How the brain manages all the different senses

The picture that you see as your brain peers through your eyes and out into the world travels to the visual cortex in the very back of the brain. The scene each eye picks up goes to the brain stem, to a little junction box. Nerve fibers from the junction box send this data across the middle of the brain stem and to the very back of the brain where it’s projected on the opposite side. For example, what your eyes see to the upper left is shown on the lower right part of the map.

Hearing is presented on a whole series of little maps that arrange the pitch by frequency. The hearing cortex is located between the more straightforward mechanical areas that coordinate movement and the areas where more emotional functions are known to reside.

Ordinary touch is mapped according to the position on the body, just like the area responsible for simple movements. Taste and smell have their own special locations in the brain stem and frontal cortex just above the nose.

Taking steps to prevent stroke

Fact is, neither you nor I nor your doctor knows for certain whether a stroke is in your future. It’s not really possible to predict with any certainty exactly who will suffer a stroke. To some extent, having a stroke is a matter of bad luck. But we do know that certain characteristics place you at a greater risk for stroke. We know that you are more prone to this particular form of bad luck if you have high blood pressure, smoke cigarettes, and/or have heart disease, diabetes, or high blood cholesterol levels. Researchers have identified a number of indicators that can help predict the likelihood of stroke. Some you can influence; others you can’t.

Stroke is in the brain

Because of a number of possible causes of stroke — part of your brain may be deprived of blood. When that happens, it doesn't take long for your brain to suffer. In a nutshell, the glucose and oxygen transported by one of the brain’s arteries are not reaching some part of the brain, which in less than a minute will begin to shut down. And you will show signs of stroke.

The 50 professional groups forming the Brain Attack Coalition describe the signs of stroke as follows:

·         Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body

·         Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech

·         Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes

·         Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination

·         Sudden severe headache with no known cause

Most of the time, a stroke victim feels no pain as the stroke is occurring — so there is not much evidence to clue you in that the reason your hand looks funny and doesn't move when you want is because there’s something wrong in your head.

Most people who have a stroke don’t know what is happening to them. Most people who see someone who’s had a stroke don’t know what is happening. A stroke doesn't hurt (except if a headache accompanies it), and its most obvious effects are far from the brain where the problem is located. This means a lot of people don’t recognize they are having a stroke and can’t use the opportunities they have to get into the hospital quickly and be treated.

Stroke facts - II

Let me hit you with the bad news first: Stroke kills, stroke destroys, stroke debilitates. Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the United States, and the number-one cause of serious disability. One year after the most common kind of stroke, approximately 30 percent of those afflicted will have died, and another 30 percent will have a moderate to severe disability.

Now for some good news: Of those who experience the most common type of stroke, approximately 40 percent are left with only a mild or no disability one year later. And each year more people survive and recover from stroke as medical research continues to advance effective treatment. Today, recovery with improvement is the rule rather than the exception.

Stroke is sometimes called a brain attack. I wish this label would catch on, because I think that people might then understand that stroke is an emergency — like a heart attack — and call 911 right away! A heart attack threatens your heart; a stroke threatens your brain. In truth, most stroke is like a heart attack: It’s a problem with blood vessels, and time is really important.

However, heart attack is a little easier to recognize. First of all, the pain tells you something is wrong — and it is usually near your heart. Most strokes are painless, and the symptoms, a paralyzed arm or leg for instance, are not obviously related to the brain.

Clearly, the more you know about stroke — its symptoms, causes, risks, treatment, and prevention — the better your chances of living a full and productive life with or, better yet, without stroke. And the first lesson is to learn what stroke is and how and why stroke occurs.

stroke hits women harder than men says studys...

Will

Molested

Abused

Mauled

Stepped on profusely

Stopped

Barred

Prevented

For living fully

Rejected

Maligned

Gagged

From the freedom that I enjoy

Busted

Wrecked

Wasted I now employ

Cursed

Sworn to

By the things I used to do

Belittled

Antagonized

All gone even the few

Raped

Burnt

Left nothing with me

Saddened

Strayed

Death now I see

Darkness

Emptiness

Creeping at me

Feared

Trembled

Roar of a strange voice

Telling

Whispering

I have to make a choice

It’s going to take a while

Or I guess eternity

To realize

Better get ready

For what might

Turn to vice

Stayed away from

Ignored

But I won’t adhere

This broken

Twisted

Perception of fear

Though rejected

Misused

Stand up will I

Unable

Disabled

And cease to when I die

Loss...

by AVB

I’m once again being raped and molested by unfortunate events. At times that I crave for abundant ideas, it is there that nothingness came. It mauled my shanty piece of mind and tried to ruin my hopes of being somebody.

Even my stroked being wasn’t spared. It manipulated my body by inviting it to be still and do nothing in spite numerous calls from my telling it to move a limb. I must admit that adhering to these made me thought of the future. I may not be as I am right now for fear of losing everything.

