Stroke @ MindSay

Please pray for Wendy, and her husband, TJ. He had a stroke 2 weeks after their wedding and he doesn't remember the wedding. Go to krystaledana  for pictures and the full story.

Good morning!
I haven't post it since a while.
Ok I have an excuse, I was and still am recovering from the stroke I had in August last year.
Ok I survived, after 2 weeks spent in the Critical Care Unit and another 3 months spent in the hospital.
Meanwhile I still have a lot of "work" to do. I still have a paralysed right foot/ankle and it's also sore, on top of that.
Whenever I feel good, I will post here so if you feel like writing to me, please do not hesitate.
Thank you bunches!
Xavier

 

Why you should listen to her:

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness ...

Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."

"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."

Jill Bolte Taylor

 

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

 

http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/203

or

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

A new study suggests cat owners are less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than people who, well, don't own cats.

And no, dogs don't do the same trick.

The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, found that feline-less people were 30 to 40 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with cats.

The study was presented Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.

Researchers looked at 4,435 people who had answered questionnaires about pet ownership and other risk factors.

The cat-dog differential came as a surprise. "We don't understand this completely," but "it's probably not a coincidence," said researcher Dr. Adnan Qureshi.
McClatchy News Services

(hey, maybe it's because cats purr????)