Three-time stroke survivor wants to form support group; educates about strokes

May 27--May is stroke awareness month

GLASGOW -- Tina Woodson would like to start a stroke survivor support group.

The Glasgow resident is interested in seeing such a group formed, because she is a three-time stroke survivor.

She had her first stroke at age 47 on Feb. 2, 2014.

"I had a blood vessel to burst in my brain, which caused a lot of bleeding and swelling," she said. "My midline in my brain shifted. When it was all said and done, I had to relearn how to do everything -- brush my teeth, walk."

She had no warning signs that she was about to have a stroke.

Her family had just celebrated her daughter's 18th birthday when she had "a weird sensation in the middle of my chest."

She also noticed that her mouth felt funny and when she looked in a mirror she could see that her mouth was drawing to one side.

"I held my arms in front of me and my left arm immediately fell in my lap," she said.

That was when she knew she was having a stroke and began to yell for help. She was in another room of the house and managed to walk a short distance to the family room, when she fell. Her husband, Brian, caught her, and someone called for an ambulance.

"I was very lucky that the ambulance was there extremely quick. They were wonderful," she said. "As soon as they did the CAT scan, they knew it was a hemorrhagic stroke and they transferred me to a trauma center. The brain bleed was so deep in the basal ganglia that they could not do surgery."

Tina likens having a stroke to going from 47 to 77 years old in a matter of seconds.

"You can't sit up. You can't walk. You can't dress yourself. All of these things happen in seconds," she said.

She explained that if doctors had performed surgery, they would have had to go through a great deal of healthy brain tissue to get to the damaged area of her brain and doing so may have caused as much damage as the stroke did.

There is another type of stroke, aside from hemorrhagic and that is ischemic. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot.

"If they have a stroke that is a clot, they have two hours for them to administer a clot-bursting medication," she said. "If you have a hemorrhagic stroke, they cannot use it."

Woodson spent 14 days in the hospital following her first stroke. Eleven of those days were in intensive care and three were in a step-down unit.

"After that she was transferred to a rehab program," Brian said. "She was gone almost four and a half weeks, and when she came home, the transition from an institutional setting to a home setting was a hard transition."

"I have been extremely blessed that Brian has been by my side every minute of the way," she said.

Tina had her second stroke on Feb. 18, 2015 and her third one on April 26, 2015.

"My second and third ones were tiny clots and they found out I have a genetic clotting disorder," she said.

Doctors gave her medication to combat the effects of the second and third strokes.

While Tina underwent extensive rehabilitation from the strokes, she still has some lingering issues.

"I still cannot use my left arm or hand. I still have partial paralysis in my left leg. I can walk, but it's with a cane very slowly. I can get from Point A to Point B, but that's about it," she said.

Despite the after-effects from the stroke, Woodson considers herself to be very blessed.

She recently cited statistics concerning stroke.

"Stroke is the No. 1 cause of disability in the United States. Stroke kills 133,000 people annually, (and) it's the fourth-most cause of death in the United States," she said.

She also quoted an article in Stroke Smart Magazine that said there has been a 44 percent increase in the last 10 years in the number of young people who have been hospitalized due to stroke.

"Strokes can happen to children. They can happen to elderly people. There is nobody who is immune to it," she said.

A risk factor for having a stroke is high blood pressure.

Tina had high blood pressure, but said it was under control due to medication.

"One thing people do is they are told they have high blood pressure, they a lot of times, if they take a medication, they think they are good," she said. "You really need to work on getting that blood pressure down."

Other risk factors that could lead to a stroke is a family history of strokes, consuming alcohol, smoking and being overweight.

There are symptoms that a person can experience if they are having a stroke.

"Sometimes people say they will have a headache prior to stroke. That's a warning sign, and they will describe it as the worst headache they've ever had in their life or the worst migraine," she said. "I did not have that symptom."

Other signs that a person might be having a stroke is a loss of balance, slurred speech, a drawing of the mouth, a drooping face or weakness and/or paralysis on one side of the body.

"One of the tests is they say hold your arms out in front of you and if you have trouble keeping one up or if one falls," she said. "Mine fell in my lap. My left arm did."

Many may not recognize the signs of a stroke and sometimes wait to long to go to the hospital.

"I think if people knew the warning sirens of a stroke and they can get to the hospital quickly ..., if they are unsure, go (to the hospital) because so many people think, 'Oh, it's not anything. I'll be OK.' If they wait, it can cost them their life."

If anyone suspects someone is having a stroke, she urges them to call 911.

Making the transition from the hospital to home was a difficult one. Tina and Brian didn't know where to go for certain resources, until they found the Kentucky Brain Trust.

"This is a place where people can go and talk to someone about getting items that maybe their insurance doesn't cover," she said. "For me, it was a mobility scooter that I use in the house that helps me get around to do housework and cooking. It's hard to find things that help you adapt."

She suggests stroke survivors check with local pharmacies about what they might have available, as well as their insurance companies. Some insurance companies will pay for a device that a stroke survivor can wear and if they fall, it will automatically summon help, she said.

"I always tell people, if you don't know somebody who has had a stroke, you will, and it could be you," she said.

Anyone who is interested in helping her form a stroke survivor support group may email her at woodsonhomes@gmail.com.

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