FA+
Shop
A Debriefing (long)
8 years ago
Okay, the story so far:
Went to school for my early morning class, left campus to go to my appointment with my primary doctor (yearly wellness check and a few other things). My doctor was running 30 minutes late. I sat in the waiting area and as I was filling out the intake form, I noticed my writing was odd... getting smaller and my hand wasn't gripping the pen like normal. "Well, this isn't right" I said out loud, and heard an odd slur in my words. *Am I having a stroke?* I thought (really!), just as the nurse called my name. We got me to an exam room, and when my doctor arrived I told her "Something is wrong." She must've heard the weirdness in my speech, as she did a few quick response tests (grab her fingers, touch my nose, etc) then told the nurse to get ahold of a paramedic, stat. We didn't have to wait long, but just before they arrived I felt my ring and pinky fingers of my right hand go numb all the way to the elbow. It was like I banged my funnybone, only I hadn't moved anything. My doctor was calm but concerned and kept me talking until the paramedics game, bundled me up in a stretcher and got me into the vehicle. I watched as they put in a big IV needle (a 16) and experienced a short trip to the hospital (the doctors' office was just across the street!) and into the ER.
Triage pegged my symptoms as a 1, I went in for an immediate CT Scan and an MRI. THe MRI indicated I had a stroke, the CT Scan showed "irregularities" and narrowing of blood vessels in the left hemisphere. They planned a more thorough angiogram for the next day. They would not let me have food until after the angiogram, so I was on an IV drip. I alerted people as I thought of them (Ken, Mama Mel, etc) and waited for the test so I could eat. The next day brought a parade of therapists to assess my capabilities. Outside some pauses in my talking and a slight slur, my speech was fine. My right hand still felt partially numb, but I could walk with little problem -- in fact the therapist walked me around and got me a robe to wear on our path. Getting back to my room, I napped for a bit. Ken came in and immediately had work pester him. I noticed that my robe had gotten stained -- the IV in my left arm was leaking a bit after the nurse flushed it. I figured she'd just get some gauze and tuck it in. Instead she tried to make a new IV entrance, in my hand. I was on the phone with Mel when I felt the beginnings of my vasovagal response (I'm hyper sensitive to pain in the skin and will sometimes make me pass out from the pain). As is my habit, I said "Oh no, I'm going... I'm going...." and then I was gone.
I came to into a room full of people! And then I vomited. Apparently, when I pass out, my heart stops. I say this because I have never fainted with a heart monitor on before, which is why there were so many people in my room -- my heart stopped for 24 seconds. They were in the process of getting my comatose body down to ICU when I woke. I tried to say "vasovagal response" but it wasn't coming out, so instead I pointed to my left hand and said "Pain!" The on duty cardiologist asked "Pain response?" and I nodded. They checked my blood pressure again and saw that it had come back. If it hadn't, the angiogram would've been canceled until the next day. A few more checks to verify no further heart issues, then it was rolling me down to the basement for the angiogram. The doctor was running late, so I asked for more blankets and snoozed while waiting.
I warned the techs about my sensitivity to anesthesia, and when they finally got the call he was 15 minutes out, they prepped me for the test. They had to shave my groin as they were going to poke a port into my carotid artery, then feed the tube up to my brain before injecting contrast -- only the initial insertion into my leg hurt, and they had numbed the area so it wasn't that bad. My head was taped down and several times they told me to hold my breath so they could take clear pictures -- I had my eyes closed and saw whenever they clicked the shutter, a storm of little lightnings flashed across my eyes. It was neat. (I am asking them for copies of those!) The images show that I definite had a stroke: an M1 stenosis of the left anterior carotid artery.
