Before I start this blog, I would like to dedicate it to my Nana. We all love you SO much!! Get better soon!
After experiencing a family emergency this past week, I felt the need to post this blog.
This past week I found out my Nana had two strokes on Tuesday morning and was rushed to the hospital. My Papa found her unconscious. Luckily, she was brought to the emergency room just in time and they were able to take care of her.
This is her third stroke in the past two years. The doctors think she suffered from a minor stroke first, early Tuesday morning, and then a major stroke almost right after the first one. She spent all of this past week in the Intensive Care Unit.
As of right now, she still can not talk, her right side is hardly moving and she had surgery yesterday morning (Saturday morning) to insert a feeding tube into her stomach so she can eat. Sometime this coming week they are going to move her to a rehab unit at another facility so she can start physical therapy as soon as she is stable enough.
The doctors did an MRI and found out that the stroke did cause some brain damage and they suspect that she will never be 100% again. She might need a wheelchair and they are not sure if she will be able to form words again.
What caused her stroke was a 70% occlusion (a blood clot) in one of her carotid arteries, caused by cholesterol (or so, I've been told). The carotid artery is positioned in your neck and is attached to the brain. They think the blockage broke loose into her brain, in turn causing the brain damage.
As you can imagine, this was a VERY big shocker as my Nana just celebrated her 79th birthday the weekend prior and she was in good health...or so we all thought. Unfortunately, we all had NO idea that life could have been taken away from our Nana. Now, because of all this, she can no longer take care of my Papa (who suffers from dementia) and make sure he takes all of his medication or even do the simplest tasks without help. Both of them are being moved to the same assisted living facility, where they will both acquire 24/7 care.
You may wonder why I am bringing all of this up. Well, here is why: it is so very often that women suffer from strokes and so forth for one main reason...they fail to take care of themselves. Why? Because women, at a very young age, are taught that it is important to take care of everyone first and then themselves, if there is any time and because of that our health suffers. We take on so much and tend to bear a lot of stress because of it. More and more research has proven this.
There are so many more things that factor into woman's health, that I can't even begin to get into. However, it is SO, SO important, that us, as woman, make sure we make time to take care of ourselves. To eat properly, to exercise regularly and to make sure we take the needed precautions to eliminate stress or anything that may cause it. To make sure we are in a happy state of mind...which is hard for a lot of women out there.
We need to realize that others will wait, we need to do what is well for us, our health and for our souls. Tending to our needs is NOT a selfish act, as many women might think and no matter how hard you try, you will NOT be able to satisfy everyone. To understand this and change your life is a HUGE thing...it's changing the way you think and live.
Just think about it... My Nana, for example, if she would have taken care of herself properly, she maybe would have been around longer with the people she loves and would have been able to take care of our Papa longer. I know this is a hard concept for some women to swallow, but take care of yourself first. Take care of your needs and then proceed onto other things. Because if you are not in good health, then nothing else will get done...and isn't that how most women work? We are here to get things done. :o)
So, get one thing done FIRST...YOUR NEEDS and then the rest can follow.
THANK YOU FOR READING.
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