Beware!

BEWARE!

A major health problem can turn your world upside down.

Stroke, heart-attack, cancer and other medical nightmares we used to hear only happen to OLD people are now happening and can happen to anyone at any time in their life. It can happen to YOU. It happened to ME.

If you are always stressed, eats, drinks and smokes too much, or if you keep forgetting you are no longer in your twenties and constantly indulges in EXCESSES, you might be in for a surprise any time soon.

If one day you decided to look after yourself and planned to shape-up and even actually went to your doctor for a check-up BUT after a few days or weeks totally forgot about it thinking you're okay after a few month's prescription, YOU ARE NOT OKAY!

Most health problems in our generation are associated with our lifestyle- the food we eat, the hours we keep and the environment we have ensconced ourselves in. And I know now what my doctors meant when they said they are AVOIDABLE and PREVENTABLE or the very least, if the health issue is well imprinted on your DNA, its manifestation DELAYED.

Before my stroke, I only go to the hospital for operations, you know, those ending in -my -- appendectomy, myomectomy and hysterectomy. I didn't monitor my blood pressure or my sugar level though I was told I should as they spiked during my various hospitalizations. My reason is simple, in retrospect STUPID - I was not feeling any pain anywhere.

I am an example of those who were "good patients" for a few days even months then totally forgets or disregards medications all together thinking doing one, or two, good thing like managing my weight is enough...  NOT!

Now, I take my medications religiously, shows-up to my check-up punctually WHILE STILL eating healthy. You cannot do one without the other when your doctor tells you, you are at risk. And after two quarterly check-ups and laboratory tests, I am now an A patient. From two stroke attacks more than a year ago with vital health stats to the roof, they are now at NORMAL.

IT CAN BE DONE. Why did I wait until I had a stroke to understand my situation? I guess that's NORMAL.  We tend to wait until something HURTS us before we are moved to ACT. 

Know how you are NOW! How much do you really weigh NOW? Not when you were  in high school or ten years ago, NOW! What is your regular blood pressure, sugar level, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid etc. Do you even know your blood type? How are your eyes? Your ovaries? Your breasts? Your prostate? 

What are your health risks?  Know your health risks now so they don't take you by surprise.

BEWARE IF YOU CARE FOR YOURSELF and YOUR LOVED ONES.

" PATAY - agad agad? "

Karamihan sa Pinoy, lalo mga Pinay, MA-DRAMA.

Malimit nating maririnig ang mga bulalas na, " Mamatay ako! " o di kaya ay makabagbag damdaming  " Magpapakamatay na lng ako! " - and its many variations.

" Mamamatay ako!" 

• Pag namantsahan itong paborito kong damit
• Pag di ko nabili yun
• Pag kinikiliti ako ng boyfriend ko
• Pag nahuli kong nambababae bf ko
• Pag binasted niya 'ko
• Pag nahuli ko syang nanlalalake

" Magpapakamatay na lang ako! "

• Pag naputol paa ko ; kamay ko 
• Kundi ka rin lang mapupunta sa akin
• Pag iniwan mo ako
• Kung magiging gulay na rin lang ako
• Pag di na natigas ang akin
• Etc. etc.

Patay agad?!

Hindi ba pwedeng magdadalamhati lang  o nasaktan ng sobra sa nangyari?

Eksaherada... OA... Drama... Etchos. ....

Sagad sa buto, tagos sa lamang mga damdaming naghuhumiyaw man, PAG pinagisipan ng malalim, kasama ang puso, natatalos naman kalimitan ng pagkatao mong .., "...ay para pala akong sira... ay kaya ko pala!"

Ibang klase lahi natin eh. 

Nakaka-ngiti kahit na nga tinamaan ng sunog, bagyo at baha. Sa gitna ng sakuna, umikot ka, lalo kung may dala kang kamera, may makikita kang nakatawa. Only in the Philippines nga eh.

Iba ang naturalesa natin - matapang; matibay; AC-DC; kahit saan itanim,tutubo; parang skyflakes,malutong kahit anong ipatong. 

Tama. Eksaherada lang. Tao lng po, Pinoy pa!

Pero ang suma sa huli , KINAKAYA AT KAKAYANIN NATIN!

Patay, agad agad? 

Hindi naman, pa-survive SURVIVE din pag may time. 

When STROKE struck, not once but twice! 

There was no pain. It crept slowly.

