StrokeLifeline
The Online Newsletter of Stroke Life Society

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"United In Pursuit Of Living And Helping Others"
January 2014
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Our Year In Review!
It was a wonderful year for Stroke Life Society. 
Here are some of the highlights.......
Recognition.....................

Recognition was earned by co-founder Ben Thomas who was invited to address Stony Brook Hospital's annual Neuroscience Conference and also their Community Service Event in May.


Accolades........................

Accolades were awarded to co-founder Darleen Schauder (who incepted the Recycled Medical Equipment and Supplies Program) by the American Legion Post 1711 and Nassau County officials. As an indication of the scale of the recycling program, over 400 items were distributed to those in need between April and August 2013. In addition, the program provided all 20 wheelchairs to the American Red Cross to outfit their Conex boxes.  

New Support Groups................

New Support Groups were born this year.  Bellerose (our first regular location in Queens), Stony Brook (our second in Suffolk) and the Co-survivor support group which get-together coincides with the regular monthly support group meeting at St Frances, Wantagh.
 For The Record Books...................
   

2013 saw 90 support group meetings. There was record all-time attendance was at St Bernard's Levittown in January when 37 members, fresh out-of-money from the January sales descended en masse for a fraternal two hours of informative discussion, mutual encouragement, widespread humor and of course the Irish soda bread.

Pause For Laughter.................
   

We did - twice - at our successful Comedy Night Fundraisers at the Governor's Comedy Club. In fact there has been a serious breakout of infectious laughter at many of our support group meetings, and any effort to stifle it is doomed to failure!

Survivor Stories.................
   

Edward Snowden has a great deal to learn from us! Thanks to this year's Survivor Spotlights, much was revealed about certain members (maybe too much?). Our thanks to our friends Dennis, Will and Lou sharing their stories and to many of the rest of us for sharing our highs, our lows, our worries and our joys at our 10 monthly support groups.

Outreach.................
   

May is Stroke Awareness month. This year it was recognized at Bellmore's Sandy Relief & Resource Fair; the two Stony Brook programs; an Awareness Day at Plainview Hospital and a full weekend community outreach at Bellerose, with our members in sizeable attendance at every venue.

Our Website.................
   

Just like our post-Christmas waistlines, is ever-expanding. It now provides Survivors and Co-survivors alike with a unique resource. Keep-in-touch through the calendar of events; take inspiration from our members' stories and share & learn with Q&A - questions to and answers from our Stroke Specialists.  

Talk, Talk, Talk.........................

Our monthly Speaker Meetings went from success to success. Our thanks to all the invited stroke professionals, namely Rose also Drs. Libman, Kwiatkowski, Oreste and Accardi who brought us their experience of the many hundreds, if not thousands of stroke and post-stroke patients to our forum. Our Eldercare overview was well-received and the ground-breaking Co-survivor panel-led discussion spawned a regular monthly co-survivor Support Group.

Our Shari.........................

Dr. Oz hosted a 'special' on the subject of young women & stroke, with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Stroke Life Society member Shari Stack in starring roles.

Know Your Rights.........................

Information was disseminated not only on the website but also at meetings and via email of the new legal interpretation of Medicare's provision of Skilled Maintenance Services for stroke survivors, namely physical, speech and occupational therapy.

Socially Hooked.........................

Our popular twice-yearly fishing trips on Jib VI out of Captree, organized by Capt. Dan were again in evidence. "Lucky" Murray and "Experienced" Lou scooped the two fish pools.

Seasonally-Spiced....................

There was a great response to the first Stroke Life Society Holiday Breakfast at the Milleridge Inn after which attendees were whisked-away for seasonal entertainment and high-kicks at Radio City where -next year- fewer stairs would be most welcome!

And Finally, Please Don't Mention Yard Sale....................

Oops! Our two such attempts to raise funds saw the input of a great deal of hard work for a dollar-an-hour return! Thinking caps on please for other, more lucrative forms of fundraising.

 

Mother Teresa Quote