So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind:-)

[wab]

Ok, so I am sat here just taking it easy after suffering a mild stroke 2 weeks ago. I'm not looking for sympathy just wondering about other peoples experiences with this condition.?
A bit of background for you, I am 42 years old,non smoker for the last 6 years, light drinker, reasonably fit (swim 3000 metres a week) diet is normal i guess if not brilliant and wham, I am at work and my left arm starts moving on its own, I feel sick and I suddenly can't speak. I have never been so scared in all my life! Luckily for me my speech came back after about 15 mins, I think I gave the paramedic an ear ache as I was so relieved! Anyway I am undergoing various tests to determine a cause if they can......done a lot of thinking about stuff over the last week or so...realising I worry about crap that doesn't matter and maybe not enough about some things that do.
Anyway don't want to depress anyone, just interested in other peoples experiences.

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[Mr.B]

I have a co-worker and very good friend that had a stroke two years ago (at the age of 36), luckily enough he had the time to call his wife before he blacked out. He woke up a day or so after arriving at the hospital, he couldn't move or speak. A couple of days later he got his feeling back, but only on his left side, the entire right side was completely gone. It took him a week before he could start to talk again.
While in the hospital he over heard the doctor say to a nurse that he was never going to walk again.. He later said that If he'd never heard that it would probably be true.
So thank God this man is a stubborn bastard, it took him a year but he was able to walk again, and a year after that he was permitted to drive a car again (with some modifications do to the movement limitations in his right side).

He has come a long long way on recovery, and for that I salute him.
He still has more recovery to do, although he will never be 100% again.
He still has very limited control over his right hand and arm.

And I agree full-heartedly with you, You can not worry about the small irritations in life, it's to short for that.
His stroke gave me a real wake up call. Don't get stuck in a rut, do what you want to do, and do it now!

 

[totalshell]

had a stroke (TIA) at 45 went blind for 5-10 minutes heavy bout of vertigo followed.. quacks could find no cause prescribed no drugs said might have another tomorrow or never again it too k two years ( as predicted by consultant)to be symptom free.. you think it wont happen to you.. so did I... was riding my bike when it happened, thankfully at walking pace!

 

[MNBikerPup]

Back in H.S., I had a fellow student who suffered a stroke his sophmore year. As in, he was 15-16 years of age. What a stroke is is basically a "brain attack". Same thing that occurs with a heart attack, but occuring in the brain. Can be caused by a clot or hemorrage. I pray they can find the cause and prevent any future CVAs (Cerebral Vascular Attack). Good luck to you Bro, my thoughts are with you. I would suggest talking to your doctor about possible Aspirin regiment, but ONLY if it's determined that it was caused by a clot. If hemorage, then you don't want to. Aspirin is also good for the heart. When you turn 35, you reach heart attack age. So, be aware.

 

[Tim]

My only experience with this is my father in law had a stroke when he was a little younger than us (I'm 42 also). This was back in the late 80's. His outcome wasn't as good, as he lost movement in his left side. He's still as sharp as a tack, albeit with reduced verbal capacity. He drives and frequently does major road-trips for days on end by himself (I suppose that has slowed down a bit since he hit 70).

I don't know if this sort of thing is congenital or has much to do with health, or if it just happens. One more reminder to live life to its fullest every day. Glad to hear you're recovering and hope they help you work towards prevention going forward.

 

[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

I have a co-worker and very good friend that had a stroke two years ago (at the age of 36), luckily enough he had the time to call his wife before he blacked out. He woke up a day or so after arriving at the hospital, he couldn't move or speak. A couple of days later he got his feeling back, but only on his left side, the entire right side was completely gone. It took him a week before he could start to talk again.
While in the hospital he over heard the doctor say to a nurse that he was never going to walk again.. He later said that If he'd never heard that it would probably be true.
So thank God this man is a stubborn bastard, it took him a year but he was able to walk again, and a year after that he was permitted to drive a car again (with some modifications do to the movement limitations in his right side).

