A stroke is caused by the sudden blockage of a vein or artery that connects to the brain, when a clump of blood cells comes loose and causes a logjam, depriving that area of the brain of oxygen and causing brain cells there to die.
There’s three types of strokes that I won’t get into here, you can look them up if you’re interested. The one my closest friend suffered 2 days ago was the mildest type, where the blockage was quickly cleared and the damage is minimal.
At that, he has slightly slurred speech and some problems with balance now because his brain has less contact with the motor nerves of his left side. Brain damage is permanent. We don’t grow new brain cells to replace the old ones. What does happen in the case of strokes, if they’re not too severe, is that our brains learn to use different pathways to restore the missing functions and my friend is expected to make a full recovery.
It came as a shock to me that he had a stroke because he’s not quite 66 years old and to me, that still seems pretty young. But it’s not, not for strokes.
I keep on living, they keep on dying. My friend’s father died at pretty close to the age he is now. He was a big, overweight guy and so is my friend, and he has diabetes and other problems, and suddenly I’m realizing that someone I expected to outlive me, very well may not.
I had my yearly blood draw and lab tests done two weeks ago and my numbers are the same as when I was in my 20’s, except for slightly elevated blood sugar and a decrease in kidney function, nothing serious. I have one other good friend left, who’s 53 now and who had 2 of those damn shots.
Nothing lasts forever, huh?