Not the best Father's Day, my wife had a stroke!
 

Well it actually started on Saturday night. We were headed to bed and she went to get a hand towel out of one of the lower bathroom cabinets. She came to bed and said she had the wierdest feeling of numbness on her left side after reaching down to get the towel which was at the back of the cabinet. She figured she must have pinched a nerve in her back as she had twisted in a funny way to get the towel. We went to bed and Sunday morning she was the same, numbness on the left side of her body from head to toe! Not total numbness but a tingly feeling like when you go have dental work and the Novocaine is wearing off.

We have a big hospital about a mile from our home and the wait time in the ER on a Sunday morning wasn't bad and she was seen in 5 minutes or so. They did Xrays and a cat scan and took blood. Within an hour the Dr decided to admit her and we were taken to a room where they came and did an ultrasound of her neck arteries and took her for an MRI.

A few hours later a Dr confirmed she had a TIA stroke. She got moved to the neurology floor and will be there for a few days. They will start physical therapy and monitor her condition.

Crazy day. Wish we had acted sooner but her health is generally very good, cholesterol is low and all the other good blood numbers. She turns 65 this year. Just didn't seem probable that it was a stroke.

Holy Shit, Chris. That's terrifying.

I hope it turns out that it was minor and the damage wasn't severe.

Sorry to hear of this! :(

Chris I'm SO sorry to hear this. Please accept my love and best wishes for you, your family and especially your wife.
Strokes are terrifying because they can come out of the blue, and the old rules about people having to be old or unhealthy don't really seem to apply any more.
I hope she has a full recovery. I've always wanted to strangle the physios I've worked with; albeit for different reasons than I've wanted to punch the psychiatrists. The former do a marvellous job however.

BTW, if I wasn't so poor myself, I'd really envy your healthcare system.
I've waited eight hours in A&E before. And no, there wasn't a massive RTA or a terrorist attack happening at the time...

Bummer. I hope it just turns out to be a warning to make adjustments, and she's back to her old self quickly.

Monster had a stroke and she's back to her sweet lovable self. ;)

Sorry Chris.

Give her an extra hug from us, Chris. Hope she gets released from the hospital soon.

Oh Chris! So sorry to see this. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!


Sent by thought transference

Well damn, Chris. Prayers from KY. Hope things go well.

With any luck she will be fine just like monster, who may disagree that she's fine compared to her old self considering the adjustments she's had to make and other ongoing issues, but it would be great for your wiwife to have an equally lucky escape frome worse damage that's for sure. My thoughts are with you. Xx

Terrible, but really great you were there and so close to the hospital.

Speedy recovery to her!

Thanks to all for the Cellar Hugs and replies! My wife, Sarah got released last night at 7pm so my son and I went over and picked her up and brought her home. She was very happy to be home and able to sleep more comfortably in her own bed.

The Neurologist that saw her during her stay felt that the echo-cardiogram that they did yesterday morning showed she didn't have any more boogie men floating around in her blood and it was just a freak small blood clot that must have gotten stuck in some small artery in her brain and caused the stroke. She prescribed a full strength aspirin every day as well as a Statin drug to keep the blood and heart in a safe zone. Going to drop off the prescription later but it may be held up as the Dr. forgot to sign it!

Overall we have to give our hospital high marks for quality and speed of service, I know that is often not the case elsewhere. Our hospital was originally a small outlet type shopping mall that never opened and went into bankruptcy 30 years or so ago. Eventually a group of local doctors turned it into a medical center with offices inside where the shops would be, it's a great place to go walk if the weather is bad as it is all carpeted and really quite nicely decorated. Eventually they built a big hospital at one end and everything is quite new and remodeled now. Most room are private and the staff is great, really friendly and caring. About the only thing they just still can't get right is the food. Breakfast was always overcooked eggs resembling yellow cardboard with some kind of turkey based sausage or bacon and lunch and dinner reminded us of hearty middle America fare, mostly meat of some kind with gravy and overcooked vegetables! Sometimes it resembled stuff you see at a church social or potluck party. My wife did say the desserts were pretty good. Also they put her on a cadio diet so everything was very bland and really needed a shake of salt for her liking. They also have a patient release area where patients are taken to and debriefed with a nurse going over discharge papers. Kind of nice as it was away from the main area of the hospital so it was easy to park and pick up, etc. I was kind of surprised they let us just walk out, no wheelchair like the hospitals usually insist on.

