Originally posted on 9/13/09
This morning we participated as best we could in the Childhood Stroke Awareness Walk at Jefferson Barracks Park in St. Louis County. We didn't think we could get Teddy to even go, but the promise of unlimited donuts motivated him. Unfortunately and not at all unusual for us, it went downhill from there. He didn't like the crowd or the fact that we weren't taking our normal walk at JB Park. A lot of screaming and uncontrollable crying as you can see from the photo.
A childhood stroke can manifest itself in a variety of symptoms. Most children will have paralysis or stiffness of a limb (usually on the opposite side of their stroke), some children will have seizures and others will have behavioral and intellectual disabilities. We were lucky in that we didn't experience the physical manifestations, but we have not at all been lucky in the other areas. Most people don't even realize that children can have strokes and that was what this walk all about. The walk and the organization were organized by Jessica Spear, a friend of ours whose son also suffered a stroke. She has an excellent website where you can learn more, click the photo to link to her site.
We did manage to take our walk, but we had to modify our plans and be flexible. We walked a few minutes before everyone else and managed to finish it. Of course, we wish we could have walked with the group, but we have learned to be flexible and to find the wiggle room in our lives, do what we can and be thankful for those small victories.
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