May is pediatric stroke awareness month

Hi friends & family,

I know I am seriously behind in blogging, and I promise I am working on an update, but first I wanted to share something with you.

May is pediatric stroke awareness month.  Frequently, I will use the word stroke to describe the brain injury that Lalito suffered on ecmo.  I'm not sure if what happened to him would technically be a stroke, but the results are the same, so it's what I use.  Just like many of the pediatric stroke survivors, he suffers from hemiplegia cerebral palsy, likely vision issues, and developmental delays.  Just one of the many things that we've learned in the past 1.5 yrs is that kids have strokes too, often occurring before birth.  Strokes can be fatal, and frequently cause numerous long term issues.  CHASA - Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Associations has been a great resource for us to learn and find other people going through similar challenges.  Here is some brief info from their site.  If you are interested in knowing more, please check out http://www.chasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/chasa_pediatric_stroke_fact_sheet_2012.pdf


Pediatric Stroke - A Few Facts

• Stroke in children is as common as childhood brain tumors, yet most people are unaware that infants and children can have strokes.
• 1 in 2800 babies and between 4 and 11 in 100,000 children will have a stroke each year.
• Pediatric stroke research is severely underfunded.
• Raising funds and increasing awareness will lead to early diagnosis, treatment, and recognition that more dollars need to be directed toward pediatric stroke research.
• Recognize early stroke. If your baby is showing a hand preference (left-handed or right-handed) before the age of 3, call your state's early intervention program and ask for an evaluation.

Thanks for listening :)

Here's Caleb & Lalito, our stroke survivor.
Notice Lalo's right hand in a fist?
Just one of the many reasons that strokes suck!