I checked into the hospital at 9:00 am on Friday for the heart surgery. At 10:00 am, I was retrieved, completed paperwork, put in a flimsy gown (are any of them substantial?), hooked up to an IV, and hurried up to wait some more. I hadn't had any food or drink since the night before and had to be given sugar water through the IV. Finally, at 1:30 or 2:00 pm, I was wheeled into the operating room. I scooted to the table and apparently needed to do an abdominal workout before it was to begin - I s
I never thought that I would have enough to say three days in a row!
I got a call this morning that the doctor that will be performing the heart surgery will be out of town the week of Aug 25th (my original appointment) so the appointment had to be moved. She informed me that she rescheduled it to Aug 18th...NEXT WEEK!!
So - less time to freak out *but* moving freak-out anxiety sooner too.
I am nervous, worried (one possible risk is stroke - argh, I don't want another one), scared
I have decided to make this blog entry for all valid corrections and/or clarifications of previous or future posts.
In order of recent valid complaints:
1) Clarification: In a post long ago and far away, I said that my advisor was compassionate, sometimes to a fault. What I meant by that is some people are very compassionate and others are willing to take advantage of that compassion. It was not meant in any way as a negative, only that some people are opportunistic in that regard.
Bob has decided that it is time for us to get some regular exercise (apparently I have plumped up too much for his taste). We used to belong to a running group that met every Tues & Thurs and we averaged about 10 miles a week. Since I am unable to run fully just yet, we have signed up with a new group for beginners, incorporating walking into running/jogging. Last night was the first night.
Bob couldn't make it because he was "working" (pshaw ) so I was going solo which always makes m
After taking my meds regularly once again (mostly thanks to Bob's huge reminder note on the door), I feel able, willing, almost okay (no, not content & certainly not happy) enough to deal with life once again. Better living through chemistry, huh?
I'm hoping these antidepressants regulate the necessary neurotransmitters so that I can get off them ASAP. I don't like to take pills in the first place (although I always made an exception for birth control!) but I need to feel good about lif
I know that I am a little punked out because of med mix-up (I forgot to take my Effexor & Aggrenox yesterday), but I have been wondering lately how long stroke related stuff will be on my mind. I want it gone. Now.
Ugh, it is still here, dangit!
I was talking to someone about my frustration that I am unable to do certain things. He sat thoughtfully for a moment, pulled out a notepad, and wrote "YOU HAD A STROKE" on it. I hated it. I don't want it anymore. I don't want to blame ever
DH (Bob) is in Pennsylvania for the week so I am lazing around enjoying a *quiet* house (that boy sure can be loud!).
Last night, while watching TV, my neck started to hurt. I couldn't tell if it was a muscle or the same pain I got from when I stroked (carotid artery dissected). It freaked me out. I can't just have a sore neck anymore, I always will have stroke symptoms on my mind - man I hope that goes away, I have a long life yet to lead to worry constantly about a second stroke (35 on la
Ahhh...Alaska was beautiful...& cold! We flew into Anchorage and spent some time downtown - it was very pretty with baskets of flowers hanging from lamp posts. Then we took a bus to Whittier, AK, very quaint small harbor town. We walked around quite a bit before getting on the ship. We enjoyed the "small town-ness" of it all.
Two days at sea = boring! I read lots - thank you to Pam & Lisa for the book recommendations - I read Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (5 stars), The Red Tent (5 s
I recently received an email from a relative to whom I haven't spoken in quite awhile and she asked how I have turned the stroke experience into a positive. I am extremely flattered that she thought I could. I found the question stimulating and turned it over in my cranium for awhile.
Disadvantages :yucky: :
- A stroke is stinkin expensive (hospital, rehab, meds, etc.)!
- Being paralyzed is worse than it looks.
- The blow to self-esteem is severe and the fight to get it back is
I don't know if it is due to my meds, but I have been having the craziest (and most entertaining) dreams in some time!
A week ago, I dreamt that a good friend of mine (a stewardess) was in the girl's restroom (I rather expected him to be there, too!). On my way to the restroom, I saw my previous advisor/professor. While walking past him, he made a comment that I didn't catch. I turned around and asked him if he needed anything from me. He walked up to me, sniffed me, and then said no. I res
I had a nightmare last night like none I have had in a long time.
I was standing before my dissertation committee in my final defense for my Ph.D. and while my committee members were discussing a few topics amongst themselves, I had another stroke. This one was severe. My face was paralyzed and my whole left side went out. As I was laying on the floor of the conference room, I kept trying to say "call 911" but it came out distorted thanks to the paralysis and no one heard me or noticed that
Went for MRI / MRA and....(drum roll, please)...
First good news: they didn't drop me on the floor this time!
Second good news: after pushing the IV needle for the contrast *through* the whole vein and squirting pretty blood everywhere, they backed it out & it worked!
Third good news: Dr. Humorless (neurologist) showed damaged area of brain shrunk and artery is healed.
Hence Fourth good news: I got off Coumadin!! although now I'm on Aggrenox for 6 months.
Leading to
I really like made-up words. My dad says things 'in all seriosity' his reasoning is if you can be curious and ask something in curiosity, why can you be serious and say something in seriosity?!
I got my Masters degree at the State University of New York at Binghamton and one of my fellow classmates used to 'dilemmanize' over situations, 'I'm dilemmanizing over...' I liked how it turned into a verb.
