Ask a stroke victim anything.

[rbV5]

Usually doing yard work like cutting the grass or sweeping dirt, etc will aggravate the lungs causing an allergic reaction. This is a very serious thing. What happens is called anaphalaxia where the infected area will swell up and restrict blood flow to that area or oxygen. This is very dangerous and can lead you to a heart attack..

Its possible, seriously, 25% of stroke victims....they don't have a clue. It could have been from sitting at my desk operating the console (I switch every night, going from operating the console, to operating in the field...basically, sitting at a desk for 12 hours, the next night, walking around about 40+ acre campus working with a variety of equipment.) They said it could have caused a blood clot in my legs, and went through my heart and up to my brain. They said it was pretty remote chance, but? Just like the scenario you speak about, they really don't know.

 

[adlep]

Excellent news. You may have some small work in front of you before you are at 100% again, but it will happen soon. Keep working.

My friend's wife on the other hand had an aneurysm in her brain that ruptured this Christmas Eve. She is in much worst of a shape than you are. Her husband - Pat keeps a detailed journal of her ups and downs here:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katieserewicz/journal/1/createdAt/asc
Maybe you could start a blog that tells people your story as well?
Potentially you could save a life?

 

[Kyle]

Good to hear you're doing well- how's your music going? Able to still play?

 

[AlienCraft]

WOW! Being over the 50 yard line myself, tales such as these give me pause.
Glad to hear you're ok.

 

[tcsenter]

LOL, no, didn't talk like a pirate. Good point about the oral health, but no, also, I have so heartburn, on occasion but nothing close to seeing a doctor about it. Seems to have gotten worse since then then though.

Don't dismiss any recurrent heartburn, even if its infrequent. Especially heartburn that is brought on by physical exertion like lifting, straining (bearing down), or bending over (which is textbook for hiatus hernia due to a hole or weakness in the diaphragm).

There is a type of GERD that is mostly silent and occurs while you sleep at night. You don't necessarily wake-up with heartburn, or if you do, it occurs while you are partially asleep and so you don't remember it or you have a diminished recollection of it. I have this type of GERD and its very dangerous because you can have it without knowing it for years before it is diagnosed, by which time the repeated damage to your esophagus may already be done. It will also eat the enamel off your teeth over time, if the digestive juices and acid repeatedly make it into your oral cavity. The only early symptom may be a dry/pasty mouth in the morning, often with a gritty feeling in your mouth, which is often mistaken for the "morning mouth" that everyone gets anyway.

Lemierre’s syndrome is out, no abscess or sepsis...may that looks nasty, but extremely rare.

Lemierre's can exist for years as a low-level chronic infection before it flares up to an abscess or sepsis. It is frequently under-diagnosed, misdiagnosed, or completely missed.

 

[rbV5]

Excellent news. You may have some small work in front of you before you are at 100% again, but it will happen soon. Keep working.

My friend's wife on the other hand had an aneurysm in her brain that ruptured this Christmas Eve. She is in much worst of a shape than you are. Her husband - Pat keeps a detailed journal of her ups and downs here:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katieserewicz/journal/1/createdAt/asc
Maybe you could start a blog that tells people your story as well?
Potentially you could save a life?

Yea, I understand how lucky I am. I hadn't thought of doing a block, I know that it does help alot to even do this thread. Your not seeing how I struggle with the words, rewriting everything...but, I'm getting faster!

Sorry about your friends wife, I'm going to check her block.

 

[rbV5]

Good to hear you're doing well- how's your music going? Able to still play?

I was worried about my music, but I am still able to play! My computer broke down, so I got to get it fixed or something before I can put any of my tunes up. I've been playing my acoustic quite a bit, its good therapy!

 

[rbV5]

WOW! Being over the 50 yard line myself, tales such as these give me pause.
Glad to hear you're ok.

Scary shit, totally out of the blue. Luckily, I've got my girl, my family and even my coworkers on my side. I seriously think ever single day just how lucky I really am.

 

[rbV5]

Don't dismiss any recurrent heartburn, even if its infrequent. ...

