Ask a stroke victim anything.

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
Dec 2nd, 2009 - Went to work, made my rounds but I had a headache. Told my partner that I wasn't feeling well and went home.

Dec 3rd, 2009 - called into work, I'm not coming in tonight. The civil war game was on that night, I had a headache and I crash out instead.

Dec 4th, 2009 04:00 - Got up with my wife this morning....After a few minutes, Lynda notices something is wrong with me. I'm not realy talking, and acting strange, like I was messing with her.

One thing led to another, my wife calls an ambulance.

One minute, everything is fine, the next minute, I'm in the fight of my life. Thankfully, I had a couple of things going for me; My wife recognized the warning signs and called the ambulance, and the Emergency rescue gave me the blood thinners that ultimately saved my life.

Thank you Lynda! Thank you to the firemen from Forest Grove!
 

Key West

Banned
Jan 20, 2010
922
0
0
Age/height/weight/diet? Do you exercise regularly or at least once in a while.

Likely conditions for stroke (which of the following do you qualify?):
Over age 55
Male
African American, Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander
A family history of stroke
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Smoking cigarettes
Diabetes
Obesity and overweight
Cardiovascular disease
A previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
High levels of homocysteine (an amino acid in blood)
Birth control use or other hormone therapy
Cocaine use
Heavy use of alcohol
 
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Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
4
76
Wow, glad to hear you caught it before any major issues!

My mom had a stroke, and she lost the ability to use her writing hand. She also had to get her carotid artery stented after some of the plaque went into her brain.

Full blown strokes are scary.
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
22,779
5,941
146
Wow, I'm sorry to hear that news for you. My Sister's husband had a bad bleed last year, they airlifted him from Yakima to Seattle in a jet to save his life. He recovered fully has no physical deficits.
My aviation friend was not so lucky and is just getting to the point of driving a car, a year later.
Our new neighbor at the beach had one two Saturdays ago and I found him, we called 911 and did what we could. He passed on that Thursday:(
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
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Wow, glad to hear you caught it before any major issues!

My mom had a stroke, and she lost the ability to use her writing hand. She also had to get her carotid artery stented after some of the plaque went into her brain.

Full blown strokes are scary.

I had a fist sized clot blocking my Cartoid Artery in the left side of my brain. They think it may have been an injury, but don't recall anything.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
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Wow, I'm sorry to hear that news for you. My Sister's husband had a bad bleed last year, they airlifted him from Yakima to Seattle in a jet to save his life. He recovered fully has no physical deficits.
My aviation friend was not so lucky and is just getting to the point of driving a car, a year later.
Our new neighbor at the beach had one two Saturdays ago and I found him, we called 911 and did what we could. He passed on that Thursday:(

I hear of strokes all the time now. Best thing I can say is you have to get help as soon as possible when you have symptoms.
 

sygyzy

Lifer
Oct 21, 2000
14,001
4
76
What does "fist-sized" clot mean? I thought clots occurred in veins/arteries, none of which are the size of fists.
 

amdhunter

Lifer
May 19, 2003
23,332
249
106
Damn. That sucks. I know this is a messed up thing to ask, but is your overall appearance OK? It isn't like how Peter Griffin was in that one family guy episode right?

Peter's+McStroke.jpg
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
What does "fist-sized" clot mean? I thought clots occurred in veins/arteries, none of which are the size of fists.

In my catscan, the area around the left part of my brain was a dark area about the size of a "fist" not the actual artery.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
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Damn. That sucks. I know this is a messed up thing to ask, but is your overall appearance OK? It isn't like how Peter Griffin was in that one family guy episode right?

Peter's+McStroke.jpg

LOL, no, I look pretty close to the picture in my sig (Me)
 

MJinZ

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2009
8,192
0
0
What does "fist-sized" clot mean? I thought clots occurred in veins/arteries, none of which are the size of fists.

I'm sure you can get a fairly large sized embolism but fist sized may be an exaggeration for most cases.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
I'm sure you can get a fairly large sized embolism but fist sized may be an exaggeration for most cases.

My doctor described it that way, but I thought he was telling me that it was "big" and that I was damn lucky.
 

arcenite

Lifer
Dec 9, 2001
10,660
7
81
Its hard to explain, but it was a constant "aaarrrg" for 3 days prior. I had never head a headache for more that a few hours before ( I don't realy get headaches)

Thanks. So now I know if I get a constant "aaarrrg" for 3 days I am in trouble.