The clock struck one

2011 in review

dlip — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:56:45 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,000 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 50 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Filed under: Other

The ripple effects of “isolation”

dlip — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:47:24 +0000

Before writing on the subject at hand it is necessary for me to explain what I mean by the term: “ripple effect”. When one throws a stone or any object into a pool of still water it causes a number of ripples that spread outwards from the centre. I do not remember, very clearly, the physics involved in the phenomenon, it being many years since I last studied the subject. In common parlance, a “ripple effect” refers to a cascading and infectious effect, where one phenomenon has a tendency to spread; the direction of the spread being outward. It has been in my case something like this:-
To begin with “isolation” begins with me (the victim) on account of my various inabilities; details of which, have been mentioned earlier on in this account.
I cannot see well so, I can’t read, I have stopped reading, then I stop watching movies, my TV watching reduces to the extent of almost nil. As a result of these numerous refrains, some avoidable, some not so avoidable, I deny myself facts, figures and information that keep me contemporary.
When I happen to be sitting in a group of people (whatever their age). The general tendency is to discuss books, movies, actors/actresses and current affair happenings, whether contentious or not. As a result of this ignorance I found myself to be in isolation whether in a group or by myself. Yes, the ripple effect of isolation was near completion.

(Note: There are other posts in this blog where the author shares his occasional feelings of despair. These emotions are to be expected in a Stroke victim)

Filed under: Beyond stroke, Thoughts

Doctor in a FIX!

dlip — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:08:42 +0000

By Jacqueline Colaco

It all started with Doc’s idea that he would FIX ME – and for sure, he did!

The story goes like this. We were childhood acquaintances living in Fraser Town, Bangalore, each the youngest of several children and were contemporaries in age, as were our siblings. He studied in a boys’ school and I in a girls. We would meet at the occasional birthday party, picnic or family get-together. Then we went our separate ways – he into medical college and I into banking.

Later he left for the USA and our paths did not cross for a long time. Till one evening, about twenty years ago, while he was holidaying in Bangalore, we met up again at a common friend’s wedding. He asked me for a dance. I declined. He was taken aback, and seemed to wonder at my high and mighty attitude. I could see him mentally deciding to FIX ME. He did not realise how true his intentions would turn out, but not in the manner he might have thought!

I could not dance because I had severe rheumatoid arthritis. He did not know this until I told him so a little later, as he saw me struggling to get up and serve myself dinner. And then immediately, his orthopaedic surgeon’s concern came to the fore and we discussed my problem. The next day, x-rays in hand, I went to consult him. He told me I would need a total hip replacement in due course. He was building a hospital in Bangalore and hoped to have it operational in a year. Joint replacement surgeries would be one of his specialties and he would perform my surgery here. In the meantime he would visit Bangalore every quarter to supervise the local project and I could have a periodic check-up too.

After 18 months, my problem became acute and surgery was necessary. As the local project was delayed, Doc asked if I could come to the US. I gaped at such an impossible suggestion. He offered to keep the expenses as low as possible and invited me to be his house guest during recuperation. My employer Bank of Baroda stepped in to help me meet the medical expenses and my sister Isobel accompanied me. Soon I was in Oklahoma and fitted with a new ‘silver hip’, as my brother-in-law Alan would teasingly refer to it. We also made headlines in the local newspaper – ‘INDIAN BANKER SEEKS HIP REPLACEMENT IN CLAREMORE! What smooth sailing at the skilled hands of my generous friend! My new found mobility took me places. I could dance again! Alas, three years later, one knee needed to be replaced. Again it was time to FIX ME.

This time at the newly opened hospital HOSMAT in Bangalore, I was the first patient to undergo a total knee replacement surgery. All went well, and four years later it was the other knee that needed to be replaced, and back was I at HOSMAT. By now a veteran, seventeen years down the line in November 2008, it was my other hip that needed to be replaced. Once again, I’m moving successfully and painlessly on the quartet of my replaced leg joints, thus enabling me to dance my way through the walks of life again, because Doc FIXED ME! The added bonus was when I did indeed dance with Doc on his 60^th birthday in October 2009.

Thanks, my dear friend Dr.Thomas Chandy and your caring HOSMAT team.

