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Strokes....... Big ones, Small ones .....How do you cope?

• Message 1. 

  Posted by funnyjazzbaby (U14389829) on Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

  If there has been a previous thread, I apologise but I can't find one.
  
  And I just needed to talk to Kris and of course any one else with experience, without hijacking the Candle thread.
  
  Small strokes can be scary but in some ways a Godsend as in most cases the cause can be traced and treated and so avoid further problems.
  
  My Oh wasn't quite so lucky. Being a man, he avoided the GP unless I dragged him there so he stopped mentioning the, to him, slight discomforts which might have been clues to his major problem.
  Eventually a blocked Aorta felled him...a shunt could have saved this but he admitted to his temporarily blind left eye one day too late.
  The stroke happened just hours after we got the biopsy results.
  
  Almost seven years ago he was in hospital in much the same state as Kris describes the lady she saw and I was told it was unlikely he would ever come home.
  He did. And although he has acute Aphasia and poor balance his life , though very different from his truck driving, joke telling, guitar playing former one, is NOT OVER.
  
  It probably helps that we are older, I had already retired and have been able to be his full time carer, even though his wage earning days were curtailed sooner than we would have hoped.
  His daughter calls him my Toyboy but he was only a couple of years from retirement..
  We get to speech therapy and a couple of rehab groups on a weekly basis and he gets to socialise with other survivors, some far worse off than he, and some considerably better.
  And he is still the funny, gregarious ,loving man he was before despite the added complications of Arthritis and Diabetes
  Some say the frustration can cause personality changes but it's not inevitable IME.
  
  This has been my long winded and somewhat self indulgent way of telling Kris I'm thinking of her and also inviting others to post of their own experiences.
  FJB
  
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Karmic-ish Kris (U14642774) on Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

  Mwah FJB, that is so, so kind.
  
  I have absolutely no experience of strokes, save for my own mini-stroke the other day and the lady I saw in the wheelchair..so to see the attention given to me the other night by the Dr who saw to me, and then to see 'F'..it panicked me a little, i confess.
  
  My big worry was then telling me that it could be nothing or I could have a 'BIG' one in a couple of days! I put an explanation mark but I haven't slept for two nights..the residual headache i still have seemed to me like a ticking time-bomb at 4am this morning.
  
  Have just read through your post again, and am saddened for both of you that your OH didn't mention his blurry vision until too late. When the DR asked me if i'd had blurred vision i at first said no, as it had been very fleeting and i didn't know if It was worth mentioning it as a symptom. I did in fact initially say no, but then half an hour later called her back because it was weighing on my mind. Because of that (and a few other still present symptoms) they got my neck scanned within a few hours. because of that they have hopefully found some fatty something at the top of my spine which may have blocked the blood flow to my brain and caused the mini-thingy.
  
  Thank you my lovely for showing that there may indeed be a life more than worth living even after a major stroke. Your OH sounds as though he has a full life, at his own pace, and the retention of a SOH is both interesting and wonderful. i think of F in her wheelchair, and also what Smoctus said on the candle thread, and realise that I was guilty of judging F's quality of life from my own emotional, subjective assessment, and was therefore judging her on her physical looks. Shame on me for that.
  
  I hope there are other who may find comfort from your OP, FJB; I certainly have. Your Oh is a lucky man to have you to share his journey with.
  
  Much love, and thank you
  
  Kris xx

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by funnyjazzbaby (U14389829) on Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

  I'm so sorry you are still sleepless and worried Kris.
  Both very understandable in the circs.
  As ever, I'm around to hold your hand if you need it.
  Love to Nic BTW I miss him.
  FJB

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by carrick-bend (U2288869) on Wednesday, 2nd November 2011

  Kris, I didn't realise you'd had a mini-stroke - FJB (Hi!) is totally right - life does go on. My traumatic brain damage gave me a many of the symptoms of a very severe stroke, and I found new research that made total sense to my very experienced rehab consultant that, contrary to accepted opinion, adult neural tissue *can* regenerate, so you don't just plateau out and stop improving - there's always hope of a return to normality (whatever that is!)
  
  Love to you both, C-B x`

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by Karmic-ish Kris (U14642774) on Thursday, 3rd November 2011

  Thanks Carrick, your recovery does seem to have been quite an amazing example of what someone at the stroke clinic was telling me today,re neural pathways.
  
  I can only imagine how invigorating it must be for you to be not only riding again, but doing shows too!
  
  I spent an interesting time with my physio today, working out some changes to my weekly sessions. We seem to have some complicated instructions from the clinic which need to be incorporated. Or rather there are a list of do's and don'ts that conflict with my usual physio routine. Ho hum.
  
  Seems I am to have an op on the top of my spine to displace whatever it was that caused the mini-stroke.. I can honestly and truly say I am not looking forward to that!
  
  Anyway, thanks again for your support both. Funny that their doesn't seem to be a Stroke thread isn't it? Certainly mimi-strokes are not that un-common, apparently. The only reason i think that they are keeping an eye on me is in case I confuse the MS symptoms with another mini-stroke (or rather, visa versa), which won't happen cos they are entirely different symptoms - enough for me to have known it at the time anyway.
  
  Waffle waffle Kris, sleep? Oh go on then..
  
