THREE frail old ladies were sitting on a bench in a park. Suddenly a flasher came around. Standing in front of the old ladies, he opened his robe to flash himself.
The first old lady had a stroke.
Then the second old lady also had a stroke.
But the third old lady did not have a stroke... because her hands were just too short...
About a month ago, my step-mother had a stroke too. But she didn't get the stroke in the park. It was a different kind of stroke from the ones mentioned above. The trauma led to the loss of control of her right limbs. Luckily, she was able to get to the hospital quickly; and doctors were able to administer a kind of medicine that could somehow dissolve the blockage in one of her arteries. However, it would still require a long time to regain control of her limbs.
After she was discharged from the hospital, she was able to move her right arm, albeit it was still very weak. During the weeks that followed, we arranged for a foot reflexologist to come to the house for a daily session of foot massage. That and physiotherapy.
Today my step-mother has regained almost full control and strength of her right arm. But she's still unable to control her right leg. She's only able to move her toes. However, she's able to get up from the wheelchair, and with some help from the maid we've hired, she's able to walk by dragging her right leg. It is obviously not an ideal situation, but the doctors are confident that she will sooner or later regain full use of her right leg too.
Unfortunately, as she regained back the use of her arm and leg, she has also regained her big appetite. So now we might have to watch her like a hawk. Otherwise she will eat like there is no tomorrow. At the time she was hospitalised a month ago, her blood glucose level was at 23 mmol/L—which was about threefold that of a healthy level.
If my step-mother is not careful with her health, she might just get another stroke. And this is not the kind of stroke that one gets while sitting on a bench in the park while facing a flasher!
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