PSA: TIME LOST IS BRAIN LOST

Today, in the middle of saying mass, one of my parish's priests had a stroke.

This was and was not a startling thing. Father Cooper was giving his sermon at the time, and for the first few moments it seemed like he had just lost his place in his notes--not a typical thing, but hardly unheard of. But as his confused look and paper shuffling went on, my thoughts assumed a pattern: Oh, he lost his place....Wow, he's really lost his place.....This is very odd....Is he having a stroke?....Oh, God, I think he's having a stroke." This left me wracking my brains for what I should do, because a few years ago I read something about some easy tests you can do on someone to determine if they are having a stroke and the only one I could remember was having them raise both arms.

Happily, several other people in the congregation also had the stroke thought, because about then four other people got up and started hurrying towards the lectern. One of them was wearing one of those medical scrub shirts in a bright cheery print that clearly announces, "MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL HERE" which made me really happy. They descended on Father Cooper, got him to sit down, called the ambulance, summoned Father Walsh (our pastor) and generally dealt with the situation. Eventually the Lincoln Fire and Rescue people showed up and did their thing, and eventually Father Cooper was loaded into the ambulance and taken to a hospital. At which point Father Walsh announced that Father Cooper had had a stroke but that he would be all right. Then he picked up the mass at the Profession of Faith and the comforting dignity of sacred ritual closed over the disruption and erased it.

I am posting about this now (in spite of all things I need to get done) because when Father Walsh made his announcement I could tell that the people sitting behind me were surprised, and that surprised me because I had been pretty sure that was the best explanation for Father Cooper's behaviour. I mentioned this to a friend afterwards and she was surprised that I was surprised. "I wouldn't have recognized it as a stroke," she said. "I thought stroke victims fell over or something."

So here from the friendly folks at the American Stroke Association are the warning signs of a stoke:

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

If you click on the link to the ASA site it will take you to a page that will let you mail this information as a handy ecard to a friend. Untreated strokes can lead to severe disability or death. With swift treatment, the damage done by a stroke can be minimized. Know the signs. Teach them to others. TIME LOST IS BRAIN LOST.