It was 11 at night when Mr. Ratan Dey got up to have a glass of water. Being 55 yrs old with diabetes and hypertension getting up at night feeling thirsty is a common thing for him. What was uncommon that day was a sudden numbness of the face while he lifted the glass to take a sip of water and followed by a numbness of the right leg and arm. A loud noise from kitchen woke up Mrs. Dey and she found her husband was on the floor having trouble speaking and his speech was slurry, eyes started rolling up. Time was running out. Seeing this Mrs. Dey got shaken.
It was middle of the night and she didn’t know what to do as their only son stays abroad. Being panicked she took up a newspaper to fan Mr. Dey as he was sweating profusely. That was the time when her eyes caught a section of the newspaper which says, “Desun Hospital provides Ambulance Assistance from your locality at midnight”. She took her cell phone and called for help on the given number. In no time Desun Emergency Service department arranged for an ambulance and Mr. Dey was brought to the Emergency department as fast as possible.
At Desun Hospital after the advanced diagnostic tests it was declared that Mr. Dey suffered a Brain Stroke. But with a team of extremely crafted professionals and state-of-the-art infrastructure Mr. Dey was treated with utmost care and after a critical Brain Surgery it took him just 9 days to recover. The third most common cause of death after cancer and ischemic heart diseases i.e. Stroke.
Post Discharge Mr. Dey was still having few complications.
Lowered Muscle Strength.
Mobility of Limbs.
Aphasia or Slurry Speech.
A state of confusion and depression.
Post Discharge Mr. Dey was still having few complications.
While coming for follow up check-up Mrs. Dey asked few wonderful question to the Treating consultant Doctor and the answers were even more fascinating.
Mrs. Dey: Will my husband be able to move his right hand again normally and lift minimum things like a spoon or a glass?
Doctor: Yes, why not? He needs to continue with his physiotherapy treatment and it’s just a matter of time when he will be as good as before.
Mrs. Dey: He can’t speak properly now he used to sing so good it makes us sad that his speech is very slurry now.
Doctor: Give some time and you will see with speech therapy it’s just a matter of few months and he will be all good to sing and chat shout. Don’t you complain then and he chuckled.
Mrs. Dey: He looks depressed these days. What can we do to make him happy?
Doctor: Don’t worry I have already noted a referral to our Neuro-Psychiatrist and who will take care that your husband comes out of this situation as soon as possible.
Mrs. Dey: Does he stand another chance to get a stroke?
Doctor: Possibly not, if he takes medicines as per my advice, the blood pressure, cholesterol will be in control. If he quits smoking and drinking, controls his diabetes, any kind of stress if he avoids, maintain a healthy diet and last but not the least some minimum amount of exercise will help to recover fully.
Mrs. Dey: Thank you so much Doctor but one last question what all can we do when someone is having stroke or how can we even understand that someone is having stroke?
Doctor: Always remember these four letters F.A.S.T.
F. Facial drooping: A section of the face, usually only on one side, that is drooping and hard to move. This can be recognized by a crooked smile.
A. Arm weakness: The inability to raise one’s arm fully
S. Speech difficulties: An inability or difficulty to understand or produce speech
T. Time: If any of the symptoms above are showing, time is of the essence; call the emergency services or go to the hospital
The 24 Hours Helpline Number is 90 5171 5171. Do save this number in your mobile now as one day it may save your life.