Friday, October 01, 2010

Can You Name The President?

My wife's cousin, Isabelle, had a stroke last night. She is doing much better right now, but will need therapy to recover full speech capabilities. While in the emergency room, the physician asked her a number of questions to determine her extent of mental acuteness and possible brain damage. She is in her mid-eighties and even after being in America for over fifty years, she still speaks English with a heavy accent.

One of the questions posed to her by the doctor was, "Can you name the President of the United States?" Isabelle struggled with the words and stammered, "The black guy.... the idiot."

She obviously has full control of her mental facilities.

12 comments:

Lone Ranger said...

I had something similar happen to me. When the doctor asked who the president was, I said, "Jimmy Carter?"

"Close enough," he said. It was Bill Clinton.

sig94 said...

LR - yeah. He knew what you meant..

Anonymous said...

She thought Lil Wayne was president??

sig94 said...

Nickie - She just got her idiots mixed up for a second. Like there isn't a whole bunch of them. We'll get her making meatballs again and she'll be fine.

Subvet said...

Sounds sharp as a tack to me!

Kid said...

Sounds in pretty good shape to me.

This doesn't apply to Isabelle of course, but the first three letters of Stroke are what you can use to see if someone is having one.

STR

Speak - Speaks normally Ok, has trouble like sounding very drunk, not Ok.

Tongue - Stick out your tongue and move from side to side. Not Ok if having trouble.

Raise - your arms. Having trouble is not Ok.

Detecting stroke early can save you or someone a whole lot of recovery time as well as increase your chances of more complete recovery.

I've seen some guys after a stroke, one in his 40's - who simply wasn't able to work afterwards. He was a computer systems manager so didn't need to do much, but couldn't even do that.

sig94 said...

We spoke to her tonight. She is having problems getting the right words out.

subvet - she is normally a real sharp cookie. Eighty-six years old and you aren't going to put anything past her.

Kid - that's handy information. Isabelle suffered a TIA just a few hours before her stroke.

Kid said...

I hope she's Ok Sig.

I remember one of my Grandmothers at 96 years old, sharp as a tack and still full of wonder and wisdom to pass along. I've missed talking to her a long time now.

sig94 said...

Kid - Wow. None of my grandparents made it past their early 70's. Some church friends of ours had a father who died at ninety-nine. About seven years prior to his death he shot someone who was breaking into his house. His wife was very ill and was in a hospital bed in the livingroom where he cared for her- the city neighborhood he lived in for over sixty years had gone right down the tubes. A few days later he brought a gift bible to the person he shot as he was recovering in the hospital and told him about the Gospel. He was ninety-two.

I used to visit with him when he moved in with his daughter who lived just down the street from us. At the end, he was just waiting to die. His mind was just as sharp and clear as a twenty-year old's. A tall and a very strong man in his earlier years, Frank was a tool and die machinist. His body now frail and failing, he was tired of dealing with it. Frank died in his sleep. A truly good man.

Kid said...

There's someone else I'd feel privileged to talk to.

I wonder what it is that makes the difference with people. Good genetics for starters but I think a lot of it is superior mental attitude.

I read a short about Tony Curtis who said when he was 80. Die? What the * are you talking about, I feel just like I did at 35.

sig94 said...

Good genetics may be a part, but IMBO (in my bumbling opinion) I think a good attitude trumps DNA. Frank's attitude was that he was saved by the grace of God and he was grateful for the privilege. He brought his children up with that attitude, he and his wife lived that example. I witnessed that in his daughter who lived two houses away from us and attended our church for so many years.

robot said...

I lol'd at the post ending.
@Kid - good info to have.

BTW Sig, I like the new layout. Easier on the eyes.