both quite shocked at the news. No one in my family realized he was having a stroke because none of us knew the symptoms. 

The signs of a stroke are found in the acronym F.A.S.T.:

F– Face.  Look for a facial droop or an uneven smile.

A– Arm.  Look for weakness or numbness in the arm.  Dad couldn’t grip or pick up anything on one side.

S– Speech.  Look for slurred speech, difficulty speaking or understanding.

T– Time.  Call 911 and get to the hospital immediately.  The sooner you receive treatment, the less likely you are to have long-term damage.  Ask theEMS to take you to the closest stroke center.

Risk factors for a stroke include high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, smoking, heavy alcohol use, obesity, lack of physical activity, an irregular heartbeat and a family history of stroke.

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KerryAnn Foster runs Cooking Traditional Foods, the longest running Traditional Foods Menu Mailer on the internet. KerryAnn has over nine years of traditional foods experience and is a former Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader. Founded in 2005, CTF helps you feed your family nourishing foods they will love. Each mailer contains one soup, five dinners, one breakfast, on dessert and extras. You can learn more about our Menu Mailers at the CTF website. For a free sample Menu Mailer, join our mailing list. You can also join our forum to chat with other traditional foodists and learn more.