Whether or not you’re glad that Obama won re-election, Here’s something you should know (and it applies to BOTH sides of the political spectrum): Ten of the nation’s 44 presidents likely suffered strokes during their presidencies or after leaving office. Seven of them–John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford–suffered strokes after leaving office.
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Can a bird have a heart attack? (They have high blood pressure, just like we do). Cardiovascular disease may be an unfortunate consequence of mammalian evolution. In other words, heart attacks may have evolved as a human survival mechanism, so what kills us today may be what kept our species alive in the past.
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My family has just had a very difficult and powerful week of struggle. For those of you who read my previous journal entry, on Monday, April 8 my sister went into surgery to get a brain aneurysm cleared up. The surgery went find, but afterward she had a devastating stroke. She was left with extraordinary deficits: her entire right side was left paralyzed; she lost her voice and ability to swallow; her eyesight was damaged to an unknown degree; her left side was seriously affected.
She went into the surgery a whole person with a minor sight problem from an earlier mild stroke. She came out almost ‘locked in’ to her poor body. However, her mind was and is intact. She has been fully conscious throughout the ordeal.
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A week ago Monday my sister underwent surgery to clear up a brain aneurysm. The surgery went fine, but afterward she suffered a massive stroke. She has been left with her right side completely paralyzed, her speech lost, unable to swallow, and her vision severely impaired to an unknown degree.
The surgery has an excellent safety record, so we were certainly not expecting this. She is a brilliant, contentious and vital person. What has happened to her seems utterly fantastic, like a nightmare that has broken through into reality and won’t go away.
Last Wednesday night, it seemed as if she would pass away. Late that night, however, she appeared stable, so we went to bed.
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