Before I came here, I never knew that 'stroke' could be used not only as a noun, but als
I have tachycardia, which, directly translated, means fast beating heart. Usually the episodes last for around 10 minutes and my heart beats over 200 beats/min.
I had an episode recently, while I was on Coumadin and it hurt like all heck so I went to a cardiologist to see if my thin blood could be contributing to this issue.
Cardiologist did not like that I had chest pain and my heart is beating faster than 180 bpm. He thinks that it is a fatal type of tachycardia and needs further tes
Hubby and I decided to just hang out together last night and he suggested a bike ride - each with our own bikes!!
I said we could ride to the park which is about 4 miles round trip and he seemed up for it. As we started out, he saw someone he wanted to talk to so he said he would catch up with me. I was riding happily along and knew that I had to pedal up and over an overpass - I DID IT! I was grinning so wide that I had to stop and pick bugs out of my teeth. :big_grin:
Once I got to
I have been semi-successfully teaching my affected side some new tricks lately.
For instance, my left hand can now brush my teeth (yeah, yeah, it's an electric toothbrush!) and it can blow dry my hair (though I never fully blow dry my hair, just get the wet out).
I am trying to teach my left foot to walk more on the instep to strengthen the ankle muscle but I have not been successful at this whatsoever.
I am trying to train my brain to focus and pay attention more, wait, what was
Yesterday, May 13, 2006 was my six month "anniversary(?)" of my stroke. I decided to make a timeline of this experience.
Start of November - migraines with blindness
11/11 - TIA at work, visit doctor had "normal" CT scan
11/13 - TIA at 10k starting line, stroke during nap
11/13 - 11/16 - ICU
11/16 - 11/18 - regular hospital
11/18 - 12/1 - rehab hospital (released from hospital on Dec 1st)
11/18 - moved finger - arm came along slowly over the next week
11/20 - dressed myself
"Pity party for one?"
I am having a heck of a time remaining positive anymore...
I get ladened with thoughts and feelings of bitterness that I have to recover as best I can from something I spent most of my life trying to prevent (watched weight, BP, ate healthy, exercised, didn't smoke, etc).
Dang it all - I practically preached a healthy way of life. I come from a long line of regreters & I admit that I regret that I didn't take full advantage of my health the way I should h
I have a difficult time going to sleep at night (and a harder time waking up in the morning). So, I have decided to try meditation as a way to calm my mind.
I relax, listen to my breath and picture all of the craziness in my mind being gathered up with the incoming breath and directed out with the outgoing breath. To accomplish this, I needed to picture my mind. My picture resulted in a very quaint and bright attic. It has lovely hardwood floors and hardwood paneling on the wall with window
My 5 month checkup with the neurologist went swimmingly. The poor guy has no sense of humor, I swear. He asked what happened to my knees. I told him that my husband pushed me (very obvious that I was joking) and he just looked at us. Hubby said that I had to tell the truth (buzzkill) so I did.
Dr. Humorless asked if there was any recent progress and we told him that I can now skip :Clap-Hands:
He looked shocked and shook his head, I nodded my head smiling widely. He proceeded to expl
I have been trying to get back into running so each night, my husband and I alternate regular walking with brisk walks and walking backwards. The night before last, I gripped hubby's hand and said "let's try to skip" he asked if I was sure since I haven't been successful with it in the past and I said "c'mon, let's try it!" So, holding tightly to his hand for balance and support...
WE SKIPPED!!!
I couldn't do it for long since my left leg wasn't cooperating fully, but I did it!
I have never been particularly graceful but I usually saved myself from extreme embarrassment (usually!)
Boy how that has changed since the stroke. I have fallen enough times to not count any longer. Today, as I was walking and stepping up on a curb, my left leg didn't lift high enough & my toes caught the curb. I tried wildly to hurry it up to catch myself, but *nooooo*! In an uppity scale neighborhood, I went flailing onto the rather new (read: very rough) sidewalk scraping both knees
I am so incredibly lucky to have a spouse that is a nuturing caregiver yet pushes me when I need it.
First, if not for him, I sincerely doubt I would have ever called 911. I was just so out of it and apathetic about my hemiplegia. One of the more humorous things (looking back it is funny) was when my husband was bent over me and yelling "how can you not be freaking out that you can't move your left side?!!" and all I could think of was "I don't know" I guess it just didn't seem to be a big
I am a 34 year old happily married woman who is a non-smoker, long distance runner with low blood pressure who had a stroke November 13, 2005.
I had been experiencing severe headaches that I just assumed were migraines for about 2 weeks. Then on a Friday afternoon (November 11th), I had trouble walking with my left leg, just for a couple of steps along with a wicked headache. I decided to call the doctor and made an appointment for 3:15 that afternoon. I just thought I was stressed out and
First - Bob is home. He got back from Nigeria in mid-Dec, about 2 weeks earlier than anticipated. It is so good to have him back!
Okay - to the meat and point of this post.
I have had to return to PT recently due to shoulder pain (on the affected side) and knee pain (unaffected side).
Both are directly and indirectly (respectively) related to the stroke. Subluxation (slight out of socket) of my affected shoulder is due to weak muscles and has just recently decided to rear its ugly
