opos
06-17-2018, 09:12 PM
I have many many friends on the board and want to tell what could be a life saving story...hope it might help some day.
On May 30th I woke at my normal early hour (about 4am) and tried to turn on the t v...couldn't work the remote...I woke the Wife and said to call 911. If I would have waited to "see how it goes" this might be an entirely different story.
She called...they had her run about 3 little tests while on the phone and I failed 2....Paramedics on the way...they arrived within 5 minutes (only about 1/2 mile away)....did their work and took me to ER at Alvarado Hospital (top stroke and cardiac hospital) and I was in the ER's care within about 1/2-3/4 hour from my initial symptoms.
Spent 14 days in hospital and rehab and am home. I had a clot form of stroke and not the "blow out" kind. It was in a part of the brain on the left side so the few minor weaknesses a came out with were on my right side. A small drooping of the right corner of the mouth...a minor fine motor skill in the right thumb, a very minor weakness in my right leg. I had a lot of confusion as I came out of it but that is gone...memory is fine, speech is fine and understanding is fine...walk with good balance and feeling good but very cautious.
Would have been home earlier but had a 2 day "set back" when I couldn't sleep the first night and they gave me an Ambien. Seems it put me into a deep sleep that they feared was another stroke starting. They did another CAT scan and MRI and found no change and therefore no second stroke. Kept me in ICU the 2 days to make sure. I guess Ambien can have that effect so not something I want to mess with.
I was in the stroke unit in rehab and I am the luckiest stroke survivor ever . The immediate call to 911 (my normal way would be to " rub a little dirt on it") at the first sign...second was the proximity of the paramedics, lack of traffic, and availability at that time...third was the proximity of the hospital and their capablities.
I could be in a very different place today...paralized, wheel chair bound, unable to speak or care for myself or in a nursing home.....but I'm home and sharing my tale with you. Paramedics have a word for time and strokes.."Time is brain tissue"..the longer it takes to get you in and get the cat scan and other tests the quicker you can get treated....and the longer it takes the worse the outcome will probably be..nothing happens until you are at the ER .....many guys (like me) try and tough it through if something isn't just right....trying to tough it through an event like this can kill or cripple for life...a little saying "FAST" paid big dividends for me and it's easy, free and I gladly pass it on to you.
I had heard about FAST about a month or two on TV...about what to do to recognize a stroke and how t o react..
F=any drooping in any part of the face?
A=can you raise your arms over you head and hold them steady?
S=speech...any slurring or inablilty to make sense
T=time.....call 911 immediately..a mistake is worth more than a life.
I'm the poster boy for FAST now.
It's a great Father's day
On May 30th I woke at my normal early hour (about 4am) and tried to turn on the t v...couldn't work the remote...I woke the Wife and said to call 911. If I would have waited to "see how it goes" this might be an entirely different story.
She called...they had her run about 3 little tests while on the phone and I failed 2....Paramedics on the way...they arrived within 5 minutes (only about 1/2 mile away)....did their work and took me to ER at Alvarado Hospital (top stroke and cardiac hospital) and I was in the ER's care within about 1/2-3/4 hour from my initial symptoms.
Spent 14 days in hospital and rehab and am home. I had a clot form of stroke and not the "blow out" kind. It was in a part of the brain on the left side so the few minor weaknesses a came out with were on my right side. A small drooping of the right corner of the mouth...a minor fine motor skill in the right thumb, a very minor weakness in my right leg. I had a lot of confusion as I came out of it but that is gone...memory is fine, speech is fine and understanding is fine...walk with good balance and feeling good but very cautious.
Would have been home earlier but had a 2 day "set back" when I couldn't sleep the first night and they gave me an Ambien. Seems it put me into a deep sleep that they feared was another stroke starting. They did another CAT scan and MRI and found no change and therefore no second stroke. Kept me in ICU the 2 days to make sure. I guess Ambien can have that effect so not something I want to mess with.
I was in the stroke unit in rehab and I am the luckiest stroke survivor ever . The immediate call to 911 (my normal way would be to " rub a little dirt on it") at the first sign...second was the proximity of the paramedics, lack of traffic, and availability at that time...third was the proximity of the hospital and their capablities.
I could be in a very different place today...paralized, wheel chair bound, unable to speak or care for myself or in a nursing home.....but I'm home and sharing my tale with you. Paramedics have a word for time and strokes.."Time is brain tissue"..the longer it takes to get you in and get the cat scan and other tests the quicker you can get treated....and the longer it takes the worse the outcome will probably be..nothing happens until you are at the ER .....many guys (like me) try and tough it through if something isn't just right....trying to tough it through an event like this can kill or cripple for life...a little saying "FAST" paid big dividends for me and it's easy, free and I gladly pass it on to you.
I had heard about FAST about a month or two on TV...about what to do to recognize a stroke and how t o react..
F=any drooping in any part of the face?
A=can you raise your arms over you head and hold them steady?
S=speech...any slurring or inablilty to make sense
T=time.....call 911 immediately..a mistake is worth more than a life.
I'm the poster boy for FAST now.
It's a great Father's day