She will have some followups with the Dr. and was given some exercises to do by the folks from OT and PT. They both felt she was really in pretty good shape. She still has some numbness and a tingley feeling on her left side but her sense of feel for temperatures is coming back. Like when she drinks a hot or cold liquid, now she can feel it in her mouth and throat more like normal. She says her and and left food still feel like Novocaine wearing off. Hopefully it will continue to get better.

Did she believe you when you told her the physical therapist recommended car washing? :haha:

FYI:

FAST (stroke).

That's helpful, but it says nothing about numbness.

Note that when you first notice the symptoms, note the time. This is critical for the doctors as some strokes can be reversed or treated with medication if given within the first four hours.

Also, if the victim is diabetic, check the glucose level and give juice or glucogel if able.

I don't think FAST is remotely helpful. I had none of those symptoms either, and I think it encourages people to assume it isn't a stroke if none of those are present, which is not constructive.

Sorry I missed this thread before Chris. I hope for a good recovery.

Yes, in hindsight we should have given the situation the benefit of the doubt and headed to the hospital right away. The Dr did say that most likely in her case it wouldn't have changed the outcome. He said the clot most likely did what it did and was done. She is slowly regaining some feeling in her arm and upper left side but says her left leg feels cold (which it isn't) and every now and then she gets a hot flash feeling and it is super warm for a moment and then she feels as thought it is cold again.

She sent an email to our regular Dr. as they have a patient portal and he had his head nurse call to schedule an extended appointment with him for next week. She is supposed to follow up with a neurologist but hasn't been able to get an appointment any time soon. One office said end of July! She has worked from home this week and may do that next week for a few days until she sees our family Dr. Not sure how this will effect her work as she had several projects with local travel as well as one to Mobile, Alabama in July. She was supposed to go to the Netherlands in October and I really had hoped to go on that trip.

Pshaw, wives/mothers might do that for family members, but themselves? :headshake I'll be fine in the morning, dear. ;)

If it's any consolation, Chris, the numbness and weakness I suffered initially on one side eventually wore off/were overcome with exercise, but they kind of "ghosted" for a while -so I'd expect not to be able to feel/do something when actually I could.

Her family doctor should be able to speed up the neurologist process if they feel it's necessary, but honestly, there's a good chance that it isn't, just the hospital covering their backs. Seems to me it's more necessary that you go with her to the Netherlands, eh? ;) Don't beat yourself up about not going to the hospital The type they can "reverse" are usually the more severe strokes. (I wouldn't have gone either if I hadn't been at the PT when it happened and he called an ambulance).

Your wife just needs to make extra sure she is getting enough sleep and go easy on the stress for a bit, and if she can't/wont do that, that's where she needs you to look out for her :)

Wishing her a speedy recovery.

Thanks Monster! So far each day has been a bit better.

Well this could get interesting. My wife saw that our Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance account has started getting some of the bills. Everything so far seems to be covered except the Neurologist who either does not take health insurance or is out of network. Crazy! Why do they allow physicians to cover cases if they don't take a major health plan like ours?

May have to fight that one as we certainly had no choice in the matter.

Fight it! My experience with healthcare companies is that it is a tedious and frustrating process, but if you out-stubborn them you will very often win, usually in about 6-9 months' time. They are counting on people giving up and just paying.

That.

The bastards.

Yes yes yes!!!! Listen to Clod. MY son's bills topped 2 million in 6 months. Its a nightmare, but be diligent and fight that shit.

Just an update. My wife and I had a nice weekend, we went swimming at the kids pool and did a typical 4th of July cookout on Saturday. The numbness is pretty much gone. She still has this feeling of cold spots on her left leg and foot that comes and goes. Overall she just feels tired and feels the need to rest more often.

She worked from home last week. They do a lot of conference calls with clients so she can just sit at her home desk computer and call in and interact when needed. She went to the office yesterday from 9-1. She came home and had a 1.5 hour conference call afterwards and took a nap. Last night she decided to just work every other day at the office this week so she doesn't overdo it so she is home today.

Sadly my schedule and regular exercise program has suffered from all this. I had been getting up with her prior to the stroke and getting in an hour of walking or a bike ride but since she is home and tends to sleep in a bit later I haven't been out as much. Summer is really heating up now and we have had so much rain that walking has been hard to get done. Hopefully this week I can get back into it.

Good to hear she's rebounding. Working at a routine she's competent in, at a pace that's comfortable, should be helpful in restoring her self confidence and avoiding depression. Much of any recovery from a major kick in the head is mental, and the support from you and family is paramount. Sounds like she's getting that.

Tell her the Cellar says, you go girl! :cheerldr:

Everything Bruce said.

Glad things are progressing well.

great!