How scary for both of you, and thank goodness you were there. A few years ago my father had a slow brain bleed after a fall . My sister showed up at my parents place randomly and my moths was calmly cooking. My father could no longer speak. My mother just thought he needed to have a little rest… my sister took him straight to hospital and he had emergency surgery! He got lucky and is fine! But goodness…!
Thank you for sharing. And thankful he is on the mend. I drove up to Abingdon from Catonsville today (Sat 3/16) and was able to listen to This American Life. I forget the great theme but in one story the narrator described a physical experience she was having and her initially thinking it was a stroke (until she couldn’t think clearly anymore and it turned out later she’d been poisoned!?). Anyway it made me think of your hub’s recent health scare. Her descriptions of what she could piece together were…wild, not in a cool way, and sounded very stroke like. Anyway, hoping there are no other incidents on the horizon and the rest of the weekend is for relaxing…
I'm curious to know what is done when someone is having a stroke. You mentioned the testing but what do they physically do to help someone having a stroke, or right after a stroke? Blood pressure medication? Thanks as always for sharing your diary with us and I will not be praying but will be thinking of you and Marty and sending love always.
Really, the only thing you can do during a stroke is call 911 and keep the person as calm as possible. You can assess that someone is having one by doing FAST (checking their face for drooping, their arms for unevenness/paralysis/strength, and asking them questions to test speech, looking for slurring or forgotten words. Time, however, is of the essence.)
I learned that while high BP is a risk factor for stroke, it's the stroke itself that causes a huge spike in BP. It's the body's way of quickly sending blood to the area where blood had stopped flowing to a place in the brain.
It stays elevated for several days after. While we wait for the echocardiogram, he gets Plavix, a blood thinner, and some meds to bring his pressure down slowly. I just got a home BP test. If he is found to have high BP, he will be on meds to lower that. If he has a clot, they have to bust it. If he has a blocked valve, they have to fix that with surgery, I believe. I'm hoping that's not the case, but, then again, if it is, it may prevent further strokes.
I'm fairly certain he has had at least two TIAs; there was evidence of reduced blood flow to that same area, and I was with him when he once experienced severe dizziness. But it usually does no permanent damage and can't be pinpointed exactly on an MRI.
I’m glad Marty is doing better and on top of his Jeopardy game. You all have been on our minds. Lots of love.
How scary for both of you, and thank goodness you were there. A few years ago my father had a slow brain bleed after a fall . My sister showed up at my parents place randomly and my moths was calmly cooking. My father could no longer speak. My mother just thought he needed to have a little rest… my sister took him straight to hospital and he had emergency surgery! He got lucky and is fine! But goodness…!
This is terrifying. I was happy to read that he is home now. I hope your whole family feels love. I hope you all can relax and that his brain heals.
Thank you for sharing. And thankful he is on the mend. I drove up to Abingdon from Catonsville today (Sat 3/16) and was able to listen to This American Life. I forget the great theme but in one story the narrator described a physical experience she was having and her initially thinking it was a stroke (until she couldn’t think clearly anymore and it turned out later she’d been poisoned!?). Anyway it made me think of your hub’s recent health scare. Her descriptions of what she could piece together were…wild, not in a cool way, and sounded very stroke like. Anyway, hoping there are no other incidents on the horizon and the rest of the weekend is for relaxing…
Thanks, Gina! I’ll look for that episode.
Incredibly scary! I'm really glad Marty is on the mend. Best wishes to you both!
I'm curious to know what is done when someone is having a stroke. You mentioned the testing but what do they physically do to help someone having a stroke, or right after a stroke? Blood pressure medication? Thanks as always for sharing your diary with us and I will not be praying but will be thinking of you and Marty and sending love always.
Really, the only thing you can do during a stroke is call 911 and keep the person as calm as possible. You can assess that someone is having one by doing FAST (checking their face for drooping, their arms for unevenness/paralysis/strength, and asking them questions to test speech, looking for slurring or forgotten words. Time, however, is of the essence.)
I learned that while high BP is a risk factor for stroke, it's the stroke itself that causes a huge spike in BP. It's the body's way of quickly sending blood to the area where blood had stopped flowing to a place in the brain.
It stays elevated for several days after. While we wait for the echocardiogram, he gets Plavix, a blood thinner, and some meds to bring his pressure down slowly. I just got a home BP test. If he is found to have high BP, he will be on meds to lower that. If he has a clot, they have to bust it. If he has a blocked valve, they have to fix that with surgery, I believe. I'm hoping that's not the case, but, then again, if it is, it may prevent further strokes.
I'm fairly certain he has had at least two TIAs; there was evidence of reduced blood flow to that same area, and I was with him when he once experienced severe dizziness. But it usually does no permanent damage and can't be pinpointed exactly on an MRI.
I’m so glad you were there when it happened
Gosh, me too!