I found an interesting article in the 1/19/10 New York Times by Jonathan Dienst and was suprised by the title and several comments in the article that many doctors and people had no idea children could have strokes. Having cared for children with disabilities in two large hospital programs, several of kids I saw had had strokes. The youngest child was a cute two-years-old from Somalia. I followed her for several years until the family returned to Somalia. She was a bright little girl with a paralysis on one side. With good physical therapy and a loving uncle to get her to appointments, she improved greatly and could walk with a brace.
Another patient is now in his thirties and I still receive an annual Christmas card from the family. This youth was a bright twelve-year-old who suddenly had a severe headache and became unconscious. Now as an adult he has had a difficult time despite a wonderful family and excellent care. He is quite disabled, uses a wheelchair to get around and unfortuntely has become quite obese. It has been hard to see such a marked change when he was a boy with such promise.
Unfortunately today even adults are not always quickly diagnosed as having had a stroke. The editor of two of my books had a stroke while working and though he was in a big hospital ER within minutes, he was not seen quickly enough nor given anti-stroke medication. After a time the man was transferred to a nursing home rather than to a rehab hospital. There he received greatly inadequate care and death occurred at age fifty-nine. He was a brilliant man and I still have considerble anger about the inadequate medical care he received from several physicians. The most important thing for anyone who has had a stroke is to have immediate medical care by doctors who are aware of stroke findings, give prompt medication and order on-going speech, physical, and occupational therapy as needed.
I found an interesting article in the 1/19/10 New York Times by Jonathan Dienst and was suprised by the title and several comments in the article that many doctors and people had no idea children could have strokes. Having cared for children with disabilities in two large hospital programs, several of kids I saw had had strokes. The youngest child was a cute two-years-old from Somalia. I followed her for several years until the family returned to Somalia. She was a bright little girl with a paralysis on one side. With good physical therapy and a loving uncle to get her to appointments, she improved greatly and could walk with a brace.
Another patient is now in his thirties and I still receive an annual Christmas card from the family. This youth was a bright twelve-year-old who suddenly had a severe headache and became unconscious. Now as an adult he has had a difficult time despite a wonderful family and excellent care. He is quite disabled, uses a wheelchair to get around and unfortuntely has become quite obese. It has been hard to see such a marked change when he was a boy with such promise.
Unfortunately today even adults are not always quickly diagnosed as having had a stroke. The editor of two of my books had a stroke while working and though he was in a big hospital ER within minutes, he was not seen quickly enough nor given anti-stroke medication. After a time the man was transferred to a nursing home rather than to a rehab hospital. There he received greatly inadequate care and death occurred at age fifty-nine. He was a brilliant man and I still have considerble anger about the inadequate medical care he received from several physicians. The most important thing for anyone who has had a stroke is to have immediate medical care by doctors who are aware of stroke findings, give prompt medication and order on-going speech, physical, and occupational therapy as needed.