Dude, you're freaking me out a little..Seriously, you have some great information about things that people didn't consider fully. I'm going to talk to my doctor about my heartburn, if I learned anything from my episode, its to see a doctor.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Its possible, seriously, 25% of stroke victims....they don't have a clue. It could have been from sitting at my desk operating the console (I switch every night, going from operating the console, to operating in the field...basically, sitting at a desk for 12 hours, the next night, walking around about 40+ acre campus working with a variety of equipment.) They said it could have caused a blood clot in my legs, and went through my heart and up to my brain. They said it was pretty remote chance, but? Just like the scenario you speak about, they really don't know.

I experience it every work-day. I am apart of a company that contracts to the electric companies; mainly distribution work. What did I know 16yrs ago that the tingling sensation in my extremities was caused by the dust, fumes, and pollen from my job. Not only from my job but yard work like cutting grass, weed whacking, etc.

 

[rbV5]

I experience it every work-day. I am apart of a company that contracts to the electric companies; mainly distribution work. What did I know 16yrs ago that the tingling sensation in my extremities was caused by the dust, fumes, and pollen from my job. Not only from my job but yard work like cutting grass, weed whacking, etc.

I worked for 5 years in the shipyards, started as a hod carrier, and finished as the brickmason, rebuilding the boilers on tankers. Since then, I've worked in the water industry, first at the beach and now in the valley. I've considered my job as very safe for the past 25 years.

Those years in the shipyards was nasty though. I did wear duskmasks, and all the safety gear, but it was a dirty/nasty/hot job.

 

[chipy]

No questions from me but I'm glad you're alright!

 

[rbV5]

No questions from me but I'm glad you're alright!

:thumbsup:

 

[MartyMcFly3]

I'm a little late to the party but am glad to see that you are ok.

 

[mcmilljb]

Usually doing yard work like cutting the grass or sweeping dirt, etc will aggravate the lungs causing an allergic reaction. This is a very serious thing. What happens is called anaphalaxia where the infected area will swell up and restrict blood flow to that area or oxygen. This is very dangerous and can lead you to a heart attack..

You're referring to a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction called anaphylaxis. Type 1 hypersensitivity is commonly called allergies. It is basically when your body's immune system overreacts to allergens.

We'll skip the some details because they're not important to explaining why it can be serious. The important thing to know is that mast cells start releasing histamine(lots of it). Histamine is why this reaction is so dangerous. The area swells up because histamine makes your blood vessels more permeable so more blood flows into the area(inflammation, edema).

If the reaction happens in your air ways, you get a triple whammy. You get the swelling, but you also have the airway paths to your lungs constricting and increased mucus production. This makes getting oxygen into your lungs very difficult.

I find the the fact that histamine can cause a heart attack interesting. It seems if histamine can reach the smooth muscle of the coronary arteries, it can cause a coronary artery spasm. These spasms cause the heart attack.

If you are constantly having severe redness, sneezing or even worse symptoms while doing yard work, definitely consider seeing an allergist. Another solution is to talk to your doctor about an OTC antihistamine or allergy medicine. You would take it shortly before going outside to do yardwork.

 

[rbV5]

I'm a little late to the party but am glad to see that you are ok.

:thumbsup: Thanks!

mcmilljb, thats some interesting information.

 

[tcsenter]

Dude, you're freaking me out a little..Seriously, you have some great information about things that people didn't consider fully. I'm going to talk to my doctor about my heartburn, if I learned anything from my episode, its to see a doctor.

I don't like to freak anyone out, but if you have health insurance, definitely talk to your doctor and maybe persuade him to order the GERD barium contrast swallow test (upper GI).

If you don't have health insurance, then I would read-up on and try to practice GERD dietary recommendations. i.e. foods to avoid or minimize, eating five to six small meals throughout the day instead of two or three large meals, not eating four to five hours before bed, lots of fiber, and maybe take a Pepcid AC or couple antacid tablets every day.

The dietary changes along with acid reducers or antacids every day have hugely improved my GERD.

 

[rbV5]

Just posting to let everyone kmow that I'm OK and such. Everything is cool, and I've been busy as hell around the house

Feels like I'm really getting to my old self. I feel pretty good, my speech is coming right along nicely. Really feels like I dodged a bullet this time alround!

Thanks to all you folks as well! It seems stupid, but this thread really helped me back to normal. Just thinking and replying was very hard, I had to rewrite my responses, over and over before I posted, mostly at first, much better as I went along.

