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

[chrisinhouston]

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.

[glatt]

Holy Shit, Chris. That's terrifying.

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

[Undertoad]

Sorry to hear of this!

[Sundae]

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...

Originally Posted by chrisinhouston

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.

[xoxoxoBruce]

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.

[fargon]

Sorry Chris.

[Clodfobble]

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

[limey]

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


Sent by thought transference

[Gravdigr]

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

[Aliantha]

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

[footfootfoot]

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

Speedy recovery to her!

[chrisinhouston]

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.

[xoxoxoBruce]

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

[BigV]

FYI:

FAST (stroke).

FAST is an acronym used as a mnemonic to help detect and enhance responsiveness to stroke victim needs. The acronym stands for Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time.[1]

Facial drooping: A section of the face, usually only on one side, that is drooping and hard to move
Arm weakness: The inability to raise one's arm fully
Speech difficulties: An inability or difficulty to understand or produce speech
Time: Time is of the essence when having a stroke, and an immediate call to emergency services or trip to the hospital is recommended.

[glatt]

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