Saturday, June 30, 2012

Birth Control Pills And Stroke

Ladies, you should totes pay attention to these commercials that seem to be powering through our TV even more today. We've all seen them: Have you suffered a stroke from taking the birth control pills Yaz and Yazmin and Orthotryciclen and Nuvaring? 

Why does this seem to be showing up even more? I know we've been hearing more about strokes and women in the news but this seems to be a bit much. I'd love to see some statistics about how strokes in women have risen in the past 5 years with all these pills coming out. Again, I have to say to you girls, talk to your doctor AT LENGTH about birth control pills and the side effects. See if bc pills without estrogen are right for you.

And at last...
Why are birth control pills named after women?
Yaz...
Yazmin...

BBC Interview!

YAY!

My awesome friend Tara Gadomski interviewed me for the BBC's Radio Show's "Up All Night""New York Talks" segment just a few hours ago.  You can listen to the broadcast below. The link will be active for 1 week.

Welcome to my new readers! Remember, if you or someone you know has a stroke story, I would love to hear it and have you guest write.
:)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0070h86

Hello London!!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Touched...

Over 30 letters from students at Cathedral High School I got in the mail today expressing their thanks for hearing me speak about strokes during their classes in May. I can't even put into words what I'm feeling right now. I am so touched and my heart feels so full right now. This means more to me than they will ever know.


Thank you!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Flying After Stroke

With summer already in full swing, I have started to make some travel plans that require me to fly. While this is exciting in itself, I wondered if this would be safe to me. As it is, I will most likely find myself on a plane every 2 to 3 weeks until the beginning of August. Stroke victims have to be extra careful when they fly because of the risk of blood clots. This is called "economy class stroke syndrome". Mm, if I fly in first class, does this mean I'm safe? (rimshot-bad joke lol)

Folks should move around on long flights to make sure they don't contract this syndrome. The last thing you want on the way to some tropical place is to have a pesky clot go up your leg and to your hippocampus. If your calves or any other extremities are swollen after you fly, seek medical attention immediately! Risks for this can be reduced by drinking a ton of water, stretching rotating your ankles and taking a stroll up and down the aisle. You'll probably have to walk to the bathroom a ton of times after drinking all the water! Sure peeps will think you're crazy but I'd rather folks think that than have something happen to me!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

I'm Still Looking For YOU!

Do you know any strong strokies aka young stroke survivors?

I'm looking for them to tell their story and be a part of a young stroke survivor community! Share your story! Comment on this post to get in touch with me.


Monday, June 4, 2012

Things In Common

On Saturday I went to my best friend's brother's wedding. I got to ride in the limo with the parents since she was the maid of honor. After the ceremony, the parents and older friends of the parents stopped by the house for tapas before the reception. Everyone sat down and took off their shoes including me and did older people things like talk about "When I was a young man". Of course, I had nothing in common when they brought up things as this.

Then, after discussing World War II and the deficit, Coumadin and Warfarin came up. My ears perked right up. The mother of the bride was on it and had a ton of black and blues on her arm (remember, strokies bruise easily when on blood thinners). Then a couple of the other people chimed in talking about blood clots and things like that. Is it bad that I got excited about talking about experience?

The only one under 50 in the room chatting their ears off about Vitamin K and blood clots. Awesome! I hope I didn't scare them with my enthusiasm but I was so happy to be in the company of those who had been through something similar. They must have anticipated folks coming to the house on blood thinners because there was not one green piece of food on any platter in that house.

Ha!