Looks like I'm one of the lucky ones!

 

[Kadarin]

Your attitude is fantastic and will go a long way toward your making a full recovery. You just have to keep plugging away at it.

It seems stupid, but this thread really helped me back to normal. Just thinking and replying was very hard, I had to rewrite my responses, over and over before I posted, mostly at first, much better as I went along.

That's not stupid at all; it's the best possible thing you can do.

By contrast, my ex g/f's mother had a stroke about 15 years ago and she never really had any will to recover. She didn't stop smoking, didn't exercise, eventually got emphysema and had to be on an oxygen tank, and died last year from complications from a blood clot in the lungs (I believe). When she had the stroke, her personality changed somewhat (I'd only met her once before she had it, so can't really comment too much on that) and she lost some motor nerve coordination on her left side. Her real problem was that she gave up early on and didn't put any effort into herself.

 

[rbV5]

Your attitude is fantastic and will go a long way toward your making a full recovery. You just have to keep plugging away at it.



That's not stupid at all; it's the best possible thing you can do.

By contrast, my ex g/f's mother had a stroke about 15 years ago and she never really had any will to recover. She didn't stop smoking, didn't exercise, eventually got emphysema and had to be on an oxygen tank, and died last year from complications from a blood clot in the lungs (I believe). When she had the stroke, her personality changed somewhat (I'd only met her once before she had it, so can't really comment too much on that) and she lost some motor nerve coordination on her left side. Her real problem was that she gave up early on and didn't put any effort into herself.

Man,

Unfortunately, I hear alot of sories similar to your ex's Mom. It was easy for me, I was weak, but other than my speech, I was good. It would be a mess trying to live with paralysis.

 

[Platypus]

Just posting to let everyone kmow that I'm OK and such. Everything is cool, and I've been busy as hell around the house

Feels like I'm really getting to my old self. I feel pretty good, my speech is coming right along nicely. Really feels like I dodged a bullet this time alround!

Thanks to all you folks as well! It seems stupid, but this thread really helped me back to normal. Just thinking and replying was very hard, I had to rewrite my responses, over and over before I posted, mostly at first, much better as I went along.

Looks like I'm one of the lucky ones!

Really glad to see you back around Rick, it'd been a while

 

[ichy]

Very lucky indeed. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

A 'big' stroke on CAT scan is a reason NOT to give the blood-thinning drugs, because they're so dangerous.
Also very lucky because if the embolism is in the carotid artery it rarely unblocks with the drugs.

Just to remind people that time is everything when treating stroke, as it needs to be treated within 3 hours of symptoms starting. So, if you get symptoms of a stroke - sudden onset of facial weakness/drooping, difficulty speaking, weakness of one arm or leg, then it is a 911 emergency - no waiting to see if things get better.

It sounds like some people are confusing blood thinners with thrombolytics. Thrombolytics (also known as clot-busters, I believe the most commonly used one is tPA) are very powerful and dangerous drugs that can be used to dissolve clots but that can also kill you from bleeding into your brain. From what I understand their use in stroke victims is extremely controversial because there's only limited evidence that they don't do more harm than good. They also have to be administered within a few hours of when symptoms start.

Edit: Check out what wiki has about thrombolysis for strokes. Pretty interesting, and scary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Thrombolysis

 

[rbV5]

Really glad to see you back around Rick, it'd been a while

Yea, I guess I lost track of time!

Its been a busy time, my oldest kids, both moved out this year and time stands still for no one. Man, I used to be awesome at multi-tasking...now, not so much

 

[rbV5]

It sounds like some people are confusing blood thinners with thrombolytics. Thrombolytics (also known as clot-busters, I believe the most commonly used one is tPA) are very powerful and dangerous drugs that can be used to dissolve clots but that can also kill you from bleeding into your brain. From what I understand their use in stroke victims is extremely controversial because there's only limited evidence that they don't do more harm than good. They also have to be administered within a few hours of when symptoms start.

Edit: Check out what wiki has about thrombolysis for strokes. Pretty interesting, and scary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke#Thrombolysis

It was a tough call for my wife. She opted to NOT use the clot busting drugs because she had no idea of when my stroke actually happened. She was affraid of a bleed out, and watching me die right then and there.

 

[skyking]

Cool beans man, good to hear from you.