senior lifestyle
Life After a Stroke
5 Tips for Recovery and Daily Living
Family Features
I n the weeks and months immedi-
ately following a stroke, an early
rehabilitation program offers the best
possible recovery outcomes. While
each person’s stroke recovery journey
is unique, starting the path toward
rehabilitation as soon as it’s medically
safe allows stroke survivors to mitigate
the lasting effects.

According to the American Stroke
Association, a division of the American
Heart Association, each year, approxi-
mately 800,000 people in the United
States have a stroke. Strokes can
happen to anyone, at any age. In fact,
globally about 1 in 4 adults over the
age of 25 will have a stroke in their
lifetime. Early Intervention
The rehabilitation and support a survivor
receives can greatly influence health
outcomes and recovery. The first three
months after a stroke are especially
critical. Although recovery may continue
for years after a stroke, this time in the
immediate aftermath of a stroke is when
the brain is most able to adjust to the
damage done by the stroke so the sur-
vivor can learn new ways to do things.

Following a stroke, a survivor may
experience physical changes, such as
fatigue, seizures, weakness or paralysis
on one side of the body or spasticity, stiff
or rigid muscles which may cause diffi-
culty with completing daily activities and
tasks. If experiencing fatigue, speak with
your health care provider about ways to
reduce it. Your care team may also be
able to provide medications to help with
seizures and spastic-
ity. Physical therapy is
also an option.

Challenges after
a stroke depend on the severity and
location of the stroke. In addition to
various physical disabilities, stroke survi-
vors may experience aphasia, commu-
nication and thought problems related
to speaking, listening, understanding or
memory. Planning, organizing ideas or
making decisions can also be harder.

“Remember to be patient when
communicating with a stroke survivor,”
said Elissa Charbonneau, M.S., D.O., chief
medical officer of Encompass Health and
an American Stroke Association national
volunteer. “The impact of a stroke on
cognitive, speech and language can be
significant and isolating. When connect-
ing with a stroke survivor, some helpful
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practices include demonstrating tasks,
breaking actions into smaller steps,
enunciating, asking multiple choice
questions and repetition.”
Customized Rehabilitation
Once a stroke survivor’s medical condi-
tion is stabilized and he or she is ready to
leave the hospital, rehabilitation can help
restore function and teach new ways to
complete everyday tasks. Rehabilitation
may take place in an inpatient facility,
skilled nursing facility or long-term acute
care facility. Outpatient clinics and home
health agencies can also provide reha-
bilitative care in certain circumstances.

One patient’s rehab journey might
include therapy to improve balance,
strength or mobility while another might
need speech or other therapies. A
rehabilitation designed for the individual
is critical.

Preventing a Recurrence
After a first stroke, nearly 1 in 4 survivors
will have another. Stroke survivors can
help reduce their risk of having another
stroke by working with their health care
team to identify what caused the stroke
and uncover personal risk factors.

Taking steps such as healthy eating,
reducing sedentary time and taking
medications as prescribed can help your
brain and reduce your risk of a repeat
stroke. Controlling conditions such as
high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep
apnea also reduce your risk of having
another stroke.

Support During Your Journey
Caregivers and other loved ones can
provide important long-term support
during your recovery and rehabilitation.

Find resources for stroke rehab and
recovery including the “Life After Stroke”
guide, “Simply Good” cookbook and a
support network to connect with other
survivors at Stroke.org/Recovery. ■



arts & culture
‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’
A very 2023 history of Jewish delis in America
Fran Kritz
Photos Fran Kritz
T here’s a lot of nostalgia
to behold on a tour of “I’ll
Have What She’s Having,”
a historical view of Jewish delica-
tessens in America, now on exhibit
at the New York Historical Society
in New York City through April 2.

I could explain the title but why
not just let anyone not in on the
joke laugh at the clip from “When
Harry met Sally” about two thirds
of the way through the exhibit.

“I’ll have What She’s Having”
is the creation of curators at the
Skirball Cultural Center in Los
Angeles and takes about an hour.

(You’ll leave hungry.) Photos,
The protected in a glass case blue
signage, artifacts and fi lm clips
seltzer bottle with silver spigot will make
make up the exhibit, and an inter-
any grandparents in the group misty.

active kiosk lets you design your
own sandwich.

Placards next to artifacts explain the odd choice for a word in a Jewish deli
deli’s history as the food of immigrants, exhibit.) Plastic models of hot dogs and
and marvel (maybe too much) at the noodle kugel don’t add to the appeal
popularity of the genre. The exhibit’s but the (protected in a glass case) blue
curators include a specialist in immigrant seltzer bottle with silver spigot will make
food cultures and explain that the waves any grandparents in the group misty.

of Jewish immigrants, fi rst from German
Youngsters, including those in their
and then from eastern Europe from the 40s and 50s, may be surprised by the
1880s to the 1920s, brought their own smoking paraphernalia, but smoking
foods from their own cities and countries and Jewish delis shared a heyday.

resulting in the amalgamation of foods Matchboxes from the leading delica-
we now call deli cuisine — including tessens adorn a wall, and the cigarette
smoked meats, smoked fi sh, bagels, vending machine on display has packs
pickles, chicken soup and rugelach.

still in the slots.

The history speaks to the diffi cult
Plan to spend some time on the history
beginnings of immigrants, and is worth of non-Jewish hawkers of Levi’s Jewish rye
noting now that D.C.’s Call Your Mother bread — including Malcolm X. And photos
Café, which labels itself “Jew-ish” sports of political candidates, including Hillary
a $14 tuna sandwich. With delis on the Clinton during her successful New York
wane in some parts, ingredient explana- run for Senate, help explain the promi-
tions for such items as rye and pumper- nence of delis in many urban centers.

nickel bread are, sadly, helpful.

The exhibit asks, and attempts
The Yiddish glossary, literally writ large, to answer, the question of why delis
doesn’t come with phonics, so stand inspired artists, writers, comedians and
near a native speaker if you don’t speak fi lm makers. One possibility: “It is a place
the language to learn how to pronounce where characters can demonstrate or
“tsuris” (trouble), “mishpucha” (family) celebrate their Jewish identity outside
and “bissel” (a small amount, and an of private or religious spheres.” That’s
certainly a “Discuss” opportunity for the
trip home.

Far harder to reconcile is the exhib-
it’s take on the Holocaust. In an exhibit
about Jews and their contribution to the
culture of the world, a placard about the
Holocaust informs viewers that “More than
eleven million people, including six million
Jews, were systematically murdered by
the Nazis and their collaborators.” Asked
about why the murder of Jews doesn’t’
come fi rst in an exhibit about Jewish
culture, Cate Thurston, one of the Skirball
curators, explains that Skirball believes it
needs to teach within the context of Jews
being a part of the larger world around
them. To me, it diminished the catastro-
phe that was the Holocaust, as well as the
importance of the exhibit.

The last placard in the exhibit
celebrates the reimagining of delis by
emerging restaurants like a “pastrami
hash in a jar” at one new Brooklyn
café. Despite the photo, the museum
seems unconvinced. The fi rst fl oor
restaurant has three (non-kosher) deli
items on its menu for the duration
of the exhibit including pastrami on
rye, chicken soup and a smoked fi sh
platter. No hash. No jar. ■
“I’ll Have What She’s Having” at the
New York Historical Society through
April 2, at 170 Central Park West in
New York City. For tickets and hours
call 212-873-3400, or order online at
nyhistory.org/. Tickets range from free
to $22.

Fran Kritz is a freelance writer.

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