May is Stroke Awareness Month. And here's a quick rundown on basic stroke facts, including signs and symptoms. Here's some of what you need to know about strokes: During a stroke, nearly 120 million brain cells die every hour. Compared with the normal rate of brain aging, the brain ages 3.6 years each hour during a stroke. The sooner a patient receives care, the better the chances of recovery. About 66 percent of strokes are spotted by a bystander, but less than half of Americans know the common warning signs and symptoms of stroke, which can be remembered using the acronym FAST -- (F) fa ..read more

It was 20 years ago today – the day I nearly died. You can click here to read some details about my stroke on May 8, 1998, or here to read more about my treatment. To this day, I thank God for everyone who helped me survive that day. I always approach my stroke’s anniversary with mixed feelings. As I’ve said before, this blog isn’t about me, but about faith and stroke awareness. So I try not to dwell on that anniversary every year. I even gave a great deal of thought about retiring this blog today. I certainly have slowed down in my posts here. Life has the habit of getting in the way. Bu ..read more

Now, here's some news I can appreciate - saunas might lower stroke risk: Middle-aged and elderly men and women who had four to seven hot, dry sauna bathing sessions a week were 60% less likely to have a stroke over a 15-year period than those who had one weekly session, reported Setor Kunutsor, PhD, of the University of Bristol, U.K., and colleagues online in Neurology. These results "are very strong and consistent, given that we have previously shown that sauna use reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality," Kunutsor told MedPage Today. Saunas -- which are found in nearly every home i ..read more

It's not just in the United States where stroke patients aren't getting to the emergency department in time. Check out the story from Ireland how over 60pc of stroke patients not arriving on time: More than 60pc of people who suffer a stroke are not making it to hospital emergency departments in the ideal time frame, specialists warned yesterday. The success of acute treatment of stroke is extremely time-dependent, the Oireachtas Health Committee was told. The doctors called for a relaunch of the Act-FAST campaign, which raised awareness among the public about being aware of the symp ..read more

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. -Isaiah 41:10 Fear, discouragement, weakness - we've all had those feelings. If you've followed the last couple of postings (click here for the first one, here for the second), you'll know that I'm recovering from eye surgery, with the likelihood that I'm going to have one or two more procedures on my left eye. As mentioned before, the vision in that eye is blurry. Slowly improving, but blurry. That makes it a littl ..read more

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. -Psalm 27:14 A followup from the last posting - about dealing with worries. I'm also needing some patience. I'm currently waiting for my left eye to heal from surgery. As this is being written, it's blurry and not really focused. So I  could use a dose of patience. I want my vision to be stable now. But the healing process requires time, potentially months. So in addition to bring my worries to God in prayer, I need to wait patiently as my eye heals. How do you wait patiently for the Lord ..read more

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7 Lately, it's been hard not to be anxious. Back in January, I learned that I had a detached retina in my left eye. By Jan. 15, I had the first of two procedures to correct the problem. That seemed to fix it, but it erupted in a different spot in the same eye, so in late January I had surgery. Now, my left eye's vision is blurry, as e ..read more

[This was originally posted Dec. 24, 2009; revised in 2014] Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing ..read more

Have you had your flu shot yet? Especially if you're an older adult, the flu increases your risk of stroke or heart attack. Flu can have a dangerous domino effect on older adults: "Not as well known: In the two weeks to a month after you recover from influenza, you have a three to five times increased risk of having a heart attack," Schaffner said in a university news release. "You have a two to three times increased risk of having a stroke. "Nobody wants a heart attack or a stroke, so by preventing flu, you prevent this inflammatory response and you can help prevent those strokes and he ..read more

A good explanation of what likely happened to me almost 20 years ago - a hole in the heart causing a stroke. A trusty Google alert found this good, simple explanation how after a stroke with no clear cause, a heart repair may be in order: A still from the video of my PFO closure. Click here to watch the video. Most strokes occur when a clot blocks blood flow to part of the brain. Often, doctors can tell what caused the clot to form. But about a quarter of the time — especially in people younger than 60 — there is no obvious reason. These types of strokes are known as cryptogenic ..read more