As many of you know, Hugh suffered a stroke the other day. He was released to go home yesterday, and has some serious recovering to do. He sends his regards and thanks for the words of encouragement and prayers sent his way. Here are his words from this morning, quote-unquote.
"Getting lots of questions about my stroke. What is it like, what were the signs before it happened, how did it effect you, are you all better now?
If you've never had one it is really hard to explain, but I'll attempt it anyway.
#1 - Every stroke is different with every different person.
#2 - There are three different types of strokes; Hemorrhagic, Ischemic and Transient Ischemic Attack (mini stroke). With the latter, a TSA, it is brief and usually no damage is done to the brain.
#3 - Mine was an Ischemic Stroke or more accurately a Parietal and Occipital Watershed Infarction (stroke). Link attached for your reading enjoyment.
So; Am I all better? Well, if you mean am I over my cold type all better, then no. When you have a stroke brain cells die and when brain cells die they don't come back. So these brain cells effect / control some part of your bodies function and those functions will be reduced or lost completely during a stroke. The Parietal and Occipital regions of the brain control speech and vision. As a result there are some lasting changes in my motor functions that are effected.
To look at me, and mostly to listen to me you won't notice any difference. If you've known me a long time and know my mannerisms, speech patterns and especially my hand eye coordination reflexes then you'll pick up on some of the deficits.
Typing on a large screen like a computer is very easy compared to texting or typing on a phone key pad. I get a larger field of view and also have the advantage of decades of typing on a standard keyboard so there is a lot of muscle memory in my hands that make up the deficit with my vision / brain dexterity loss.
What was effected? Mostly the vision in my right eye, but that is a misleading statement in how most of you will interpret it. I have full vision in both eyes, but the left side of my brain, the damaged area isn't recognizing some of the information that right eye is giving it. No there isn't a blind spot. The brain is an amazing bio-nuclear computer and fills in information where it perceives it as absent.
What the heck does that mean Hugh??? Well, the biggest clue after the stroke that told me I really needed medical attention was the next morning when I went to grab my hair brush after taking a shower. Visually it wasn't there, physically it was. What the damaged left part of my brain couldn't identify, the right healthy part of my brain took over and filled in with what it thought would be there. (see the pictures of my vanity counter below showing what was physically there vs. what my brain was telling me was there) After turning my head so my left eye (right brain) could see the missing brush I knew something was pretty seriously wrong and what I thought was a TIA on Thursday was actually something much more than that.
What caused the stroke? Well, after a bunch of tests, mostly involving laying in multimillion dollar donut shaped contraptions that look at your brain in all kind of colors and layers, some involving a contrast fluid like Iodine to see the veins in my neck and brain and the last to look at a sort of a ultrasound image of my heart and valves but from the inside out by swallowing a very expensive camera they (the team of doctors) believe it is isolated to a 40% plaque blockage in my left carotid artery. My heart looks fine, but to make sure I am wearing a heart monitor that records every heartbeat for 14 days.
Will I need surgery? Well, that's a gray area. Typically below 50% blockage of plaque they don't like to do surgery because the chances are just as good more damage can be done during that procedure as opposed to just stabilizing and potentially minimizing the plaque through medicine, diet and exercise.
SO, for the time being I will be a Pescatorian, and potentially eventually a Vegetarian. I HAVE to reduce the intake of high cholesterol foods that cause plaque in my bloodstream.
Is the damage permanent? Technically yes, however that bio-nuclear computer we carry in our cranium is capable of miraculous things. One is creating compensatory neuro-pathways that make up for the damages to a minimal degree. The other is something that science is just learning, which is neurogenisis. The ability of the brain to take damaged brain cells and repair them. This is damaged cells, not dead cells created from a stroke or other trauma. This is new to the medical community and not studied very extensively yet, but certain foods and food compounds to show a positive effect on the bodies ablity to repair damaged cells. Unfortunately there is no way to identify damaged cells or what I have to work with that may be viable for the brain to fix, so what I am left with may be as good as it gets, but I will be making this part of my diet change to give my brain as much to work with as I can.
