Two mini-strokes last week...

Jerry Bransford

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I spent last Friday and Saturday in the VA Emergency Room swarmed by 7-8 neurologists, doctors and even more nurses only to be told I had suffered two mini-strokes.

Prior to that my wife & I had been searching for a home to buy in Florida and I was reading addresses off to her when suddenly I could no longer say anything intelligible despite me doubling my attempt to focus on enunciation. My attempt to say Magnolia Street came out like Manogloa Obbbb. I could no longer make sense out of what I was reading and I was talking gibberish. My wife & I immediately looked at each other with big eyes. I knew it was a stroke. Then it cleared up and not long afterward it happened again.

The good news is after three CAT scans and two MRI brain scans they say I escaped with no permanent brain damage. I'm now on a life of Lipitor and two other related drugs. Plus a heart scan in two weeks to check for a congenital hole in my heart that might have let blood clots into my brain triggering the mini-strokes. That would be great news if they find one because they can fix the hole non-invasively by just threading something up a vein and placing a patch over the hole if they find one. What was encouraging was when my sister said her doctor told her last year that she has a congenital hole in her heart. I hope I do because that means there's a quick fix to all this.

So I've mostly been normal appearing but I'm still a little slower right now and for the first time since last week I slowly drove 4 miles to lunch with my wife yesterday. She objected but I did fine. I at least let her drive home lol. So I'm not yet 100% but I'd say I'm around 90% and getting better every day. At times my speech slows a tad with words coming a little slower to mind but those episodes are getting further and further apart. As I write this everything feels normal and conversations are normal.

The encouraging thing is my next-door neighbor had the same thing a couple years ago, two mini-strokes exactly as I did, and he's still doing great at 84 and you'd never know he had ever had a couple mini-strokes.

The interesting and very surprising thing is I learned while watching various YouTube videos on mini-strokes is they happen to young studs too. There were videos by young 20's and 30's tri-athletes and health club owners saying how astonished they were to have suffered mini-strokes.

So all in all I'm good but I guess I'll just have to finally start have to taking things a little easier lol.
 
I'm glad to hear it wasn't a major event and you're ok relatively speaking. One thing about strokes is you're still at risk of having another stroke in the following days. A blood thinner is obviously important!

On the hole in your heart, supposedly we are born with it and it normally closes at a young age. My good friend just had the procedure to close it. They go through your femoral artery in your groin and go into your heart to place this device that I'd say looks like a yo-yo shape. The push it through the hole collapsed and then it expands out on each side of the heart wall. Your heart will then grow tissue over it as time passes.

I'm happy you're doing well and keep us posted.

On a side note, my father died of a massive stroke at 68.


Edit: One other thing, if Lipitor gives you leg pains, switch to Crestor.
 
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Jerry,
Take it easy for a while and give things a chance to heal. My Dad had over 20 strokes, drank like a fish, smoked a cigar or so everyday, and lived to 94. With Jeeps, we can usually figure out the cause of the problem and fix it; in medicine they usually don't know the cause, but treat the symptoms. Must be frustrating work. Hope this doesn't change your moving plans. I think SoCal is toxic these days. Best of luck!
 
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Did they put you on a blood thinner? If so skip the Coumadin. I’ve been on blood thinners for 10 years due to A-fib. I started on Coumadin but because of my diet and eating times i was not able to keep on an even level and had to be tested weekly which was a pain. Talk to your Dr about Pradaxa, Eliquis or Xarelto. These do not require testing and do not have the dietary restrictions or side effects of Coumadin. When I was on Coumadin any little cut would cause me to bleed like a stuck pig. I take Pradaxa now and have been on Xarelto previously and do not bleed abnormally now. Glad you were able to recognize the symptoms and get medical help quickly. I’m sure it was some scary shit.
 
I hope this ends up being easily fixable for you.

Regarding driving, I know it's hard to let that go, but having been in similar shoes last year, I recommend asking your doctor if it's safe for you to drive. I "lost" mine for 6 months and it was like all the parts you hated about being a kid having to ask people for rides. Especially on days when you're feeling great. Not driving is limiting, but if you have an issue while driving you could change someone else's life even at slow speeds... and I'd rather not hear about that.
 
Sorry to hear this Jerry, I hope your recovery is 100%. My uncle Jerry was about your age, drank like a fish, smoked like a train, and had a stroke about 20 years ago that left him partially paralyzed. He could only say one word “Dakota” that he used for everything even though you could tell in his eyes he was trying to say something else. If your doctor recommends not driving, then like Tox says, give it up for a little while and start looking at golf carts to mod for your move to Florida.
 
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Did they put you on a blood thinner? If so skip the Coumadin. I’ve been on blood thinners for 10 years due to A-fib. I started on Coumadin but because of my diet and eating times i was not able to keep on an even level and had to be tested weekly which was a pain. Talk to your Dr about Pradaxa, Eliquis or Xarelto. These do not require testing and do not have the dietary restrictions or side effects of Coumadin. When I was on Coumadin any little cut would cause me to bleed like a stuck pig. I take Pradaxa now and have been on Xarelto previously and do not bleed abnormally now. Glad you were able to recognize the symptoms and get medical help quickly. I’m sure it was some scary shit.
No blood thinners, yet at least. I may end up going on some kind of blood pressure drug as I'm borderline high blood pressure which is new for me. When I was first admitted my BP was 193/120 or so. Frigging scary, freaked the docs and nurses out (me too). This morning it was 117/83 but that 83 means I'm borderline Bp has been up & down like a yo-yo this week though nothing like that 193 shocker.
 
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Jerry - you're in my prayers. Wishing you a speedy and quick recovery, as well as a permanent solution.
 
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Glad it wasn't worse. Hopefully the Doc's figure out the right treatment to prevent it from happening.

I misread your title as "mini two-strokes...." I was expecting a different story!
Me too, thought it was going to be about RC airplane engines or something.
 
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A close friend has some serious medical issues recently and his blood pressure was off the scale, kinda normal when you are in a hospital with people trying to figure out what's wrong with you, it's not generally a low stress situation. All the best to your wife as well, aging is glamorous, that's the joke around here. Jeep wave.