Sunday, September 30, 2018

SURVIVOR STORY: STROKE. LIFE CHANGING. MY STORY.

www.strokecamp.org



http://www.unitedstrokealliance.org/


United Stroke Alliance in partnership with Medtronic is launching a new resource for Stroke Support Groups called The Booster Box. Included in the box is everything a leader needs to conduct a support group meeting for up to 24 attendees.

To receive your free Booster Box please call our office at 
309-688-5450 or email info@strokecamp.org to request yours. 

Subscriptions will be available for purchase and information will be inside your free box.  

Show Me The Booster Box
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
The following is from Karen Jarnat a Stroke Survivor who is allowing us to share her personal story.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SURVIVOR STORY: 
STROKE. 
LIFE CHANGING. 
MY STORY. 
Karen Jarnat  |  Stroke Survivor 

January 4, 2015, a day that has forever changed MY life and the lives of my family. 

It started out to be a “normal” day. I had decided to work over time as my husband and I had panned to go to Arizona in three months to watch our beloved Chicago White Sox during Spring Training. I had been at work less than a ½ hour when I, a relatively healthy 41 year old woman, suffered a right side hemorrhagic stroke. I was taken to the closest hospital, stabilized, and then transferred to the Stroke Center at a leading hospital in the heart of Dallas, Texas.  After two weeks of testing and making sure I wasn’t in immediate danger for subsequent strokes, I began my in-patient rehabilitation. 

Since the initial shock of having the Stroke was gone and the psychological impact was beginning to set in, the Doctors told my husband to bring something from home that could bring me comfort. This item or items could be family photos or pajamas or even the pillow I use from our bed. Without any discussion, my husband brought me my favorite blanket – MY CHICAGO WHITE SOX blanket!!  This move left some staff members stunned. 

The stroke I suffered left me with significant left side physical deficits, it also left me with cognitive deficiencies and memory issues. Since I was getting physical therapy, my husband began talking to me about baseball. As an older couple that just found true love in each other, we had two thing we loved to do – traveling and watching sports!! My husband and I would spend time on my hospital bed talking about the rules of baseball and the CHICAGO WHITE SOX, our favorite team.  We didn’t make it to Spring Training that year. But because of all our hospital talks, I was ready to watch the upcoming season from home! YES, home. 29 days later I was going home.. I'm not saying it was easy. 

Albeit with my leg brace and cane, we still make it to a few games in person both in Dallas and Chicago. Sometimes we have to  just have to watch from home. 

I still have many bad days. Days that prohibit me from doing things physically and days I'm just down and days I have trouble with my memory. On those days, we circle back to stories and talks about the CHICAGO WHITE SOX.  

Through my recovery, I have lost a lot friends. Whether be because life changes or because of my limited ability to do things socially and some because they can’t cope with seeing me change. One thing's for sure. The CHICAGO WHITE SOX have NEVER, NEVER turned their back on me!! They will always be important to me, as our team. But for me, they were and are important in my recovery!! 

SOUTH SIDE!! 


Sunday, September 23, 2018

Want To See A Camp In Action?


www.strokecamp.org



http://www.unitedstrokealliance.org/


United Stroke Alliance in partnership with Medtronic is launching a new resource for Stroke Support Groups called The Booster Box. Included in the box is everything a leader needs to conduct a support group meeting for up to 24 attendees.

To receive your free Booster Box please call our office at 
309-688-5450 or email info@strokecamp.org to request yours. 

Subscriptions will be available for purchase and information will be inside your free box.  

Show Me The Booster Box
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
This may look like a very short blog article but if you click on the link below you will get an eight minute slide show that I made of the Rockford, Illinois Stroke Camp the weekend of August 24-26. Eight minutes may sound like a long time but you will be so captivated by it you won't even notice it. If you've ever wondered what it is that we do at a camp, this is your chance to find out. This year our theme is Stroke Camp Island Getaway.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Sunday, September 16, 2018

Do You Know How Many Camps We Do Each Year?


www.strokecamp.org



http://www.unitedstrokealliance.org/


United Stroke Alliance in partnership with Medtronic is launching a new resource for Stroke Support Groups called The Booster Box. Included in the box is everything a leader needs to conduct a support group meeting for up to 24 attendees.

To receive your free Booster Box please call our office at 
309-688-5450 or email info@strokecamp.org to request yours. 

Subscriptions will be available for purchase and information will be inside your free box.  