  Kris Xx
  
  ps C-B. Normality? Haha, i didn't embrace that when i was fit and healthy so no wonder my body is doing its kitch thing!
  

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Karmic-ish Kris (U14642774) on Thursday, 3rd November 2011

  Eeeeuch. Just looked it up and the op will be in my neck..yukky
  
  And..and..and. why do all the instructions talk about changing your lifestyle?
  
  Oh that I had a bluddy life-style to change!

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Thursday, 3rd November 2011

  Kris,
  
  You must be wondering 'why me?' Your spirit is certainly being tested! TIAs can be caused by a variety of things and are not necessarily an indication that you are going to go on to suffer a major stroke. I can imagine that being told you need surgery on your neck must be frightening but at least they know what caused your TIA and have a solution for the problem. Big bear hugs to you.
  
  Bubbly xx

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Thursday, 3rd November 2011

  Kris, don't think you've been around long enough, but I'm sure I wittered on about it at the time - about 5 years ago, the Lovely German had a mini-stroke, still in his late 30s. He hasn't really changed his lifestyle, unless doing less exercise and more playing GT5 counts... *sigh* Still smoking about 40 a day.
  
  I'm not sure how mini it was - he was in hospital a few days, and it was quite a while before both his legs were back to normal - even now, if he gets overtired, one leg gets shaky and he can't fully control it.
  
  Still, in Germany, they give you all the scans, so I have seen inside his head.
  
  Not sure if there's much point to this thread, other than it happens to all sorts of people.

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• Message 9

  , in reply to message 8.

  Posted by funnyjazzbaby (U14389829) on Friday, 4th November 2011

  Not sure there's much point to this thread???
  Re-assurance perhaps?

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 9.

  Posted by Karmic-ish Kris (U14642774) on Friday, 4th November 2011

  Absolutely, FJB.
  
  The obvious reply to your post Bearhug, seems to me, is that I'm not sure there is much point to your posting such a response.
  
  Thing is Bear, a stroke is something that happens to someone else, until it happens to you. A mini-stroke may not be life threatening but nonetheless it is scary precisely because when you are having one you don't know that it's not a big one, how can you? Especially if you've never experienced it before.
  
  I know about dodgy mortality..on Feb 1st 2010 I knew my body was shutting down and that if I didn't get to a hospital asap I would die, If that sounds melodramatic then so be it. So on Sunday night/Monday morning, when I felt my body shut down again it was a big reminder that the body is, in the end, in control of my destiny. When a friend demanded I get to a hospital because my speech was slurred and it "Sounds like you're having a stroke' it scared the hell out of me.
  
  I didn't know about strokes, they were something that happened to someone else. Because of my other medical conditions and history the hospital were pretty 'urgent' in their dealing with me and that was great but a bit scary too.
  
  It was enormously reassuring, to me, to then read FJB's OP and also C-B's post re her recovery from serious brain injury.
  
  So, it was only a 'mini-stroke, and it has been reassuring to have heard from people who have experienced this either first or second hand and who have had no further problems.
  
  However, as to the "Pointlessness" of this thread? There may be others on this board who, in the future, have a similar experience and who might find this thread to be comforting and reassuring. Might even be you Bear, you just never know.
  
  Kris
  
  

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Friday, 4th November 2011

  Oh, I meant post when I said thread. Sorry - I was sat there thinking, I can see the point of the thread, why's anyone questioning it. I meant I didn't know if there was much point to my post. I didn't mean to cause confusion.
  
  Must stop posting when tired...
  
  (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)

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• Message 12

  , in reply to message 11.

  Posted by Karmic-ish Kris (U14642774) on Friday, 4th November 2011

  Well there you go, my lovely. I just popped back here because I was thinking that perhaps my post was a bit harsh and wanted to double-check your post and mine (it being you, made me question whether i'd read it in context)
  
  Yep, "post' instead of "thread" makes a lot more sense!
  
  
  Actually TLG seems to have had quite a big mini-stroke, and that adds to the thread too as i guess it proves that mini-strokes, like bigger ones, come in all shapes and sizes...
  
  I think how I was going to try to get up to bed ( me legs weren't cooperating) and try to sleep it off. Ok, i now know i would've been ok but if i hadn't gone to A&E they wouldn't have found what was causing (hopefully) the blood-flow blockage and...quite scary really(i say that a lot; honestly I do not spend my whole life afraid!).
  
  Love and peace Bear,
  
  Kris x

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• Message 13

  , in reply to message 12.

  Posted by Bearhug (U2258283) on Friday, 4th November 2011

  I think one possibly the most terrifying bit came ages later - we were chatting online, and he started typing really incoherently, words in the wrong order and so on. I phoned him and he was all slurred, and I was in England, and he was in Germany, and I didn't know whether to try and phone a German ambulance (how would I do that from England?) or what. I tried calling a friend there, who wasn't in, and his mother (we don't speak easily, as my German's not great, and her English is completely non-existent, and her German has a lisp and strong regional accent.) In the end, she stayed over with him that night, and took him in the next morning - it turned out to be infection that was the start of glandular fever (but there was still a week in hospital and oncology tests and so on before they got that diagnosis, he never does anything simply), but it was very stroke-like symptoms, and given his history, being on the end of the line in another country - dunno about him, but it did absolutely nothing for my sense of calm!

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