He has come a long long way on recovery, and for that I salute him.
He still has more recovery to do, although he will never be 100% again.
He still has very limited control over his right hand and arm.

And I agree full-heartedly with you, You can not worry about the small irritations in life, it's to short for that.
His stroke gave me a real wake up call. Don't get stuck in a rut, do what you want to do, and do it now!

I consider myself very lucky as apart from tiredness I don't appear to have any lasting effects, I also have full mobility which is fantastic. Whilst in hospital I got to see some real shocking effects from having a stroke, so every time I get down I give myself a slap!
I should be able to go back to work in a week or so which will be a step back to normality.

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[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

had a stroke (TIA) at 45 went blind for 5-10 minutes heavy bout of vertigo followed.. quacks could find no cause prescribed no drugs said might have another tomorrow or never again it too k two years ( as predicted by consultant)to be symptom free.. you think it wont happen to you.. so did I... was riding my bike when it happened, thankfully at walking pace!

I had fuzziness in my eyesight, blindness must have been terrifying! On your bike is even worse.

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[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

Back in H.S., I had a fellow student who suffered a stroke his sophmore year. As in, he was 15-16 years of age. What a stroke is is basically a "brain attack". Same thing that occurs with a heart attack, but occuring in the brain. Can be caused by a clot or hemorrage. I pray they can find the cause and prevent any future CVAs (Cerebral Vascular Attack). Good luck to you Bro, my thoughts are with you. I would suggest talking to your doctor about possible Aspirin regiment, but ONLY if it's determined that it was caused by a clot. If hemorage, then you don't want to. Aspirin is also good for the heart. When you turn 35, you reach heart attack age. So, be aware.

My god to have one that young is scary, doctor said mine was probably caused by a clot. I had a MRI scan on my brain which showed an isolated area of damage to the right frontal part of the brain which is consistent with the stroke, I have been on aspirin since it happened along with a statin. I have now switched to another drug whose name I can't pronounce!
This week I am having ECG tests to see if I have a problem with my heart.
Thanks for your kind wishes.

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[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

My only experience with this is my father in law had a stroke when he was a little younger than us (I'm 42 also). This was back in the late 80's. His outcome wasn't as good, as he lost movement in his left side. He's still as sharp as a tack, albeit with reduced verbal capacity. He drives and frequently does major road-trips for days on end by himself (I suppose that has slowed down a bit since he hit 70).

I don't know if this sort of thing is congenital or has much to do with health, or if it just happens. One more reminder to live life to its fullest every day. Glad to hear you're recovering and hope they help you work towards prevention going forward.

Sorry to here about your father in law, I consider myself very lucky. I can't drive for a month (law)which I will take gladly,it's a small price to pay. Who knows why it happens, in some people you could probably pin it down to a lifestyle.... in my case I don't know, I have thought about it a lot. As I said before I tend to stress about stuff I have no control over, this has got worse over the last few years. I have to work on chilling out, maybe more bikes will help......)

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[Tim]

Yes - MORE BIKES. My father-in-law uses his stroke as an excuse for everything Everytime he forgets something or doesn't want to do something, it's because of the stroke (he has always had a good sense of humor and never lost it). So that's your new thing - you need lots of bikes and beer to relax you.

 

[Kanticoy]

It's not at all uncommon. You are probably right about it being a thrombolytic stroke (clot). They are usually small clots that get temporarily stuck. They have already put you on a daily TPA (Asprin) which you should be on for the rest of your life. The other medications you might be prescribed are coumadin, warfarin, etc (blood thinners). I can't see them keeping you on these forever. An iridium dye test should probably be done on you so that you can find out if there are anymore clots (actually plaque deposits) floating around that might cause issues later. There probably are a few in there, but the question is if they are big enough to circulate and cause issues for you later. What happens is we all eat cheeseburgers, etc., and they cause plaque build up inside of our arteries (elevated cholesterol will cause this) and break loose and get lodged. Your active swimming regiment, while good for you, probably caused the excess blood volume which caused the plaque deposit to break loose. Keep an eye on your cholesterol and get yearly bloodwork done to check your platelet count, etc. and you should be fine. Just keep it in check. Glad you're okay man.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

 

[MNBikerPup]

More wind therapy. I know that helps me chill. Open road, no destination in mind, hours of pure bliss.