I instantly grab, tied and threw out those random thoughts and decided not to go with ideas of those kind. Tests come really unto you when you least expect it. It attacks more on your weaknesses. So it’s best to be always equipped with strong will and perseverance. Having a clear frame of mind would be well welcomed. 

Dilemma II - ''First time''

This is quite an unusual task for me of ever having to describe myself to someone or to a group of people in writing, such task which I have done on most of my first days in school way back then (although some of it were recited to my new teacher and classmates).  To me, it is my first time of my first time, and during my first time…

Before I get to quantify and lay to you how I was able to come up with these “first times” of mine, I will first introduce myself in a simple and comprehensive manner I know, that is the friendly and pleasant way.

I am a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Letters at one of the colleges around university belt in the Philippines.  Sad to say, and now I came to realize that I took the wrong course because all it gave me were thick volumes of books with no illustration on its pages, endless debates over something that can be settled through simple “paper, scissors and stones”, and the art of having to argue by maneuvering and finding my way out through the loopholes and weaknesses which my proponent possesses.  So deeply engrossed with the skill, I took it in defending myself amongst the older members of my family.  It was always my parents who became my “practice dummies” since they were the one who were always at “the other side”.  I was later more engrossed with my skill that I took it and converted the same into actions.  Considering my young age, it somewhat made me more aggressive and more selfish.  And these actuations had landed me on the forefront of the most precious, extravagant and unimaginable job a young and idealistic youth should ever have:  being a father.  My mom always told me to always be optimistic on everything so I can safely say, without disrespecting her that, I got married and had my child as early as less than a year after I graduated from college.

I had always longed for a challenging life.  That life which battles my instinct and my ego so I guess God was all ears on me when I wished that thing and He was too generous that time that He gave me one, which I consider to be one of my “first times”.

the 'wheelchaired man'

Having a family at an early age was definitely an odd event in my life, though the same taught me well to be responsible, more caring and more understanding.  And while most of what I’ve learned is already been innate, I still craved to the beauty and temptations of the “dark side”.  Because of my early exposure to “life”, I saw the offerings and the benefits I could gain.  I was eager to undergo all the “first times” in my life.  From socializing and interacting to almost all kinds of people, I learned how talk effectively with them, I gained their ways and absorbed almost everything that this world had to offer.  In short, I became a selfish monster who knew nothing else greater than me.  Few years had passed since I went into the “dark side” and have learned to embrace it without having to forget my morals and spirit of goodness; that the “switch” I did finally took its toll on my selfish soul.  

At exactly six o’ clock in the evening last June 6, 2008, I experienced another “first time”.  I suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. Test results said that some of the arteries in my brain got busted up brought about by an 8cc blood clot on one of my brain arteries.  I was, and, is currently, paralyzed.  The left part of my body – arms and legs cannot feel a thing.  After a week, my “first times” in life all happened.  I painstakingly underwent Physical Therapy every other day, and have been doing the same exercises that I learned since the “stroke” stroke.  Now, every single day in my life is more of a struggle than a challenge, that which I dreamt of having. Every “first time” is a true victory for me, and that includes my own personal victory of having to do and learn almost all the skills of a normal person.  From my first move in transferring myself from my bed to my wheelchair, my first time to stand without any assistance, my first step, my first trip to the bathroom, etc.  I once again enjoyed and savored every victory and milestone that I made while recovering from this fatal illness.

I am now submitting myself to the test.  This is the test which every man must face in the course of their lives.  It is the test when you face yourself and there is no one that can help you nor conquer your fears and admonitions of failure but yourself.  And I know that facing these challenges and struggles with a heart will make me a triumphant “first timer” in the end. 

 

ONE DAY

ONE DAY

Am not good at these

Neither an authority

So feel free to say whatever you please

Argue things that I talk about

Endless, careless

I scream out loud

Won’t dare be silent

And shut the hell up

Just don’t need to be violent

Situation I’m now suppressed

Barred from the freedom

To openly express

Is it wrong my dear?

My current stand

And other things I fear

Do whatever you can

Just ignore me

And the foolishness of a man

Indeed falling is not easy

To as spirited as you

By somebody as me

You make sense

To my whole being

Innovation you immense

But I’ll just keep it in

Inside my heart

Feelings I’ll be keen

Those things would be better

Hoping in my distant dreams

Maybe we’ll be together

Wheelchairs

The provision of a wheelchair for a patient following a stroke can be considered for two main reasons – for correct positioning during early management and for indoor/outdoor mobility during the rehabilitation stage.

“The type of wheelchair appropriate for a stroke patient could include attendant propelled manual wheelchairs and indoor- or outdoor-powered wheelchairs.