Show Me The Booster Box
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
If you have been reading our blog posts here you probably know much of what we are all about. What you might not know is the extent of what we do. Listed below is this year's camps, their locations and the sponsors for the camp. You might also notice that we can have up to three camps on the same weekend, which are most likely in three different states. Each camp will have three or four experienced volunteers from the Peoria, Illinois who will travel to these locations to lead and manage the activities. As you can see, we may have as many as twelve volunteers staffing camps on any given weekend. We have been at this since 2004, starting out with one local camp and blossoming to the thirty, all over the country, you see listed here. It is, and has been, an amazing journey. We enjoy it, and we get to see the difference our camps make in a survivor's and caregiver's life. Check this list out and see if your city has one. If not, ask the Stroke Coordinator at your Hospital Stroke Center or the leader of your local Stroke Group to contact us...or you can even call us yourself - (309)688-5450 or email us at info@strokecamp.org.

Do you want to see what goes on at our camps? Next week I will post some photos to give you an idea.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


2018 CAMPS

5/4—5/6 Camp Courageous; Monticello, IA   |   Sponsored by: Mercy Medical Center and University of Iowa Hospitals   & Clinics

5/18—5/20 Chapel Rock Camp; Prescott, AZ   |   Sponsored by: Dignity Health

6/1—6/3 Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN   |   Sponsored by: Franciscan Health Foundation

6/8—6/10 Salt Fork Lodge & Resort; Lore City, OH   |   Sponsored by: OhioHealth

6/8—6/10 Fellowship Deaconry Ministries; Basking Ridge, NJ   |   Sponsored by: Overlook Foundation and Atlantic Health   Systems

6/15—6/17 Crestfield Conference Center; Slippery Rock, PA   |   Sponsored by: UPMC Rehabilitation and Stroke Institutes

6/22—6/24 Warren Conference Center; Ashland, MA   |   Sponsored by: Brigham & Women’s Hospital

7/5—7/8 Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center (Family Camp); Oregon, IL   |   Sponsored by: Retreat & Refresh Stroke   Camp

7/13—7/15 Elmhurst College; Elmhurst, IL   |   Sponsored by: Amita Health Neurosciences Institute

7/20—7/22 Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center; Oregon, IL   |   Sponsored by: Mercyhealth, Illinois      Neurological Institute, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Swedish American, VanMatre HealthSouth

7/30—8/1 Chapel Rock Camp; Prescott, AZ   |   Sponsored by: Power of the Purse, Dignity Health, HealthSouth East Valley   Rehabilitation Hospital

8/3—8/5 Pilgrim Park Camp; Princeton, IL   |   Sponsored by: Illinois Neurological Institute at OSF

8/10—8/12 Highlands Retreat Center; Allenspark, CO   |   Sponsored by: Cheyenne Regional Medical Center

8/10—8/12 Michindoh Conference Center; Hillsdale, MI   |   Sponsored by: St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center** 

8/24—8/26 Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center; Oregon, IL   |   Sponsored by: Mercyhealth, Illinois      Neurological Institute, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Swedish American, VanMatre HealthSouth

8/24—8/26 Faholo Conference Center; Grass Lake, MI   |   Sponsored by: Henry Ford Health System, DeMaria

8/24—8/26 Carol Joy Holling Center; Ashland, NE   |   Sponsored by: Lincoln Stroke Partnership, Bryan Health, Madonna   Rehabilitation Hospitals, St. Elizabeth

9/7—9/9 Lake Junaluska Conference Center; Lake Junaluska, NC   |   Sponsored by: Mission Health

9/7—9/9 Green Lake Conference Center; Green Lake, WI   |   Sponsored by: UW Health

9/7—9/9 Pilgrim Park Camp; Princeton, IL   |   Sponsored by: Retreat & Refresh Stroke Camp

9/14—9/16 Airfield Conference Center; Wakefield, VA   |   Sponsored by: VCU Health

9/14—9/16 Broom Tree Retreat & Conference Center; Irene, SD   |   Sponsored by: Siouxland Stroke Support Network 

9/21—9/23 Waycross Camp & Conference Center; Morgantown, IN   |   Sponsored by: Franciscan Health –Indianapolis/  Mooresville

9/28—9/30 Cohutta Springs Conference Center; Crandall, GA   |   Sponsored by: Erlanger Health System, HealthSouth,   Siskin Hospital, Chiesi

10/5—10/7 Ceta Canyon Retreat Center; Happy, TX   |   Sponsored by: Medical Center Health System 

10/12—10/14 Rock Creek Resort; Red Lodge, MT   |   Sponsored by: St. Vincent Healthcare 10/12—

10/14 Echo Grove; Leonard, MI   |   Sponsored by: St. Joseph Mercy Oakland 

10/19—10/21 Rock Springs 4-H Center; Junction City, KS   |   Sponsored by: Kansas Family Stroke Foundation

10/19—10/21 Faholo Conference Center; Grass Lake, MI   |   Sponsored by: St. John’s Hospital & Medical Center

10/26—10/28 YMCA of the Rockies; Estes Park, CO   |   Sponsored by: Good Samaritan Medical Center