Anyone who hangs around a gym for any length of time knows at least one guy who's there every day, becoming a regular fixture. Meet Bob. He's our fixture. Every day he comes in, with a smile and a greeting for everyone. He sometimes walks a bit on the treadmill, but mainly he lifts weights. Serious weights I might add.
Three weeks ago Bob had a stoke, out of the blue. He had no warning signs - no high blood pressure, cholesterol was fine, no breathing problems.
On the night of the stroke he thought he was coming down with the flu. Vomiting and diarrhea were the only symptoms he had - until his left side went paralyzed. The local hospital had him sent by helicopter to the nearest heart hospital.
The doctors determined the cause of the stroke and put in 3 stints in his heart and 1 in his carotid artery. Even during the surgery his blood pressure remained great.
He spent a few days in the hospital and came home, still paralyzed on his left side. But Bob is no sissy. He started working at movement before he even got out of the hospital.
And today, he was back at the Y. He's doing physical therapy with professionals but they cleared him to start back with some light weight work.
Kudos to Bob for his determination to get right back up again. It's hard to understand why someone in such good shape would have a stroke, but, on the other hand - if he hadn't been in such good shape and physically active - I'm sure the effects from the stroke would have been more severe, and maybe even permanent.
Bottom line, it's never too late to start taking care of your body.
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[credit@EdibleCthulhu]