It was a fairly easy day on May 8,2012. I was able to log out from work early to pack for a trip that night to Ilocos Norte to join Barangay Officials on their annual Lakbay-aral and share some thoughts on a topic they wanted me to discuss. 

Packing was done leisurely as I had hours to spare.  After packing, I started to work on my lecture outline and multi-media presentation. With FOUR doughnuts on the side  and my laptop on hand, work commenced. 

As I was working, I felt weird -- sleepy, dizzy, weak. Thinking it was due to staring at the computer for quite some time, taking a power nap was my logical remedy. When I woke up, the weird feeling was still there. I got up, combed my hair... dropped the comb.  I walked to the table, grabbed my notes on a paper... I dropped the paper. Weird...

As it was getting dark, around 6:30, I decided to go down from my pad, cross the street to my parents' house and have dinner before my trip at 9 that night. My mother and I were talking about the trip and the "pasalubong" she wanted as I ate. Then I dropped my fork...

I am not clumsy, but I dropped a comb, a note and a fork minutes apart from when I held them and all within 20 minutes.

My mind went on emergency mode.

I remembered a Facebook post once that said if you felt weird for no obvious reason try to RAISE BOTH YOUR ARMS STRAIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU PALMS DOWN, IF ONE ARM FALLS UNCONTROLLABLY, YOU'RE PROBABLY HAVING A STROKE! The post also said put out your tongue and check if it is skewed to the right or left, normal is straight. Also, to try to say a simple sentence and it should be clear and not garbled.

I tried the arms...my right arm refused to stay up and was slowly falling down.

Calmly, I asked my mother to tell our driver to take me to the emergency admissions as I think I might be having a stroke.

My vital signs upon admission confirmed my suspicion. My blood pressure was more than 200 and my blood sugar level was through the roof at 300. CT-scan results confirmed I just had a hemorrhagic stroke. A teeny tiny vessel burst in my brain.  My face sagged and got a bit skewed,  and my grip weakened. Speaking was also difficult and garbled. 

After a few hours I started feeling better - face back to normal, speech clear,strength back on, vital signs normal and eventually stabilized. I was discharged from the hospital after three days. STROKE STRIKE ONE.

I took things slowly from that day and especially religiously took my medicines and watched the food I ate closely.

One afternoon, to pass time while waiting for my scheduled doctor's appointment I went to the mall for some quick errands.  While walking, i noticed some near mis-steps. I raised my arms to check. They were steadily parallel to each other.  But the weird feeling was slowly creeping in. We decided to come early for my appointment.

This time my doctor said " You are having a stroke in progress." 

Within hours after i was admitted, 10 days after my discharge from the same hospital, my right side lost strength dramatically, speech totally deteriorated and CT-scan showed a pin-sized blood clot in my brain. STROKE STRIKE TWO.

This time my mind was quite empty.

Q & A later... emotions at a stand still... I went to my happy place. 

... this too shall pass.

New Perspective

Why blog?

What is worse? What is blogging again? SMILEY

I need a new preoccupation. Something to do and think about other than my aches and pains on top of longing to do things I use to do when I was... NORMAL.

STROKE got me... TWICE! First was hemorrhagic, a vein burst inside my brain, and the second, a dot-sized clot formed affecting my motor skills. I cannot talk, literally, was tube-fed through my nose and was bedridden.

It has been a little more than a year and I can now talk, eat normally and move about!

Though I have yet to fully recover, I think I have gone a long way.

Now I have tons of time and so much to tell from my experiences. I had a colorful life, back when I was... NORMAL. But boy, do i have a more DRAMATIC life now! LOL!

I would like to write about how it was to have a stroke, what is life like after you survived it and how my views on life and about life was changed, OR NOT, by stroke. But I also want to write about MY LIFE when I was ... NORMAL.

I would like to re-define NORMAL.   I do not want to be just an additional number to the roster of PWD's or person-with-disability.

I will continue to ROAM.... because I refuse to be DISABLED. 

I still CAN, and I WILL.

... and I would like to share my journey.

I'm back!

It has been 4 years (oh  my goodness!) since my first and only blog LOL!

 A lot has happened and I want to capture most of what i remember so i have something to look back on when i get bored. SMILEY

So I hope you follow me and help me get things back on track. 

I am looking forward to my next new, and hopefully, succeeding posts. I hope you are too. BIG SMILEY