Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

When you have a stroke, the physical nature of the injury is devastating depending on the severity of the stroke.  Stroke survivors deal with the physical issues differently.  The mental aftereffects are often even more profound that the loss of brain tissue. The emotional toll of a stroke often has more shattering effects than the dead brain matter. After my strokes, I was appointed to be on the Board of the Idaho Chapter of the American Heart and Stroke Association. I am the “voice” of the survivor. The organization helps in many ways.  Concerning the emotional wreckage left after a stroke, this statement is a black and white summary about “me:” “After a stroke, people often experience emotional and behavioral changes. This is because stroke affects the brain, and our brain controls our behavior and emotions. Injury from a stroke may make a person forgetful, careless, irritable or confused. Stroke survivors may also feel anxiety, anger or depres...

Many people ask what caused my strokes. I usually tell them that “I had a torn carotid artery.” Which is true.  However, the complete story is I have a condition called “ Fibromuscular Dysplasia.” Of course, there is a national website about it: The Fibromuscular Dysplasia Society of America, Inc. was founded on March 11,  2003 and received tax exempt status on October 7, 2003. FMDSA is a Delaware nonprofit corporation which is classified by the IRS as exempt under IRC Section 501(c)(3) and as a "public charity" under IRC Section 509. Donations from individuals and corporations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. The topic and the website are pretty dry and boring. Until you realize you have “it.” From the website: Fibromuscular Dysplasia, commonly called FMD, is a disease that causes one or more arteries in the body to have abnormal cell development in the artery wall. As a result, areas of narrowing (called stenosis), aneurysms, or tears...

Yesterday, I attended the Idaho Aphasia, Apraxia, and Dysarthria Support Group at Saint Luke's in Meridian, Idaho. After the meeting, to a fellow stroke survivors and I had lunch at the cafeteria. It was very crowded and we asked a older man to share his table with us. We explained that we are stroke survivors. He asked about each one of us. He looked at me and said, "You look completely fine." His tone of voice said it all. "Really. Get on with your life. You're just fine." The stroke survivors laughed. I said, "Yeah. I'm not paralyzed like I was. But I have many deficits like aphasia. I have 'invisible brains scars' that will never heal." And tell you have a brain attack, you simply don't understand the implications. 

In an unanimous vote, the Board of the College of Western has officially supported the new trustee zone bill, HB 512 . This is a better bill than the one what was forced on us before. I supported the motion at our CWI board meeting supporting the new bill which is HB 512. I do want to draw your attention to this language: SECTION 1. That Chapter 21, Title 33, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and designated as Section33-2104A,Idaho Code, and to read as follows: 33-2104A. COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEE  ZONES. (1) Each existing community college district shall be divided into five (5) trustee zones. Each13 trustee position on the board shall be designated to a zone so that each14 trustee zone contains one (1) designated trustee position. (7) Notwithstanding the time requirements set forth in this section, on or before July 1, 2016, the board of trustees of each community college district formed before the...

Four years ago today, I suffered an ischemic stroke. In the hospital, three days later, I had a massive stroke. I lost a lot. As I have said many times, “I miss ME.”  Nevertheless, I count my blessings every single day. I could have died. So, what I have learned during the four years of loss and recovery? I am incredibly happy and blessed! Other things: “COMMUNICATION:” It was just a word before. But, when your degree is Communication and you make your living communicating, it is doubly devastating when you cannot talk, read, write, and understand even your own name. I just wanted to say my son’s name back to him. Today, though speaking is difficult, I am blessed to share my story making speeches about stroke and possibilities.    “PATIENCE:” I was never patient. However, my body and my brain are recovering slowly. Hurry up already! “MATH:” I cannot “do” math at all.  I can read financials but I cannot “calculate.” One of my therapists said, “Math is...

Over the weekend, I did a blog post about a hospital stay last week. I was not trying to an alarmist or to say "woe is me." Rather, I try to use by blog to describe my stroke journey. My blog is published in different ways. Usually, it is just in the blog sphere. That is it. The audience is limited to readers who find it on my blog. Sometimes, I put my blog on Twitter where I have two accounts: My personal account but also the Idaho Aphasia twitter account. I have sometimes posted my blog on my Facebook account. And, also, the Idaho Aphasia Facebook page. My last blog post was about the hospital stay. In that blog posts, I wrote " I have a condition called Fibromuscular dysplasia. FMD  is a progressive twisting of the blood vessels throughout the body. It causes abnormal growth within the wall of an artery . It is rare: Fewer than 200,000 US cases per year.” It can't be cured, but treatment may help like taking blood thinners. I ended by writing that " I...

  When you have a stroke – or two and seizures like me – a simple headache causes worry. In the back of your mind, your damaged brain thinks “it is happening again!” Recently, I had some severe headaches. They were different from the headaches when I had my strokes and seizures. These were a pounding ache on the left side and the top of my head. When they started on a Sunday night, I thought “they will go away.” They did not. I took several painkillers. My head kept aching. Finally, on Wednesday, I went to the hospital where I had a MRA and a MRI. The good news, I have an intense sinus infection. I forgot that a headache could be something else other than a “brain attack.” However, we discovered that had a brain incident. Or I did NOT have a brain incident. To explain, here is what I know about my brain. I have a condition called “Fibromuscular dysplasia.” “ FMD” is a progressive twisting of the blood vessels throughout the body. It causes abnormal growt...