My cerebrovascular accident

[SoCalDem]

Wednesday morning (9:30) I woke up and my left side (arm & leg) were "gone" .. I somehow managed to get myself to the bathroom and after my morning pee, I discovered that I was frozen in place and hollered for my husband..

I told him I thought I had had a stroke (duh!)..

I had my first ambulance ride, and then the tests started. CT scan/ekg/xray/blood etc.

I never lost consciousness or my ability to comprehend or speak .

Over the next few hours my arm & leg returned and left several times..

The next day (thursday) I had more tests...brain MRI (what a trippy test that was) echo cardiogram... carotid ultra sound..aortic ultra sound...more blood tests..

The doctor decided that I had a singular complete minor stroke in the right hemisphere of my brain. It was not hemorrhagic, and there was no brain swelling.

My blood pressure is low, everything else checked out fine.

I returned home 32 hours after the start..none the worse for wear ..



I see a neurologist on 1/27 for a more detailed explanation of the MRI, but for now I am only on lipitor (cholesterol has always been a bit high), and a 325 aspirin..


I apparently dodged a huge catastrophe..

Of course., my husband is going nuts watching me, and asking me how I feel every 15 minutes

[hollysmom]

1. you are brave

I would have been terrified

[SoCalDem]

2. Stunned, was my first "feeling"

I know that something always "gets" us, but a stroke was not something I ever expected..

Now I just have to get on with my life and tell myself that this was a one and only thing...

There was no headache or dizziness or any precursor.. Just a weird thing that happened to me

[hollysmom]

3. People in my family die of strokes more than anything else,

everyone had one when they were older. I have to watch my cholesterol

[malthaussen]

12. Yep. One minute I was typing...

... and then I suddenly missed the keyboard and my right arm flew halfway across the desk. No warning at all.

-- Mal

[Shrike47]

4. Thank you for the description of the event, and I send positive vibes for healing your way.

How old are you? I keep thinking some sort of stroke event is probably coming my way...

[malthaussen]

11. I'm 58 and just had one

Funny thing is, the MRI revealed two older infarcts that I didn't even notice. Strokes can be very bad, or not so bad. My November stroke had me in rehab for 15 days, but I was for all intents and purposes functional afterwards. The real problem was the diabetes, which makes life really annoying. Better than the alternative, though. Presumably.

-- Mal

[SoCalDem]

19. I am 2 months shy of 66

and have always been the healthy one in the family

[Duppers]

5. thank you for teaching us about this

I LOVE your attitude!!

You took this as bravely as I did my breast cancer scare, I.e. we face it squarely, positively, and do what we must do. We hope for the best. There are other DUers who are facing worse than we have.

My husband was a crying basket case and I had to constantly snap him out of it. I believe in being positive but facing the obvious. You are my hero! I sincerely hope you make it to 95 and that this is a one time event. Stay positive.

Wishing you the happiest of trails and good health!

[hlthe2b]

6. I am SOOOO glad this turned out as well as it could for you.....

How very frightening that had to have been, but I think you've been gifted with a warning that can mean much better future.
A big to your continued health, SoCalDem. We want to have you here and feeling well for many many years to come!

[rurallib]

7. Appreciate your telling us

We are at the age where chances are good something will happen. So it helps to hear what happens to others to help prepare.

BTW - take full advantage of your hubby's attention before it goes away.

[brer cat]

8. I am so glad you avoided the huge catastrophe.

Take good care of yourself, and keep us posted.

[malthaussen]

9. Been there, done that

Glad your stroke was even more trivial than mine. Mind you, in my case the diabetes didn't help. Still a little iffy on balance and muscle movements after 10 weeks. Writing is the worst, but I'm also having to re-learn typing.

Those MRIs are cool, though. I wonder how sonar operators and others with sensitive ears can stand them.

-- Mal

[femmocrat]

10. You were very lucky, SCD!

I'm so glad that you are going to be OK. Best DU vibes headed to SoCal!!

[WinkyDink]

13. {{SoCalDem}} Holy-moly! I hope you are feeling better!

[LiberalElite]

14. I had a mild ischemic stroke in 2008-

Although I knew about stroke symptoms before it happened - when I got up in the morning and found my balance was completely gone and I couldn't stop bumping into things - I just wondered what the HELL is this? I feared calling in sick because it was Christmas Eve. I thought they'd be mad at me. Didn't go to hospital till maybe 36 hours later after a friend who's a nurse told me I HAD TO. I got off easy considering this affected my brain stem; only out on disability a month. Probably due to the delay in treatment, I have residual permanent nerve damage on the right side. Also, my body temperature is colder on that side than the left and if my face flushes from exertion - it's only on one side. And you're right about the MRI. I'd describe it as the Theme Park Ride from Hell.

