A stroke of luck

Victor Charlo. (Frank Tyro, SKC photo)

DIXON — “I just kept falling down,” 70-year-old Victor A. Charlo recalls. “It was random and happened every so often. I didn’t think much of it. So I just picked myself up, dusted off and went on about my business.” Charlo was falling down several days prior to a stroke he experienced seven years ago, but he never thought his random falls were leading up to a major starting over point in his life.

On Labor Day, 2001, Charlo decided to drive from his home in Dixon to Ronan to get something to eat. On his short drive, he remembers swerving and hitting things...things he doesn’t even recall being there when he stopped to see what he had hit. “I was driving really crazy, but I wasn’t thinking straight, so I just kept going to the café in Ronan,” he said. In the parking lot of the café, he couldn’t put his car in park and wrecked the front end of his car.

When police arrived, Charlo recalls the officer questioning him as if he were intoxicated. “He kept yelling at me to stay in the car,” Charlo said. “Things just weren’t registering and I was losing all sensation on the left side of my body.” Eventually Charlo was taken to St. Luke Community Healthcare in Ronan by ambulance. Because his symptoms kept stopping and starting, medical staff wasn’t able to determine anything when he arrived. Charlo was told he was fine and to go home. Knowing he wasn’t “fine,” he insisted he stay and the next day an MRI determined he had in fact suffered a stroke.

Charlo experienced some classic symptoms of a stroke, but not being familiar with stroke signs caused him and others to misinterpret, or not even recognize, what was happening to him. Common symptoms of a stroke are sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble with walking; and sudden severe headaches with no known cause. According to the state health department, a stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly interrupted, or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood.

In Charlo’s case, the fact that he is American Indian, an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe, may or may not have played a factor in him having a stroke. According to a stroke study recently published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, American Indians had a stroke fatality rate 1.5 times higher than the rates found in other U.S. populations. The study also suggested that high rates of cigarette smoking, hypertension, lack of exercise and diabetes among American Indians may explain why they have a higher stroke incidence.

Charlo does have diabetes and isn’t sure if it was directly related to his stroke. After his stroke, Charlo began therapy in Missoula. He said walking was hard to do, as well as reading, writing and remembering where places were. He had to relearn everything. Writing was especially important for him to relearn because Charlo is an author of poetry. “I’ve been writing since I was 19 years old, probably even long before that,” he said. “I wanted to be healthy again to get back to writing.” He recently published his first poetry book called, Put-sey, which means “Good Enough” in his native tongue of Salish. The book contains pieces from back when he was 19-years-old to ones he wrote after suffering his stroke.

Today, Charlo said his health is as good, if not better, than before the stroke. He attributes his strong mental and physical abilities to exercise, eating better and living a healthier life in general. “Now I work out five days a week,” he said. “For the first 2-3 years (after the stroke) it was hard, I didn’t want to work out - I hated it. But little by little, mile-by-mile, I learned that if I can do any kind of exercise, it was benefiting me. Even getting to the gym, sometimes, is therapy.”

Family also played a big role in Charlo’s road to recovery. He said his four children and grandchildren were a big motivation for him, always encouraging him to do something. “I hope to be a (good) example to my kids and grandkids,” said Charlo. “I want to do the best I can for myself so they will do the same throughout their lives. They were also one of the reasons I learned to drive again, which is the place where this all started.” Suffering a stroke while driving could have been fatal, but Charlo said it must have been a “stroke of luck” that kept him around to share his story, his poetry and his love for life with others.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is airing a campaign on the Flathead Reservation to help you recognize the warning signs and symptoms of stroke. With prompt action, you can help yourself or a loved one reduce the risk of severe disability or death from stroke. In the event of a stroke, call 911 immediately.

To learn more about the warning signs of stroke, how you can control your risk factors and available treatments, call 1-888-4STROKE or visit www.strokeassociation.org.

Photo by Frank Tyro, courtesy of Salish Kootenai College.