Stroke-or-Cerebrovascular-Disease Books

I have never personally experienced an incident like Julia, but I found her book inspirational. When confronted with a life-threatening health issue, Julia and her family found the courage to move forward and recover against all odds. Her book is written with a humorous tone which shows her positive attitude and her unending goal to get well. Her book taught me that you need to figure out what is important in life, not lose sight of it and never give up. I would highly recommend this to anyone... whether you have experienced a situation like this or not. Definitely one of the best books I have read in a long time!! I couldn't stop turning the pages and finished it within a few days!

Julia Fox Garrison is one very ballsy broad with just the right kind of self-effacing and acid sense of humor and gutsy determination to see herself through a bad situation. Following a massive brain hemmorhage or stroke, whatever you want to call it, which very nearly kills her and leaves her whole left side flaccid and useless, she makes up her mind that she is going to come back from this, even if it kills her - which, if she'd listened to her doctors, could very well happen. For months she denies that she's in denial about a complete recovery, but after more than a year of rehabilitation, she is finally forced to admit that she'll probably never be perfect again, and begins to appreciate what faculties and skills she has recovered. Besides the obvious humor sprinkled throughout the book, there are also the awful moments, the incredibly sad ones. Like the time she realizes that even her 3 yr-old son recognizes her limitations and becomes used to getting all his support from his dad - the night she goes to him in the night when he is crying and tries to help, and Rory says: "I want Daddy, I don't want you ... No, you can't help me. You have your own problems. You fall down and you need help and you need someone to get you up."

Or when she makes a visit to her old office and endures the stares and the tentativeness of her old colleagues: "... because you simply don't look the way you looked the last time you were there. You are on industrial-strength doses of steroids as well as a cocktail of other drugs and your face is swollen and misshapen, like a pumpkin head."

Or when she and her husband, Jim, who has done everything for her since her stroke, make love for the first time in more than a year: "When you are done, you both cry a little and hold each other. 'Now we're a couple again,' Jim whispers."

In the end this is a book about not just determination and guts, but about love, and about a very supportive family (Julia's husband, parents and 8 brothers) who help her back to wellness. Anyone who has ever suffered a debilitating illness and struggled back to some semblance of health and dignity will appreciate this book, as will their friends and family members. It is quite simply a great story. - Tim Bazzett, author of Love, War & Polio

Julia Garrison Fox writes her experiences after suffering a stroke at the age of 37. This is a must read for all healthcare professionals especially those who work in the rehabilitation field. She pulls no punches and write candidly about what it feels like both physically and emotionally to go through a life altering incident. This is a wake-up call for all in the healthcare field, we are real good at treating the body but we sometimes forget the human spirit we are also caring for.

I really loved this book, and would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Although I've never suffered any of the physical impairments that the author has, her story is very easy to relate to. Not to mention that it serves as a reminder to all of us to never give up, and to never take anything for granted.

Ms. Garrison's persistance is to be admired, as is her sense of humor through ordeals that have broken the spirits of many. Kudos to you, Julia, and may you never lose your courage, love of life, and wonderful spirit!

I am a rehab nurse and I just couldn't put this book down.

Yes, all of the portraits are not flattering of folks in the healthcare profession. We must view patients as people, with all their likes, dislikes and quirks.

I found it to be a very funny, uplifting first person account.

I found this book to be clearly written, easily understandable and fast to read. It's informative to stroke victims who want to reduce their chances of having another stroke, or even to those who are at high risk of having a stroke.

The book provides you with a road map that is tailored to your specific situation, and by which you can track your progress over time. It does so by starting with the broadest categories of types of strokes, and then working toward more narrow conditions within those categories. As you read the book you fill out a chart checking off the conditions that apply to your situation and ignoring those that don't. This way, after you are done reading the book, you will have a set of goals tailored to your situation, and thus will be set on a course to reducing your risk of another stroke. According to the book, you can reduce the risk significantly in most cases.

The book weighs in at about 90 pages and the type is fairly large. The reader will find illustrations, which augment ones understanding of specific conditions.

The book does have medical terminology, but it doesn't overwhelm the reader. What I liked, in fact, was that the writer provided reasons why certain conditions are a problem. For instance, high blood pressure apparently harms the walls of the arteries, which speeds up the process of atherosclerosis. I'd always heard that high blood pressure was bad, but I'd never heard a causal explanation until this book.

This book is very easy to understand and to the point. It walks you through all the steps you should take to prevent another stroke, from the medications you should be taking to changing your daily habits. The book encourages and helps you to become proactive in your own stroke prevention care. With the help of a goal chart, you are able to track your progress in attaining a set of personalized goals. Overall, I think this is a great book if you're looking for a hands-on guide to stroke prevention.