| Biographical Non-Fiction posted March 8, 2021 | Chapters: |
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A story about my brother's stroke
A chapter in the book Lamentations of a Lost Laddy
Help For Stroke Victims
by Badger_29
Dedicated to my brother Bruce Gandy, and all other stroke victims
| Background Previous catchers include memories from childhood trauma family members, and life in Sacramento California |
My name is Darren and I am fifty-seven years old. I was born when my brother Shawn was two years old and he was born when the eldest, Bruce was two years old. Bruce, my older brother, moved into my house here California's state capitol, Sacramento, a modern city with a variety of suburbs, each with their own personality and flavor.
I live in Del Paso Heights which was once known for its thriving food industry, railroad yards, and ice skating rink . Downtown, or the Heart of the City, lies Government Office Buildings, the diamond Almond Company, and the Confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. The newly renovated area includes the Golden 1 Center, a river taxi, which travels strategically past a lot of hot spots along the river. Here you will find the state capitol and surrounding Park which features zen garden, goldfish, fascinating historical articles and a very pleasant and inviting Arboretum.
The plants and trees are adorned with plaques which gives information on American and Latin names, origin, and species. There is another very good example of these labeled floral on the CSUS campus near 65th and J Streets.
The latter is right by the the world famous Jedidiah Smith Memorial bike trail.
You could ride on the bike trail from downtown Sacramento to Folsom Lake, which covers 30 miles of river scenery.
The world peace rose garden is must see place on the former.
There are so many varieties of roses that in mid-Spring the combined aromas waft in the breeze as you enter the vicinity of Capitol Ave and 15th Street inducing a fragrant Rose euphoria!
As you admire the many species of roses, you will also see a very pleasant surprise: poetry and prose etched in sturdy, weatherproof plaques. Here you can find the wisdom of youth written by local elementary school children forever immortalized in these sturdy plaques.
"Bad Company", "Move On," and then just this year I learned "Ready for Love."
His favorite off that album is a song titled "Seagull".
Something happened in our past which traumatized me, and I was not able to achieve closure about. Having the Gandy stubborn gene, I held this anger, resentment and bitterness; and would parade it around Like a badge of honor.
It was not until I saw him that day on January 15th that I realized how wrong I had been.
Now it's easy to say "I forgive you", but it doesn't become complete under certain circumstances. Now you may say that you forgive them, but it is times like these that we need to do some soul-searching to realize that we are still holding onto a bit of the bitterness.
Such was the case in in this scenario, it was a little bit more difficult said than done.
Actually, to completely forgive them 100% you have to agree with yourself. I had been holding on to the bitterness; lugging it around like unnecessary baggage. By the time I completely forgive him, 23 years later, I let go of it but it would not let go of me.
So I ended up being bitter and angry about this thing that had occurred 23 years ago and wasting valuable time that I could have spent if not being around each other to enjoy one another's company, at least being able to do social situations comfortably. It's when somebody changes a drastic amount in a short period of time, you wish you would have realized what you had when it was available.
On February 21st he was getting very frustrated not being able to say what he wanted to say. Then on the 22nd, he started experiencing slight tremors and couldn't remember the code for his phone. When I handed him the pen and paper last interaction numbers down to see if he could remember it, he could not grasp the pen and then when he did he didn't write numbers he wrote circles. At that point in time I called an ambulance.
This is the field test they had me perform while I was waiting for the ambulance
to arrive: the dispatcher told me to ask him to raise both of his hands and then compared the height; then they told me to tell him to smile see if one side of your face was drooping or lower than the other.
Then they asked me to ask him to say,
"The early bird catches the worm".
He didn't even come close the first two times, and the third time the word "catches" was distorted. The EMTs were very thorough and professional and he was taken to Kaiser North
You see, the severity of the embolism is often dependent on how soon the victim receives medical attention. You see, sometimes when people suffer a stroke, it can have very minor effects from just light-daze, to almost no perceptible to take at all. A major stroke can paralyze the whole body, stop your mobility, your speech, or even your life.
So after a stroke, the victim is very sensitive with swallowing and have been known to choke to death easily. So they recommend a specific diet; high in nectar thick pureed food. It seems that some deaths have been caused after a stroke by drinking liquid that was not sufficiently viscus. One also needs to watch for any signs of additional strokes which quite often occur after the first one. Another thing that they need to be monitored for, is it to be able to communicate.
I found a whistle I put it onto a bracelet so that he would be able to notify me if he needed , but especially in case of an emergency which can happen easily if everybody else is sleeping. He seemed to have a lot of fun just practicing on it and when I came running, he would look at me with a mildly mischievous expression on his face.
My older brother was enjoying learning how to add volume and sustain to its shrill report.
Also, because the usually they suggest that you lay them on their back as this may cause then to asphyxiate. Also, it is vitally important that you get medical attention immediately. The longer you wait, the more brain damage could be done.
So, in the grand scheme of things this is categorized as a mild stroke. One that causes weakness in the right side of face and body, and a lot less ability to speak and remember clearly. It's also important to remember that anytime you have a victim of physical ailment, it's good to make sure that they are comfortable, warm enough, and still breathing.
If you have any other thoughts or concerns on this vital subject for the elderly oh, and people who have blood problems, feel free to blue eyes your library, Google, are great place to learn. It is to visit one of the rehabilitation centers which house stroke victims to rehabilitate them back to being more independent
If you know the signs of a stroke, you can be somebody's hero by getting the medical attention quickly.
Brother Badger Cull
Monday, March 8th 2021
3:33 a.m.
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