Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center received the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association's "Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award" for great care for stroke patients. Allen Wilson was on the receiving end of this care when he suffered a stroke in May.
"I was chewing some gum at that time, and I didn't taste the gum anymore. So I reached up with my right hand and I took the gum out of my mouth and I realized I was drooling," Allen Wilson said.
Wilson was driving home from work when he lost feeling in parts of his body. He was able to pull over at a friends house and was then air lifted to Our Lady of Lourdes where he says he received treatment that he says saved his life.
"I'm just so thankful for what they did. I have a new outlook on life," Wilson said.
Dr. Leo deAlvare says that it's the first two or three hours that are most critical when someone has a stroke. If too much time passes tissue Plasminogen Activator, or tPA won't be able to be administered.
"We really need to see patients in that first two hours if we're going to give them tPA. And the sooner we give the tPA the better it's going to work," Dr. deAlvare said.
Your risk of stroke can be reduced if the proper steps are taken.
"The very first thing that one has to do to keep strokes from happening is we want to be healthy. And there is a lot of things that go into being healthy, but I think we want to eat right. We want to eat a diet that's low in fats, low in cholesterol," Dr. deAlvare said.
Not only that, but staying active, having regularly scheduled doctors visits, and above all else not smoking. A history of diabetes also increases your risk of stroke. They can hit anyone, no matter the age, at anytime.
"Everyone should be cognizant that anyone can have a stroke and it can happen at any moment. These are random events," Dr. deAlvare said.