Recently I took my son on a caravan holiday and it was lovely to get away from the computer for a few days.  We had plenty of fresh air and exercise, and surprisingly, the UK weather was kind.

We stayed right next to the beach with a great view of the ocean. It was peaceful and quiet with only an occasional person passing by. As it was so early in the “season”, most of the surrounding caravans were empty after the holiday weekend.

It didn’t occur to me until I came home that  could have been a problem.

You see my son has autism and doesn’t speak.  Whilst he is very capable in many areas and has an amazing ability of making people understand what he wants and needs, I doubt very much he would have been able to manage if something awful had happened to me.

Of course, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen, but no-one ever does, do they? You don’t suddenly wake up and think, “Today I’m going to have an accident, or a stroke or a heart attack”.

They just happen.

So there we were in a caravan, with no neighbours and no-one to take any notice of us because no-one knew us, or our situation.  My son looks “normal” and to the casual observer a fleeting glance wouldn’t indicate there was anything wrong.

However, IF anything had happened, my son wouldn’t have been able to raise the alarm.  He can’t speak, doesn’t use a telephone and wouldn’t have known whom to call anyway.

He does carry a card, which says who he is and gives details about him, but that’s only relevant if he gets lost or something.  It would have been no good inside a caravan where possibly no one would have known he was there.

Anyway, thankfully nothing happened, but looking back I should have made better arrangements.

I just didn’t think.

I could have told the person at the site reception if I didn’t check in every evening to make sure everything was okay, or arrange to  contact family at a certain time every day instead of saying I’d call if I  needed anything.

Often it’s the little things, which make all the difference, and I was reminded about that today when my friend told me about her uncle who’d just suffered a stroke.

Luckily it happened at a place and time when he was able to get urgent medical attention.

Strokes are caused by a disturbance of the blood supply to the brain and are the leading cause of disability in UK.  They are also the third most common cause of death after cancer and coronary heart disease.

If you suspect someone is having a stroke you need to apply the F.A.S.T. test and this stands for Face, Arms, Speech, Time.

FACE - Has the victim’s face fallen on one side?  Can they  smile?

ARMS -  Can they raise both arms above their head and keep them there

?

SPEECH -  Is their speech slurred?

TIME -  If you see any of the above signs it’s Time to call the emergency services.

Quick diagnosis of a stroke is vital because the sooner a person is diagnosed, the sooner the treatment can start and the greater the chances of recovery.

Apparently the best way to reduce the risk of a stroke is to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

Obviously if you smoke or drink you can choose to give it up, but governments,cigarette manufacturers and the leisure industry don’t really encourage that because they’d lose lots of revenue. Instead we’re given health warnings so there’s no risk of litigation in the future if our health is ruined.

Clearly lifestyle is important and YOU need to look after yourself – no-one else will, and whilst I’m not here to tell you how to live your life,  you might want to Read my FREE Report   Just click on the link.

You might find it surprising, and I’d love to get your comments.  It took me ages to write and get lined up properly, because as you know if you’re a regular on this blog , I hate the techie bits!

What If You SUDDENLY Realized Everything You Thought You Knew About Skincare Was A Lie?  Discover The Ingredients The Manufacturers Will NEVER Warn You About.

I think I did okay though.  Let me know what you think.

New  Sign of a Stroke ——– Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE:  Another ‘sign’ of a stroke is this:-  Ask the  person to ‘stick’ out his tongue…if the tongue  is ‘crooked’, or if it goes to one side or the other,  it’s  also an indication of a  stroke.

Best wishes and take care.

Jean