Attendant-propelled manual wheelchairs can be used to achieve better positioning and to improve sitting balance on the ward, which is not always possible with armchairs or high seat chairs. A pressure care cushion should always be provided with the wheelchair and monitored throughout the day by nursing staff and therapists. Access to attendant-propelled wheelchairs adjusted for specific patients can also enable patients to be taken off the ward by their visitors for often much-needed stimulation. Ideally, a wheelchair should also be available for the patient to use for outdoor and/or indoor mobility on weekend leaves and on discharge. In some settings patients are discouraged from trying

to propel themselves with their feet, and self-propelling manual wheelchairs are often avoided altogether. It is thought that the patient’s muscle tone will increase when using the unaffected arm and leg in this way. It is best to discuss the approach.

Indoor-powered wheelchairs could be considered for patients with severe physical disability and those with chronic heart and lung conditions. A patient’s cognition and visual perception should be fully assessed as part of the wheelchair assessment. The use of a powered wheelchair in hospital can help increase motivation and might be considered as an intervention option for spatial awareness problems and inattention.

A combined indoor/outdoor- and outdoor-powered wheelchair would require a full assessment by the hospital-based occupational therapist and specialised wheelchair therapist, carefully taking into consideration the patient’s vision, perception and cognition.

These wheelchairs can be issued to patients with severe, long-term mobility problems. When assessing any type of wheelchair on a long-term basis, the home environment and local area in which the patient will be living should always be taken into account. The access to the patient’s home, the type of accommodation, the width of all internal/external doorways, the layout of the furniture and other fixtures/fittings, the door thresholds and the floor coverings should be considered for suitability of a wheelchair.”  (Occupational Therapy and Stroke Second Edition Edited by Judi Edmans.)

4Ws

Waking up this morning in spite the luring cold weather, I was forced to write about the things I should be thankful of. God blessed me with life and 4 W’s. The will, want, wisdom and the wheel chair.

The first two are almost the same but not to someone like me. I can want but the manifestation is nothing if I lack the will. And what can will possibly do alone if not wanting?

Wisdom makes me alive. Mediocre type it may be, it keeps me conscious and sane at times. The right amount of wisdom keeps me in touch with everybody and pushes the right keys in me in order to keep me grounded on earth as well as with myself.

The wheelchair is considered as my foot that helps me go through the demanding tasks of a stroked life. My friend and my partner. I draw strength just looking at it. An added inspiration to those small things that I should be thankful for.

Imagine - refrain

Imagine - 2

Imagine how free

And easy it can be

Loneliness such unwanted

Pure joy unsolicited

In my own simple way

After many assay

Proud of it that I’m alive

Inspiration well derived

Imagine the pain

Every breath I gain

Death beside me

Future remains a croquis

Pulling back all that remained

Leaving me, I cried retain

Imagine the nights

Cold, alone as I cried

Sobs nobody hears

Hate without tears

As depression sinks in

Don’t know where else to begin

Imagine the loss

Precious time the most

Chance had slipped

Things that I once believed

Getting up a must

Even sometimes I fuss

Imagine, empathize

To feel and realize

What it has been

So all should have seen

Truly been a blessing

Imagine everything

Imagine

IMAGINE

Imagine how hard

Being separated and barred

The way you used to

Alienation starts to accrue

Before your sure forecast

Suddenly all dimast

Imagine all the effort

To make everything worth

Selfless sacrifices

That each one recognizes

It’s really very daunting

Much more, haunting

Imagine the pressure

All this a refresher

A quite unfamiliar environment

Modern in its content

Maybe a neophyte in the bureaucracy

Again, not that hasty

Imagine the feeling

Remembering, reliving and actually being

To a path once dared to walk

I should to lessen the talk

To look back I rather not

It brings just further draught

Imagine my strength

My willingness quite a length

I chose to live and survive

To face it all well and alive

Overcome through strife

So just imagine me without a life

Stroked reality

Dwelling to the reality is almost unacceptable. Salvaging what was left is just mocking yourself. Stroke is an unwanted event in my life. Because of my previous unconstraint lifestyle, I lured an undesirable health concern. It almost ravaged my life. I dwindled to oblivion.

But stroke did not and would not let it stop me. I saw stroke as a blessing and an eye opener for me. A reality that I was forced to swallow and enjoy at the same time. At first, it was not painful. It was hell. Gradual and dilatory embracing of reality was an endeavour. It further reminded me of others who was at the same situation as mine. Doable, but it’s a long hard boulevard to recovery.

Thorough determination and support from everyone is what every stroke patient needs. Reality is what it is.

Troubled goals

Being a person with stroke is extremely hard. No road or method is easy. You are hurting both from the inside and out. At times your mind dictates while your body does not feel like going through your mind, or it’s the other way around at certain times. The feeling of being limited seeps in and desperation pulls you back suddenly. Then hope slowly fades. Goals seem like mere utterances. The fire in you dies down. Pale, weak, uninvolved persona emerges. The masked depression attacks again strategically.