Filed under: Beyond stroke, Other, The light side

Ministering Angel

dlip — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:35:47 +0000

by Jacqueline Colaco

If ever there was one, this is she – Mini Jacob! With her gentle persuasion and her winning smile, Mini is able to coax the most reluctant muscle or joint (read: stubborn patient!) into greater mobility.

Sensitive, but strict! No lame excuses hold water with her. The ‘I can’t’ syndrome does not work either. Her ready repartee smashes all verbal attempts to escape.

Like when I say, “I am too old now – leave me alone” she retorts, “But life only begins after 40!” She works on every stiff and aching joint of mine (rheumatoid arthritis). Be it fingers or toes, her skilful manipulations make them dance. A few tweaks (from her) and shrieks (from me) won’t harm, says she. Be it knees or hips, the quads and hamstrings must perform.

“How else will you walk properly?” she asks me.

“But I’m disabled” I tell her, “I don’t need to walk like Miss World!”

“No,” she comes down heavily on me, “you are not disabled and yes, you can, so practice getting rid of that limp.”

And she shows me how I should walk. And then she takes me walking up the stairs.

“Hips forward, back erect. Look up.”

And once I’m up, it’s time to walk down. She stands on the landing below – patient as ever, while I dither in making a descent.

“No, don’t look at me.”

“But you’re so pretty,” I demur, trying to delay that first plunging step.

She pretends not to hear.

“Look forward, bend your knee and just step down,” – (sternly now) – “you can do it.” As if it is the easiest thing in the world. And then – a spark of ego inside me dictates that I should accept her challenge. My eyes sparkle with defiance and I try to do my best. She has me hooked. It’s not so difficult after all, I find. And she nods in approval. I feel so great that at last she’s satisfied with my performance. The result of our hard work together, day in and day out. I know from the look on her face that it hurts her as much to hurt me, but she does it for my good.

When people tell me: “you are walking so well now,” I say a silent prayer of thanks to this ministering angel – my physiotherapist, my psychotherapist, my friend.

(Jacqueline Colaco is the Founder/Adviser of Arthritis Foundation (India). A former Bank Executive and India Hockey Player, Jacqueline was struck with RA at age 37 and for the past 15 years has been reaching out to arthritis sufferers and people with disability. Check – www.arthritisfoundation.in)

Filed under: Care, Physiotherapists

Massage & Exercise for the face

dlip — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:18:32 +0000

Who’d have thought that what works for a luxurious facial also works for the muscles on a stroke victim’s face! However, when you think about it, it seems obvious. And it wasn’t until I actually saw the way the muscles on the face are laid out, that I made the connection.

Study the attached diagram, and you’ll see that it’s almost as if Nature had laid out the blueprint for the flow direction of the massage.

To get started, first sit comfortably at the patient’s head with the top of the head resting on a towel facing your chest and the body away from you. If that sort of a massage bed is not available then sit on the bed and pillow the patient’s head in your lap, placing an absorbent towel on your lap. Make sure you’re comfortable and your back rests against a headboard. Keep a jar or bottle of the stroke patient’s favourite moisturiser handy. Dab a little of the moisturiser on your fingers each time you start to massage a certain area of the face.

Starting at the cleft of the chin massage upwards in a soft firm motion towards the eyes. Next massage around the mouth and upper lip, for this it is better to just use your middle finger. Follow a figure of eight or infinity-sign motion when massaging around the eyes. To massage the nose, use the middle fingers of both hands and gently pull the skin up towards the bridge of the nose and up between the eyes – see the red musculature in the diagram. End the massage around the nose with a downward stroke towards the cheekbone. Lastly massage the forehead, again following the blue and black muscle structure. But as a final stroke massage the forehead laterally meaning towards the temples. Make a few circular massaging strokes on the temple area. And, before you end the facial massage put a small quantity of the moisturiser and massage the neck starting at the base of the neck and massaging upwards; scoop you hands in behind the neck to give the back of the neck a massage too. You may find doing this easier than turning the patient around completely.

Once you have massaged the face the muscles will or should be relaxed and loose. Now get the patient to do as many of the following Facial Stretching Exercises – adapted from the Strokehelp blog. Each stretch should be done 3 times working up to at least 5 repetitions.