What was it like? Before the stroke I woke up with a crushing headache in the parietal region of my head (brain) that never let up. While walking a property the sharp / deafening pain struck stopping me in my tracks. Once it struck there was no pain, but what I saw / experienced was very surreal. I can only describe it as me being my brains neuro computer administrator getting thrown into safe mode and seeing the inner workings of that amazing computer from the position of the nucleus / brain around which all functions revolve. You will have to use your wildest imagination along with googling some science items to follow along. I could still see my body and surroundings but it was covered by a fog. This fog contained what could be considered a goldish mist of electrons moving steadily in clockwise and counterclockwise motion. All around that was a whitish silver sub-atomic mist constantly moving in a downward motion. I noticed a slight plasma like disturbance on my right arm. When I tried, and failed to move my right arm the plasma like covering intensified in coverage.
What did I do? Number one I made a conscious effort to remain calm and take deep controlled breaths. Once the surreal effects started to lift / fade away control of my arm returned. I was still a bit foggy, with some blurry vision and light vertigo and I noticed when I tried to talk my voice was normal for two or three words then it faded off fast. After a few more minutes all of these symptoms faded away and the skull crusher headache returned and lasted for a couple more days.
What did I learn from this?
We are sooo much more than just flesh and bones and are capable of so much more than we can imagine, if only we could tap into the power of this amazing neuromesh network in our heads.
What can you learn from this? See your Doctor regularly. Do what they say. Stop eating foods that are slowly killing you, if not for your sake, for your loved ones sake.
From the first night in on the Neurological floor in the hospital until the day I left the room next door had a baby in it with whoever was in their for their ailment. As babies do they laugh, they scream, they cry and they make all manners of cute noises. The baby stayed in that room with the patient and parents 24/7.
In the past I have been fairly intolerant of babies that parents can't control in restaurants. It hammers on your last nerve. I am hear to tell you that is a learned response as life hacks away at our patience.
The nurse asked me if the baby bothered me, and said she would be happy to tell the family it can't stay there overnight as it is bothering other patients. She also commented that the staff was annoyed by the noise.
My response to the wonderful nurse was: Don't you dare. That babies voice, in every manner it is expressed is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. It is the voice God gave it, the means to express joy and sadness, elation and fear unadulterated by the cruelty of life and what it does to us as we grow and get older.
Hearing that pure voice was a blessing knowing what the alternatives could have easily been, and according the doctors and damage shown on my scans should have been.
Enjoy life, your loved ones, God's miracles. It can all go away in the blink of an eye. If I am here for 10 more years, or 10 more minutes I am content in the life I have lived and the gifts God has afforded me. Above all, recognize your blessings and be thankful for them."
Hugh Reece
"Getting lots of questions about my stroke. What is it like, what were the signs before it happened, how did it effect you, are you all better now?
If you've never had one it is really hard to explain, but I'll attempt it anyway.
#1 - Every stroke is different with every different person.
#2 - There are three different types of strokes; Hemorrhagic, Ischemic and Transient Ischemic Attack (mini stroke). With the latter, a TSA, it is brief and usually no damage is done to the brain.
#3 - Mine was an Ischemic Stroke or more accurately a Parietal and Occipital Watershed Infarction (stroke). Link attached for your reading enjoyment.
So; Am I all better? Well, if you mean am I over my cold type all better, then no. When you have a stroke brain cells die and when brain cells die they don't come back. So these brain cells effect / control some part of your bodies function and those functions will be reduced or lost completely during a stroke. The Parietal and Occipital regions of the brain control speech and vision. As a result there are some lasting changes in my motor functions that are effected.
To look at me, and mostly to listen to me you won't notice any difference. If you've known me a long time and know my mannerisms, speech patterns and especially my hand eye coordination reflexes then you'll pick up on some of the deficits.
Typing on a large screen like a computer is very easy compared to texting or typing on a phone key pad. I get a larger field of view and also have the advantage of decades of typing on a standard keyboard so there is a lot of muscle memory in my hands that make up the deficit with my vision / brain dexterity loss.
What was effected? Mostly the vision in my right eye, but that is a misleading statement in how most of you will interpret it. I have full vision in both eyes, but the left side of my brain, the damaged area isn't recognizing some of the information that right eye is giving it. No there isn't a blind spot. The brain is an amazing bio-nuclear computer and fills in information where it perceives it as absent.
What the heck does that mean Hugh??? Well, the biggest clue after the stroke that told me I really needed medical attention was the next morning when I went to grab my hair brush after taking a shower. Visually it wasn't there, physically it was. What the damaged left part of my brain couldn't identify, the right healthy part of my brain took over and filled in with what it thought would be there. (see the pictures of my vanity counter below showing what was physically there vs. what my brain was telling me was there) After turning my head so my left eye (right brain) could see the missing brush I knew something was pretty seriously wrong and what I thought was a TIA on Thursday was actually something much more than that.
