Synopses & Reviews
At age 43, Cleo Hutton awoke to a frightening and completely unfamiliar world. In the prime of life, she experienced a devastating stroke. Suddenly unable to speak, understand, or even walk, Hutton found herself struggling first to survive and then to regain her physical skills and her independence.
Striking Back at Stroke is Hutton's personal journal during this trying time, detailing her hard-won success rebuilding a life in ruins and overcoming difficulties she never imagined confronting. Using a tape recorder and a notebook by her bedside where family, friends, and hospital staff could write messages, Hutton kept a record of the day-to-day emotional, physical, and financial trauma of her condition. Hutton's account of her experiences is interwoven with medical and scientific commentary by Louis Caplan, M.D., who explains Hutton's case in terms of what scientists and doctors have come to know about strokes. He documents in a clear, concise manner what actually happens before, during, and after a stroke—as Hutton in turn lives and documents her experience. Caplan also focuses his observations on how the medical system served her, as well as on the shattering effects a stroke can have on the families of patients.
Review
“The third-leading killer as well as the leading cause of disability in the United States, stroke is not limited to older people; Hutton was a 43-year-old mother of three when she experienced her first severe stroke, leaving her disabled and unable to communicate. Although she had been a nurse, she didnt recognize the warning signs that had begun five years earlier. This book is a joint patient-doctor account in which Hutton and neurologist Caplan alternate voices, with Caplan contributing solid medical information and Hutton recounting her personal experiences before, during, and after her stroke. Caplan explains the two types of stroke and clearly describes how, depending on the location, they can affect the brain. He also explores the physical, mental, and personality changes that can occur. Hutton, meanwhile, powerfully conveys the emotional and financial impact that the stroke had on her family, revealing that her husband broke under the strain and ultimately requested a divorce. Families and caregivers of stroke patients should read this work for its medical expertise and coverage of the emotional issues. For most consumer health collections.”<\#209>Library Journal Library Journal
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-227) and index.
About the Author
Cleo Hutton, a licensed practical nurse, has published articles in the American Heat Association/ American Stoke Association's Stroke Connections and the National Stroke Association's Stroke Smart magazine, and she lectures around the country about stroke recovery and awareness to stroke survivors and their families. She is writing under a pseudonym to protect the privacy of her family and, as she says, because "I am only one of hundreds of thousands of stroke survivors every year."
Louis R. Caplan, M.D., is one of the nation's leading clinical researchers in the field of stroke and the author of the American Heat Association Family Guide to Stroke Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention.
Table of Contents
ForewordCHAPTER I
Brain Attack
CHAPTER 2
Stroke: The Battleground
CHAPTER 3
The War of Rehabilitation
CHAPTER 4
Heart Surgery and Wrestling
with Rehabilitation Again
CHAPTER 5
Homecoming
CHAPTER 6
On My Own
CHAPTER 7
Gaining More than the Stroke Had Taken
Afterword
Appendices
Suggested Reading
Resources for Patients and Families
Index