Facial stretches:

Raise eyebrows as high as possible, then relax.
Frown as hard as possible, wrinkle nose, and bring eyebrows together.
Open his/her mouth wide and stretch it as much as possible.
Smile widely while keeping the lips closed.
Puff out your cheeks and stretch them as much as possible.
Pucker lips as if giving a kiss.
Make exaggerated vowel sounds (A, E, I, O, U) stretching as much as possible.
Sticking the tongue out as far as possible. Then, move tongue to the right, to the left, up towards the nose, and down towards the chin.

Jaw stretches:

Move the jaw to the right side as far as possible until it pulls but does not hurt, Hold 5 seconds.
Move jaw to the left side as far as possible, hold 5 seconds.
Alternate right to left jaw movement 5 times.
Move the jaw around in a circle making it move as far in each direction until a stretch is felt, but no pain. Repeat 5 times.

Lip Exercises

Lip Retraction : Spread lips into a smile . Hold for 5 seconds. Relax and Repeat 5 times.
Lip Protrusion: Pucker lips as if about to kiss someone and hold for 5 seconds. Relax and repeat 5 times.
Lip Retraction and Protrusion: Alternately smile and then pucker your lips. Relax and repeat 5 times.
Lip Press: Open mouth as wide as possible and hold for 5 seconds. Then close mouth, Press lips tightly together for 5 seconds. Relax and Repeat 5 times.
Pucker lips and make a kissing sound. Practice slowly 10 times.
Suck lips into the mouth, then release in a loud smacking noise. Practice slowly 10 times.
Keeping teeth together, say these sounds: “ba, bi, bu,” exaggerating the lip movements. Practice slowly 10 times.

Tongue Exercises

With the mouth open protrude the tongue. Be sure it is straight out, not resting on lips or pointing to one side. Maintain this position for two seconds. Practice slowly 10 times.
Protrude the tongue and move it slowly from corner to corner over your lips.
Protrude tongue and point it upward toward nose; hold for two seconds, then relax. Practice slowly 10 times.
Protrude tongue and point downward toward the chin; hold for two seconds, then relax. Practice 10 times.
Move tongue around the lips in a circle, touching all of upper lip, corners and lower lip; relax. Practice slowly 10 times.
Raise the tip of the tongue and touch the upper lip, the upper teeth and the ridge behind the teeth and the hard palate. Practice slowly 10 times.

Inhale and Exhale Exercises

Puff out the cheeks and press the fingers against one cheek without allowing the air to escape through the mouth or nose. Practice slowly 10 times.
Blow on straw keeping a finger on one end and maintain the air in the straw for 5 to 10 seconds. Practice 5 times.
Say the (s) sound “ssss” without allowing the air to come through the nose. Practice slowly 10 times.
Repeat “ka” 20 times, “ga” 20 times, and “sss” 20 times.

Note: I have removed some of the prescribed exercises as I think those are better handled by a professional speech and/ or physiotherapist. For a more detailed list of exercises visit: http://strokehelp.wordpress.com/speech-exercises-2/

Filed under: Beyond stroke, Physiotherapists

A bit of gallows humour

dlip — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:15:41 +0000

Sometimes the stroke sufferer feels like a trophy. A memento to a time that was. Kept there in a corner on a pedestal with four wheels, two large, two small; or left sitting like Patience on a pillar with four legs and a cushion at the back lest the once valuable article should fall down and break. Dusted off periodically and if the curate of the museum remembers, the cobwebs are removed.

It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just that some days I wonder what would happen if the statue smiled, stepped off the pillar stuck its tongue out, waggled its ears and walked away.

Would the onlookers applaud?

Filed under: Other, The light side, Thoughts

Thank you

dlip — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:44:52 +0000

How can I thank you?

There are no words

When the depths of gratitude

Cannot be found

By echo sound

In the well of words

Of unsaid thanks.

The silent care you spend on me

The smile that never shows

How tired you must be

The moments grabbed of silence

When I know I must be asleep

While you, through your quiet vigil

Remain alert lest I should stir.

And through all my frustrations

My impatience

My anger at this still

Lifeless half self of me

You give me a reason for going on.