What caused the stroke? Well, after a bunch of tests, mostly involving laying in multimillion dollar donut shaped contraptions that look at your brain in all kind of colors and layers, some involving a contrast fluid like Iodine to see the veins in my neck and brain and the last to look at a sort of a ultrasound image of my heart and valves but from the inside out by swallowing a very expensive camera they (the team of doctors) believe it is isolated to a 40% plaque blockage in my left carotid artery. My heart looks fine, but to make sure I am wearing a heart monitor that records every heartbeat for 14 days.
Will I need surgery? Well, that's a gray area. Typically below 50% blockage of plaque they don't like to do surgery because the chances are just as good more damage can be done during that procedure as opposed to just stabilizing and potentially minimizing the plaque through medicine, diet and exercise.
SO, for the time being I will be a Pescatorian, and potentially eventually a Vegetarian. I HAVE to reduce the intake of high cholesterol foods that cause plaque in my bloodstream.
Is the damage permanent? Technically yes, however that bio-nuclear computer we carry in our cranium is capable of miraculous things. One is creating compensatory neuro-pathways that make up for the damages to a minimal degree. The other is something that science is just learning, which is neurogenisis. The ability of the brain to take damaged brain cells and repair them. This is damaged cells, not dead cells created from a stroke or other trauma. This is new to the medical community and not studied very extensively yet, but certain foods and food compounds to show a positive effect on the bodies ablity to repair damaged cells. Unfortunately there is no way to identify damaged cells or what I have to work with that may be viable for the brain to fix, so what I am left with may be as good as it gets, but I will be making this part of my diet change to give my brain as much to work with as I can.
What was it like? Before the stroke I woke up with a crushing headache in the parietal region of my head (brain) that never let up. While walking a property the sharp / deafening pain struck stopping me in my tracks. Once it struck there was no pain, but what I saw / experienced was very surreal. I can only describe it as me being my brains neuro computer administrator getting thrown into safe mode and seeing the inner workings of that amazing computer from the position of the nucleus / brain around which all functions revolve. You will have to use your wildest imagination along with googling some science items to follow along. I could still see my body and surroundings but it was covered by a fog. This fog contained what could be considered a goldish mist of electrons moving steadily in clockwise and counterclockwise motion. All around that was a whitish silver sub-atomic mist constantly moving in a downward motion. I noticed a slight plasma like disturbance on my right arm. When I tried, and failed to move my right arm the plasma like covering intensified in coverage.
What did I do? Number one I made a conscious effort to remain calm and take deep controlled breaths. Once the surreal effects started to lift / fade away control of my arm returned. I was still a bit foggy, with some blurry vision and light vertigo and I noticed when I tried to talk my voice was normal for two or three words then it faded off fast. After a few more minutes all of these symptoms faded away and the skull crusher headache returned and lasted for a couple more days.
What did I learn from this?
We are sooo much more than just flesh and bones and are capable of so much more than we can imagine, if only we could tap into the power of this amazing neuromesh network in our heads.
What can you learn from this? See your Doctor regularly. Do what they say. Stop eating foods that are slowly killing you, if not for your sake, for your loved ones sake.
From the first night in on the Neurological floor in the hospital until the day I left the room next door had a baby in it with whoever was in their for their ailment. As babies do they laugh, they scream, they cry and they make all manners of cute noises. The baby stayed in that room with the patient and parents 24/7.
In the past I have been fairly intolerant of babies that parents can't control in restaurants. It hammers on your last nerve. I am hear to tell you that is a learned response as life hacks away at our patience.
The nurse asked me if the baby bothered me, and said she would be happy to tell the family it can't stay there overnight as it is bothering other patients. She also commented that the staff was annoyed by the noise.
My response to the wonderful nurse was: Don't you dare. That babies voice, in every manner it is expressed is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. It is the voice God gave it, the means to express joy and sadness, elation and fear unadulterated by the cruelty of life and what it does to us as we grow and get older.
Hearing that pure voice was a blessing knowing what the alternatives could have easily been, and according the doctors and damage shown on my scans should have been.
Enjoy life, your loved ones, God's miracles. It can all go away in the blink of an eye. If I am here for 10 more years, or 10 more minutes I am content in the life I have lived and the gifts God has afforded me. Above all, recognize your blessings and be thankful for them."
Hugh Reece