Now that I had the test, I could eat! There were no dietary restrictions, but they tested my blood sugar before every meal to see if I needed insulin (I only needed it once, and a tiny dose at that) and pretty much confirmed that I was not diabetic, but pre-diabetic. The next day brought a new "scare" -- they started giving me hypertension meds and the first one was Hydralazine in my IV. Within 30 minutes, I started feeling a headache, and I felt like I was a water balloon -- I could feel and see my pulse, and my heart was racing. I started tearing up for no discernible reason. I called the nurse, they took my blood pressure and it had spiked to 205/110! Panting, I recognized the name of the drug from the last time I was in a hospital, and I seem to remember them spending several days trying to get my pressure down without success. Before, I thought it was just because my gallbladder was going south -- now I realized it was the drug. I mention this, and they tried a different drug -- after they gave me morphine and some oral drugs to get my anxiety and headache calmed down -- and that one (VasoTec) worked as advertised. I stayed a couple more days in the hospital to be monitored as they slowly got me back on *my* battery of drugs and ensure no further incidents occurred.
Exactly one week from the aborted doctor visit, I was again at my primary doctor's office. She went over the reports with me, and she was greatly concerned that one of the reports indicated that there was evidence of *multiple strokes*, age indeterminate. I'm way too young to have multiple strokes, let along silent strokes, so now I'm waiting for specialists' referrals and see if anyone can figure this out before I have another one.
Yes, there are necessary changes in my life to deal with this new reality, but I got off lightly this time. Time is the most important factor when dealing with strokes -- I could not have been luckier about where I had my stroke and the time between first symptoms and care at the ER. I do not have a stent in my head -- we are treating this with medicine until new tests indicate otherwise.
Went to school for my early morning class, left campus to go to my appointment with my primary doctor (yearly wellness check and a few other things). My doctor was running 30 minutes late. I sat in the waiting area and as I was filling out the intake form, I noticed my writing was odd... getting smaller and my hand wasn't gripping the pen like normal. "Well, this isn't right" I said out loud, and heard an odd slur in my words. *Am I having a stroke?* I thought (really!), just as the nurse called my name. We got me to an exam room, and when my doctor arrived I told her "Something is wrong." She must've heard the weirdness in my speech, as she did a few quick response tests (grab her fingers, touch my nose, etc) then told the nurse to get ahold of a paramedic, stat. We didn't have to wait long, but just before they arrived I felt my ring and pinky fingers of my right hand go numb all the way to the elbow. It was like I banged my funnybone, only I hadn't moved anything. My doctor was calm but concerned and kept me talking until the paramedics game, bundled me up in a stretcher and got me into the vehicle. I watched as they put in a big IV needle (a 16) and experienced a short trip to the hospital (the doctors' office was just across the street!) and into the ER.
Triage pegged my symptoms as a 1, I went in for an immediate CT Scan and an MRI. THe MRI indicated I had a stroke, the CT Scan showed "irregularities" and narrowing of blood vessels in the left hemisphere. They planned a more thorough angiogram for the next day. They would not let me have food until after the angiogram, so I was on an IV drip. I alerted people as I thought of them (Ken, Mama Mel, etc) and waited for the test so I could eat. The next day brought a parade of therapists to assess my capabilities. Outside some pauses in my talking and a slight slur, my speech was fine. My right hand still felt partially numb, but I could walk with little problem -- in fact the therapist walked me around and got me a robe to wear on our path. Getting back to my room, I napped for a bit. Ken came in and immediately had work pester him. I noticed that my robe had gotten stained -- the IV in my left arm was leaking a bit after the nurse flushed it. I figured she'd just get some gauze and tuck it in. Instead she tried to make a new IV entrance, in my hand. I was on the phone with Mel when I felt the beginnings of my vasovagal response (I'm hyper sensitive to pain in the skin and will sometimes make me pass out from the pain). As is my habit, I said "Oh no, I'm going... I'm going...." and then I was gone.
I came to into a room full of people! And then I vomited. Apparently, when I pass out, my heart stops. I say this because I have never fainted with a heart monitor on before, which is why there were so many people in my room -- my heart stopped for 24 seconds. They were in the process of getting my comatose body down to ICU when I woke. I tried to say "vasovagal response" but it wasn't coming out, so instead I pointed to my left hand and said "Pain!" The on duty cardiologist asked "Pain response?" and I nodded. They checked my blood pressure again and saw that it had come back. If it hadn't, the angiogram would've been canceled until the next day. A few more checks to verify no further heart issues, then it was rolling me down to the basement for the angiogram. The doctor was running late, so I asked for more blankets and snoozed while waiting.