For all you do

Day in day out

My shallow words

Thank you.

Yesterday a visitor to this blog came in search of saying thanks to caregivers. I looked on the web for a link or poems, but didn’t find anything particularly satisfying so I thought I’d write one myself. Please add any other poems or words of thanks for caregivers that you have known. I dedicate this verse to Mridula, Lesley, Frank, and all caregivers around the world.

Filed under: Caregivers & Family, Thoughts

S.T.R. & Stick out your tongue

dlip — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:15:35 +0000

The first three letters of the word STROKE are another point to remember when assessing whether an individual is at risk. This story came to me as an e-mail, so please be aware – I have no way of knowing how accurate this is.

The story goes…

During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) … she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.   They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.    Jane’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital – (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ.

Now I agree, every little stumble doesn’t mean that someone could be at risk, but it would be a good idea for a partner, or someone close to the person, to observe him/her closely and then perform this simple test:

S – SMILE

T – TALK

R – RAISE BOTH HANDS

And the latest – Stick out his/her tongue.

If the tongue seems to be even a little crooked, or goes to one side or the other please DO take the individual to a hospital.

I know I have other posts that say roughly the same thing, but the more people I can get to visit this site and learn about the debilitating affects of a stroke the better.

I know I will never be 100% again. But as long as God gives me the ability to write – I don’t know how many of you know that I cannot read back what I have written – I will do so. My stroke has so affected me that I have lost vision in one eye and the other gives me only limited vision.

Note: I have used the image that came in the email, so I don’t know who to credit. I have used it in good faith and for no commercial advantage.

Filed under: Stroke news

Think FAST & Save a life

dlip — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:43:36 +0000

Every now and then one comes across new ways to identify the onset of a stroke. This is a recent discovery of mine put out by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland. Some time ago they launched a campaign to raise the awareness of stroke. The mnemonic FAST makes it easy to remember and here’s what they recommend.

A stroke, as those of us who have been closely associated with anyone who has suffered one, is, as they put it, is quite plainly a “brain attack”. How do you know whether someone is having one? Remember FAST and you could save a life or at any rate reduce the effects of a stroke, because it is true the FASTER the person gets medical care the better their chances of survival.

So what does FAST stand for?

F = Face – Can the person smile? Does one side of the face droop?

A = Arm – Can he/she lift both arms? Is one weak?

S = Speech – Is his/her speech slurred or muddled?

T = Time – to call 999 – or whatever your emergency services number is.

A stroke is a medical emergency it is imperative to get the person to a hospital quickly and receive prompt and immediate treatment.

For me, this blog and writing about my experiences as a stroke victim; as well as (through my blog administrator) finding gems like this on the Internet and placing as many of these suggestions here as possible has been great therapy. I encourage visitors to this blog to place their own findings and any heart and stroke news here or leave a link so that we can get the word out and help as many as possible.

To care givers and stroke victims, their families and loved ones around the world, I send a request. PLEASE, please find some activity, some interest, some lost ability – and I believe that every one of us can dig deep into our hearts and minds to find something that will aid therapy.

More than that it will provide solace as well as a vent to release the anger, hurt, confusion, sorrow, depression and a plethora of mixed emotions that never leave the victim. And what we feel invariably casts a pall on those around us. So if we can find something to do to occupy and distract us and have people help us to find an outlet then we will continue to contribute to society. And that, my friends is what makes life worth living.

This exercise, which began as this blog, encouraged me to write. And thanks to this motivation I wrote an article on my first hunting experience. Today, I can proudly say that a US magazine – Gray’s Sporting Journal, has published my article. And I have been paid an impressive amount for a beginning writer!

So, you never know what your activity can lead to.

Filed under: Stroke news

2010 in review

dlip — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:53:20 +0000

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Minty-Fresh™.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2010. That’s about 5 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 7 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 47 posts.

The busiest day of the year was June 16th with 33 views. The most popular post that day was Home.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were blogged.com, afcs1964.blogspot.com, michael-jackson-secret-exposed.xpac.info, stumbleupon.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for home the clock struck one, the clock struck one, encouragement for caregivers, caregiver encouragement, and stroke feet.