 

[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

Yes - MORE BIKES. My father-in-law uses his stroke as an excuse for everything Everytime he forgets something or doesn't want to do something, it's because of the stroke (he has always had a good sense of humor and never lost it). So that's your new thing - you need lots of bikes and beer to relax you.

I'm taking this on board!;D

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[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

It's not at all uncommon. You are probably right about it being a thrombolytic stroke (clot). They are usually small clots that get temporarily stuck. They have already put you on a daily TPA (Asprin) which you should be on for the rest of your life. The other medications you might be prescribed are coumadin, warfarin, etc (blood thinners). I can't see them keeping you on these forever. An iridium dye test should probably be done on you so that you can find out if there are anymore clots (actually plaque deposits) floating around that might cause issues later. There probably are a few in there, but the question is if they are big enough to circulate and cause issues for you later. What happens is we all eat cheeseburgers, etc., and they cause plaque build up inside of our arteries (elevated cholesterol will cause this) and break loose and get lodged. Your active swimming regiment, while good for you, probably caused the excess blood volume which caused the plaque deposit to break loose. Keep an eye on your cholesterol and get yearly bloodwork done to check your platelet count, etc. and you should be fine. Just keep it in check. Glad you're okay man.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

Hi thanks for your input, are you in the medical business as you seem to know what you are talking about! I seem to remember the doctor talking about dye tests, but nothing came of it. I will have to ask about that.
Your suggestion about the swimming is a bit alarming, I really love it. Afraid to go back to it now.:-\

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[Kanticoy]

Yep, I am a paramedic. NREMT-P, CCEMT-P. And don't let the swimming scare you. It's more a change of diet toward the good and regular cholesterol checks that you should worry about. In fact, inter artery plaque build up can be reversed through exercise and diet. You want it to flush out of you, you just don't want big chunks of it to break away. Keep exercising without fear man! It'll do you good!

 

[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

Yep, I am a paramedic. NREMT-P, CCEMT-P. And don't let the swimming scare you. It's more a change of diet toward the good and regular cholesterol checks that you should worry about. In fact, inter artery plaque build up can be reversed through exercise and diet. You want it to flush out of you, you just don't want big chunks of it to break away. Keep exercising without fear man! It'll do you good!

Thanks again for the advice, everything you say makes sense to me. I wish the doctors would speak the same language as you.

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[Kanticoy]

Thanks again for the advice, everything you say makes sense to me. I wish the doctors would speak the same language as you.

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Medics are people oriented. Doctors are task oriented. That's a big compliment to me man. Thank you. You'll be just fine.

 

[Cafe_to_go]

Hope you are doing better, but just out of curiosity, when was the last time you seen a doctor before your stroke? I rarely seen a doctor up about a year ago, now I see my doctor every 3 months, stress, bad eating habits, lack of exercise finally caught to me and really considering making a career change.

 

[wab]

Re: Re: So, I had a stroke....and not the smoking kind

Hope you are doing better, but just out of curiosity, when was the last time you seen a doctor before your stroke? I rarely seen a doctor up about a year ago, now I see my doctor every 3 months, stress, bad eating habits, lack of exercise finally caught to me and really considering making a career change.

Hi, I work as a Non Destructive Test Engineer in a nuclear implicated environment which includes operating within a reactor compartment on nuclear submarine's so I have to have a yearly medical and check up. Blood pressure, urine samples,lung capacity etc. However I suppose this would not have picked anything up unless my pressure was up that day, also no blood samples are taken either which may have shown something? I didn't have any lead in illness either so I guess unless I had been screened for heart problems etc nothing would have caused alarm.:-\

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[Cafe_to_go]

Another question for you, do you consume energy drinks on a regular basis? A former co-worker of mine was telling me that her 17 cousin had a stroke and the doctors think it was the energy drinks that caused it.