But just as being true and honest about the matter, everything and anything all comes down on how you treat it yourself. By surrounding yourself with people with concern can help you. Deeply focusing on what is to be done instead being distracted by negative thoughts also works well.

Take time. Time to transcend and empathize. Depression is a real mean mental enemy that could worsen your status if not handled correctly.

Homework

I am forced to show these raw videos of me in my early stroke home rehabilitation process.  Taken 3 years ago, I am now more strong and stable. My full determination and will made me stand upon all setbacks and hurdles in life.

Choice

Deep

Dark

Fiery

Uncomfortable

Engaging

Conscious

Reminding

Freefall

Able

Reminded

Shove

Wisely

Trip

Once

Count

Pretty

Stand

Triumph

Blast

Positive

Invite

Sourcing

Attract

Possibility

Alternative

Changing one’s mode of preference in life in every aspect and holding your stand with it makes the true value of freedom a must for each one of us. Weather we go on to a shallow path or live cruising a path that looks easy, it’s our freedom to chose still emerges.

As long as you are happy and contended with it, there’s no reason to brag, curse or malign it. It’s definitely you and you alone which  makes or breaks your choice.

Nightmare

Compared to what I am right now is way far out different. The sudden change in my physical appearance was dreadful in a way. Before, I play basketball, do fairly in table tennis, doing well in swimming, and do know how to play various musical instruments such the guitar, keyboards and the drums.  It is quite alarming that someone who’s active as me suffer stroke.

Well aside from those, there’s another side of the coin that triggered the stroke. This are not forms of arrogance but I stupidly did these. I consume 3 packs of not lights but red cigarettes a day. The number of packs increases each time there’s a ‘drinking session’. I don’t know but I seem to run out of alcohol that I tend to crave for more. These sessions of mine runs almost every day. So hooked that it doesn’t matter what are we drinking – beer, brandy, whiskey or vodka. As long as I am soaked with the spirit, I don’t care.

The worship and love for food is another matter. To some, ‘’eat’’, but to me, ‘’devour’’. What are 4 extra rice every meal? I don’t mind the dangers of fatty foods, unwanted excessive calories and carbohydrates as long as I'm full and satisfied.

Now, it’s everything but a finished phase in my life that never would I try one more time. It was really a hard earned lesson in life. 

Hurdle

Try to empathize with me for a moment. Witness with me the scale of pain I underwent before facing you.

Because of the stroke, I was bedridden for 2 years. It seems that the only thing I could do then was sleep. During that time, I was medically sedated. I eat thru an NGT – a hose that is as small as a soda straw, and runs from my nose all the way to my throat. Everything I eat had to blended well. I never felt hungry or full as stopping that ordeal of eating food through the nose was always a priority.

Bone spasticity made it worst. I can’t even raise or move limb. There’s always someone helping me who would turn my body in bed to avoid bed sores. But this resulted to absurdity as I eventually got sores. To make me sit without any guides whatsoever for 10 minutes is hell for me.

2 yrs. ago with my sister and my therapists

Getting up from stroke, on the psychological aspect is the most bitter of it all. The opening of my mind and acceptance of reality should and must be made abruptly. I was able to overcome it with the love and care from God, from the people close to me and to my heart, and to you who’s now reading this blog.

Yesu

I’ve been to quite a few battles in life. I couldn’t say that most of them are triumphant. Where in the world I gain such arrogance to shout out loud that I won it all considering my present state? I’m likened to a child who lost his candy. I lost almost everything. At this age, I lost my father, my wife, my children, my health, my job, my hopes and dreams. It also came to a point where I also nearly lost my sanity. How I wish never to open my eyes again as I sleep at night. My pillow, blanket and the anguish are my only comrades each time I feel like crying.

It was through this obnoxious event that I suddenly noticed the Chinese characters tattooed in my left arm that means ‘’Jesus’’. I then realized that I need not be afraid though everything was lost. I've got Jesus beside me, looking over my shoulder. I still got Jesus.

Yesu

Adherence

Accepting the reality was objectionable on my part. Being able to succumb to the instances, swallowing the pride and appreciating what was left parted at me unguardedly. It was a big deal for me not being able to do what I used to. My movements were limited as they are bothered by muscle spasticity.  Numbness coupled with pain is what’s best to describe it. Lifting and stretching a leg felt like lifting a heavy boulder. I am now married to my wheelchair and my canes. What I am right now is also caused by the motivation and care of people who pushed me harder and helped me realize that there is hope. All I have to do is formulate a frame of mind that this stroke is just a wake-up call in my current wrongdoings in life.  I gradually learned to accept and appreciate the minute things in life. Looking for my purpose is the next thing, but I know it will come eventually.