No Big Deal
July 6, 2012
I have tried very hard to keep my professional and personal lives separate. I’m a private person and that’s just the way I am. I am uncomfortable with attention even though I work in a very public business.
With that background, I feel I need to share something. I missed nearly six weeks of work over the winter because I had a small stroke. I didn’t want to make big deal out if then because I didn’t want publicity, sympathy or scrutiny. I still don’t want those things and I don’t want to make this a big deal now either.
As I tweeted on the 4th of July, I am sharing this for three simple reasons. The stroke has underscored to me what a gift and blessing that each moment is. My faith has helped carry me through the dark moments. I also want to urge people to get their blood pressure checked. As I found out the hard way, strokes can happen at any age and high blood pressure is the top cause. It caused mine. Get yours checked and follow doctor’s orders if medication is needed. Also, I realize there are many people facing much more difficult obstacles. I encourage them to not give up and to keep fighting.
I have a small platform to say thanks to family (especially my wife Julie), friends, employers, doctors and therapists and to try to help others. I just want to turn this into a positive. Other than that, it’s no big deal. Thanks for your support.
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Follow Dennis on twitter @DennisKrause1
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6 Responses to No Big Deal
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Bill Johnson says:
Great to work with you Dennis. Great to have you back!!
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Maria Tully says:
Glad you are well, Dennis. The high maintenance years are upon us. Years ago the Medical College tried to do an awareness campaign for the early warning signs of stroke. It didn’t penetrate because they didn’t keep it up. You do have a platform. I hope a PSA is in your future. As you know, the earlier you seek help. the better the outcome. Miss you. Take care.
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Don Mead says:
Dennis, Last Aug. 17th my life changed forever also. I had a minor stroke and high blood pressure was the cause whick was a mystery to many because 9 months prior my BP was normal, I have run 15 – 20 miles a week for 20+ years. My best to you and thanks for sharing. Don Mead
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Corinne Steinmiller says:
Dennis…..Thank you for sharing this life changing event in your life with others. Your
advice will help save one life or many. We all need to be aware of any medical concerns and heed their warning signs. Take care of
yourself. You are a wonderful person with a great family. Know that you are special in
the lives of so many. -
Jeff Ostach says:
I have a personal story to tell which is very hard to do, but if it aids in the awareness of how one’s life can be abruptly affected by the debilitating effects of a stroke, then so be it. My very close friend would have celebrated her 10 year wedding anniversary with her husband last June 20th. It was a very rough day for her because two years prior, on Thursday May 20th, 2010, while she was a caregiver for the man who earned both a undergraduate and master’s degree from Berkeley, and a Rhode scholarship from Oxford, her husband died of complications from his stroke on my bed, while both were helping me move into my new apartment in Glendale. He was 61. North Shore paramedics went above and beyond the call of duty attempting to bring him back to life. It was a day which began with happiness with friends helping me in my move to a tragic day which will haunt me until I leave this earth. CPR was tried for well over an hour. Then a paramedic grimly walked to my friend and told her they were issuing a “code blue.” While her husbands body lay covered in my new apartment for several hours with a Glendale police office standing stoic outside my front door, the shock of that day has made me value each and every moment I have. One minute, everything is fine, and then a coroner entering my apartment showed how quickly one’s life can end. So when someone like Dennis, who I’ve respected for three decades ever since he began as Hank Stoddard’s understudy in the 1980′s announces he suffered from a mild stroke, I immediately take notice. Although Dennis is not seeking attention or sympathy, the respect he worked so hard to earn can now be used to help others know learn about stroke prevention and warning signs. And knowing the “pro” he is, I look forward to his work on behalf of this potentially debilitating and deadly disease.
Glad to hear you’re now doing well. And good advice for those with high blood pressure.
All the best to you and your family.
Hank