Since then I'm on a baby aspirin and a statin. At first I resisted taking the statin but, the cardiologist explained to me that the stroke was caused by was a very small clot in a very small blood vessel. It doesn't take a huge clunk of gunk, folks.

[Phentex]

15. Sounds very scary!

I am happy to hear you came out on the other side! And I don't blame your husband one bit.

Take care, you!

[Laffy Kat]

16. OMG. So glad you're ok.

You did the right thing, too. ALWAYS get to a hospital, fast. Time is tissue, as they say.

[Adrahil]

17. Wow! Glad to hear you're ok!

Follow the doc's advice!

[elleng]

18. Very glad you're so OK, SoCalDem,

and thanks for the useful description.

Please xPOST this in Seniors, for those who don't lounge (of whom there SHOULD NOT be many!)

[cwydro]

20. I don't know how old you are.

But that is scary. One of my biggest fears.

So glad you're ok.

[shenmue]

21. {{{Hugs}}}

[DFW]

22. You dodged a major bullet--don't blow your second chance!

325 aspirin is not huge, but higher than many "incident" survivors take (I'm on 100, and "beat the reaper" 11 years ago--just barely). I take lipitor 40mg as well. With me, it was a heart issue, but it's the same general type of problem--arterial clogging, restricted blood flow. I beat the reaper on April 29, 2004, but just barely.

If you haven't already, you might want to look into diet modification. It was painful for me--cutting out ice cream and cheese. Cutting red meat was surprisingly easy, and substituting olive oil for butter was a cinch. But, then, getting a free replay of at least 11 years was worth all the foregone cheese that I passed up, and my wife is a wizard with fish and poultry.

[SoCalDem]

26. The dietary stuff won't be a big issue for me..

My husband is diabetic, so I already cook "healthy".

I do not eat much dairy..rarely use butter

I prefer chicken to beef, and could easily become a vegetarian

I have always cooked with olive oil

What I will miss is the occasional home made cookie/cake/pie

It was amazing to see the good results for my heart.. i expected them to say it was not all that great.. The only thing in my tests that was an issue was the cholesterol

My big "baddies" are bacon & eggs

I always figured I would make it to 75 max..so I have a nine year "window" left if I am lucky and careful..People in my family die young..

[DFW]

27. We have that in common

Longevity is one thing my family is not known for. Of my four grandparents, two never made it to 70, and one barely made it to 80. My grandfather on my mom's side broke the mold and made it to 102. My parents never made it to 80, and they and ALL of their siblings had cancer (all but 1 died of it). My chances of seeing 80 are slim and none, and even 70 is not a given.

My wife has a mixed bag, too. All the women in her family had cancer, but ALL beat it, and lived into their 90s. The men rarely made it to 80. Her dad was only 74, and her brother barely made it past 50. She has already had breast cancer and needed two thyroid operations, the last of which left her with none--fortunately something that can be supplemented with pills now. Our daughters know this and are not thrilled. The elder one will be 32 this year and already needs a thyroid tumor removed.

Soooooooo, we try to be careful without giving up on ALL things fun, and we'll check out when we check out.

Like Warren Zevon sang, "I'll sleep when I'm dead," which, come to think of it, he now is.

[R B Garr]

28. SoCalDem, do you do any walking or exercise?

I guess the dietary is more important for lowering cholesterol levels, but maybe a 20-minute walk every day with your husband might help with changing all the numbers to your benefit.

Some vegan cakes with those new sugar substitutes might satisfy your cravings. Can you have canola oil? Oatmeal once a day is supposed to help with the cholesterol numbers. You can put leftover oatmeal in smoothies, too, with sugar-free protein powder if you don't like to eat a bowlful of it.

Well, take care of yourself. Thanks for sharing this. It sounds like you have a good plan.

[UTUSN]

23. Best to you n/t

[Ramses]

24. Could have been a much worse outcome

hoping for the best for you and yours.

[roguevalley]

25. I hug you. You are one lucky person. Live your life

with gusto and remember your pills. HUGS!

[GreenPartyVoter]

29. Holy smokes! Glad you are ok! *hugs*

[uppityperson]

30. Best wishes to you and to your husband. Scary times, glad you are ok.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. Yikes! I'm just glad to hear that you're okay!

Please take care of yourself! Maybe this is a reminder to do just that... and for the rest of us, too.