Dear Friends:
STROKE... What is it? It's a devastating and debilitating
condition that sometimes kills, but sometimes you survive the stroke.
But even if you do survive, your life will be forever different.
I am a stroke survivor. I had mine in 1996 at the age of 37.
I was left handicapped. I walk with difficulty using a cane and
wearing a leg brace on my left leg. My left side of my body is paralyzed.
My left arm and hand don't move. Everything is done with my right
side. I also still use a wheel chair 9 years later. Without help
I can't go anywhere. That is my picture on this page.
I have difficulty focusing my mind. I have mood swings and
fear of another stroke, and I feel sad about my body. I have a husband
and can't make his life good. I have a 13 year old son and regret
all the fun and trips I could not give him. So I really want the
Stroke Help Association to do well. I want the association to help
other survivors so that their lives won't be as bad as mine is.
The association's purpose that is most important to me is its aim
to develop educational programs for medical staff, stroke patients
and their families, and also the general public, so that people
will know what type of treatment they should be receiving. In my
own case, if my family and medical personnel had known the signs
of stroke, I would have gotten the appropriate medication that would
have made my stroke much less disabling. Please send a donation
to the association to help them help you. I want to spare you what
happened to me.
The association has other programs under development which
include a patient visiting program, in which other survivors could
visit the new stroke patients to cheer them up and let them know
that they are not alone, and to give them support and literature
from helping organizations. The association also intends to produce
video tapes to educate the families, and to promote the self esteem
of the victims. These videos will help with the anxiety and low
self-confidence, depression and despair that stroke patients often
feel. I feel it, and I know a lot of victims feel it. So please
send in your donation and help the association repair lives
even if it can't repair the pieces of my brain that have been destroyed.
All my love,
Joele (pronounced “Joe—el”)
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