Invocation: Jon Busby
Flag Salute: Mike McCoy
Song: Garro Ellis America the Beautiful
Greeter: Justin Leland Mary Castaneda
Visitors & Guests:
Caryl Schweitzer from Rotary West
Mona guest of Pete Pankey
Holly Arnold guest of Bryan Burrow
Andrea Selvey guest of Doc Ervin
Jamie Cambell guest of Rob Noriega
Mike guest of Lynnette Zelezny
Good News:
Kristen Beall talked about Give Big Kern fundraising campaign went very well this year. Up by 81%, raising $418,870. Congratulations!
Mike Chertok encouraged us to attend the final performance of the BSO on Saturday night. He gave out some tickets too.
Mike McCoy has an event going on Saturday as well at the Kern County Museum, a tribute to Meryl Haggard.
Jeff Green announced he's moving to Vegas baby.
President Ray shared that there was a great turnout for the All Club service project, unfortunately, they didn't get all of the food items delivered and were not able to complete it... Sooo- he's asking that we can help out again next Saturday, May 18th. It's held at Jim Burke Ford.
Welcome new member and president of Dignity Health, Ken Keller. (Coincidence we met on his home turf? I think not!)
Program:
Presented by Michele Shain, RN, MBA, CCCC
We met today, off-site, at Dignity Health Memorial Hospital. The food was great, as was the presentation by Michele Shain, Senior Director of Neuro & Cardiac Services.
It was a timely presentation too, considering the average age of our fellow Rotarians.
The title was What is Stroke? Recognition to Final Outcomes.
Memorial Hospital's bonafides are impressive. Among other things, they are an American Heart Association's Gold Plus Award recipient and have the only Neuro Critical Care Unit in Central California. They are also the only hospital in Central California to have a Specialized state-of-the-art Bi-Plane Suite, necessary for intricate brain procedures.
A stroke is a "brain attack", much like a heart attack it involves blocked blood vessels or hemorrhaging blood vessels.
There are many risk factors for stroke, the front runner being high blood pressure. Below are other factors that put you at risk:
- High Blood Pressure
- Obesity
- High Cholesterol Levels
- Narrowed Arteries
- Diabetes
- Arrhythmia or AFIB
- Previous Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack
- Over the Age of 65
- Family History of Stroke
There are also risk factors that come about from lifestyle choices, such as:
- Lack of Exercise
- Poor Diet
- Smoking
- Consuming More Than 2 Alcoholic Drinks per Day
Having 3 or more of these risk factors multiplies your risk for Stroke.
Some strokes can be prevented, it's thought up to 80% of strokes are preventable just by knowing and controlling risk factors.
It's important to be able to understand the signs of a stroke and to act on them immediately
Some typical signs and symptoms include:
- Sudden NUMBNESS or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Sudden CONFUSION, trouble speaking or understanding speech.
- Sudden TROUBLE SEEING in one or both eyes.
- Sudden TROUBLE WALKING, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
- Sudden SEVERE HEADACHE with no known cause.
Michele also talked about the different kinds of stroke and their treatments. There are over 6 million stroke survivors out there, and thankfully we have a center like a Dignity's to increase our chances here.