I warned the techs about my sensitivity to anesthesia, and when they finally got the call he was 15 minutes out, they prepped me for the test. They had to shave my groin as they were going to poke a port into my carotid artery, then feed the tube up to my brain before injecting contrast -- only the initial insertion into my leg hurt, and they had numbed the area so it wasn't that bad. My head was taped down and several times they told me to hold my breath so they could take clear pictures -- I had my eyes closed and saw whenever they clicked the shutter, a storm of little lightnings flashed across my eyes. It was neat. (I am asking them for copies of those!) The images show that I definite had a stroke: an M1 stenosis of the left anterior carotid artery.
Now that I had the test, I could eat! There were no dietary restrictions, but they tested my blood sugar before every meal to see if I needed insulin (I only needed it once, and a tiny dose at that) and pretty much confirmed that I was not diabetic, but pre-diabetic. The next day brought a new "scare" -- they started giving me hypertension meds and the first one was Hydralazine in my IV. Within 30 minutes, I started feeling a headache, and I felt like I was a water balloon -- I could feel and see my pulse, and my heart was racing. I started tearing up for no discernible reason. I called the nurse, they took my blood pressure and it had spiked to 205/110! Panting, I recognized the name of the drug from the last time I was in a hospital, and I seem to remember them spending several days trying to get my pressure down without success. Before, I thought it was just because my gallbladder was going south -- now I realized it was the drug. I mention this, and they tried a different drug -- after they gave me morphine and some oral drugs to get my anxiety and headache calmed down -- and that one (VasoTec) worked as advertised. I stayed a couple more days in the hospital to be monitored as they slowly got me back on *my* battery of drugs and ensure no further incidents occurred.
Exactly one week from the aborted doctor visit, I was again at my primary doctor's office. She went over the reports with me, and she was greatly concerned that one of the reports indicated that there was evidence of *multiple strokes*, age indeterminate. I'm way too young to have multiple strokes, let along silent strokes, so now I'm waiting for specialists' referrals and see if anyone can figure this out before I have another one.
Yes, there are necessary changes in my life to deal with this new reality, but I got off lightly this time. Time is the most important factor when dealing with strokes -- I could not have been luckier about where I had my stroke and the time between first symptoms and care at the ER. I do not have a stent in my head -- we are treating this with medicine until new tests indicate otherwise.
Take care of yourself, my friend.
You need hazard pay. /nod nod
-- Lia
You are so imaginative and groundbreaking, fun and funny and sadistic and cruel - I was an out and proud hetero evil prey-species because of your amazing art and fun personality.
Please get better. The world would be a dimmer and dumber place without you.
Tell me: what changes to your lifestyle are going to come out of this?
While I have a sweet tooth 30-feet-high I'm trying to tame, the diet suggested by the hospital doesn't mention sugars directly. I'm pre-diabetic, so it can be controlled with meds and diet (I want to get off that slide, thank you), but the diet specifically is low-salt, low-cholesterol. I'm trying the Stanford Diet as my first phase in rebooting my body:
1) Eat Food (real stuff, not processed),
2) Not Too Much (slow down on eating and let the stomach have time to inform the brain);
3) Mostly Plants (keep animal proteins to a sensible minimum)
I have a few other things I'm avoiding (soy, HFCS, etc), but the bottom line to losing weight is Calories In < Calories Out. That's why exercise is important along with dietary changes. It's going to be hard starting, but I'll get there.
I'm in a similar situation, here, but finding it hard to build up momentum and motivation. How are you addressing those factors (if they're factors, at all, I mean)?
I ask because coming from someone in the thick of it, you may have some insights that could help.
You may need to start having a medical alert bracelet, or just a 'cheat sheet' of your various medical everything handy in a purse. It might help with some of the complex everything at the hospital.