Adventures in Wally World

<quietly... just in case he's sleeping>

Hoping all is OK with Mr Tea and that you are alright Chai. x

oh **** me.

I'm sitting here at home waiting for someone at the doctors office to call me back.

I have no idea what is wrong with my husband, and I'm at the breaking point.

When he came home from the hospital, he looked good, alert, ready for PT.

I called him a couple times yesterday, he was fine.

I come home last night, the front door was locked, I'd already put my house keys in my bag, so I knocked, and started digging in my bag for the keys. When I started opening the door, I heard this banging and crashing. He's sprawled out in the doorway between the kitchen and the foyer, on his back, the entire kitchen floor is wet from one end to the other, on which he obviously slipped.

I could tell immediately he was very disoriented, so I got him into a sitting position after a couple attempts and put a blanket around him. With the next 10 minutes we were able to someone get him to his feet and his nearby recliner.

From there, the ususal. I need to take you to the hospital....no....your choices are me taking you or 911, which do you prefer.....no.....have you taken anything.....no.....(btw, found out later he really hadn't taken anything to make him like this)

I went over and got my neighbor, who's a social worker, some kind of therapist, because (a) I needed someone else to see this (b) try to convince him to let us take him back to the hosptial and (c) I just couldn't be alone anymore in all this.

If I've never said this before, this neighbor is great and I love her whole family. She asked him all the questions, he still refused to go anywhere. As he started "coming out of it" he even said, "why? by the time you get me there I'll be fine" Well, this is true.

Later we talked and he confirmed he had not taken any medication that would have done this to him. He was told to d/c his soma, which he has, and the last pill he had taken was several hours ago.

I called his doctors office this morning leaving a message that I have to get him in there today. So here I sit.

Parkinsons? TIA's?

If we knew what the problem was, that's most of the battle.

Oh Chai.

It sounds exactly like a TIA. Of course I'm no doc but I know this from close family member experience. Sometimes it comes down to vascular surgery. I have a name -- in Stonybrook, NY -- send me a note via the Help Desk if you like. If that happens it's a ways from now, and I could be completely wrong. But hey, you never know.

Gack.

So glad you have the neighbor there to help.

I get that the waiting sucks.

(I know nothing about the medical side of it, just listening and hoping you get Wally and the doctor together soon and that the doc can figure it out...)

Oh Chai - I'm so sorry - I do hope they diagnose it soon so they can do something about it. Thankful your neighbor was available to support you too. I know you hope this ends soon...I hope it for you as well.

Oh Geez, Chai. If it was a stroke, you should call 911 immediately. They have a drug that needs to be injected right away that can mitigats the effects of the stroke. I don't know what it is, but I looked after an elderly woman who had many TIAs and a couple of strokes. The Nurse in Charge gave me those instructions, so in case that's what it is, I'm passing it on. You should NOT listen to him - he's in denial. You don't just slip and pass out like that, and with his history, it's safer to call 911 for proper care.

{{{{hugs to both of you}}}}

Thanks mame, I do know it's not a stroke. The EMT told me what to look for, and I tested him on all that. He's had brain scans, no strokes.

Jespah, vascular surgery? I'll speak to the doc about that.

I've suspected TIA's but what can be done to prevent them? They come on so suddenly, and what if he was driving, or in the shower?

I'm going to look up TIA's while I sit here and wait.

Oh dear.

I hope he realizes that nothing will improve if he resists any attempt to improve them.

I want to thank you for this thread. It has helped me realize why Mr. B was so extrordinarily pissed off at me when I revealed that I was having "little episodes" of weirdness. I hadn't done anything about it because it was always over before anything could be done (I guess I'm kinda like Wally here). It took a long rant about how "selfish" and "stupid" I was being before I did anything.

I see the neurologist today.

Thank you.

No help, but thoughts...

(hugs)

Another gack, and more hugs, Chai.

Thanks everyone....and boomer, I'm glad I inadvertantly said something that helped you, and to see this from Mr. B's perspective. Remember, he's only trying to help and protect the woman he loves. What would he and Mo do without you?

I just read more on TIA's on this link....http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002951.htm

The description of them is exactly what is happening here.

I thought I knew a lot about them, and didn't think there was anything you could do about them. Maybe that was so in the past, but not now. As far as the caritoid surgery, he'd had a carotid scan a while back, and it was fine. Who knows what could have happened between now and then?

********

At 8 o'clock this morning I'd left a message with the doctors nurse to call me. At around 9:15 I called back and hit the button saying this was an emergency and had her paged (twice). She answered, said she was with a patient, and would call me back, which she did while I was typing the paragraph above.

I briefly explained the whole enchilada, and she said to bring him in tomorrow at 11am. She said if he shows any signs like this today to call 911. I repeated this back out loud so he could hear what she was saying. I told her I was going to stay home today and watch him and she said that is exactly what I needed to do.

Well, so I hope nothing happens during the day, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if something did.

OK, looks like you have the information you need. That's progress.

Hope things stay smooth until the appt. tomorrow morning...

I don't know why you say it wasn't a stroke, Chai. You yourself said it was a TIA, which is a mini-stroke. This is summarized from my first aid book, and it concurs with the link you provided.

STROKES & SEIZURES

A stroke is a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) which damages the brain by a sudden rupture or blockage of a cerebral artery. They result in permanent damage to the brain tissue and the patient is left with some degree of permanent disability. It’s the 3rd leading cause of death in North America.

Ischemia means a local deficiency of blood flow and accounts for 75% of all strokes.

There are two types of strokes: Ischemic and Hemorrhagic.

1. Ischemic strokes are caused by blockage or narrowing of a cerebral artery. There are two types of ischemic strokes:

1.Cerebral thrombosis: develops the same way as coronary artery diseases. A thrombus is a blood clot formed in the brain which obstructs flow to the brain tissue.
2.Cerebral embolism: A stroke caused by the obstruction of a cerebral arty by a clot that travelled to the brain from elsewhere. Embolism may be a blood clot, gas, or foreign material.

2. Hemorrhagic strikes are caused by the rupture of a cerebral artery, resulting in brain damage due to bleeding into the brain tissue and impaired circulation.

Signs and symptoms of strokes may vary, but generally:

Complaint of:
weakness or loss of use of one or more limbs
Loss of feeling (numbness) or pins and needles on one side of the body
Severe headache
Nausea and/or vomiting
Amnesia
Visual difficulties

Mental function:
decreased LOC
Confusion
Trouble communication/garbled speech
Dizziness
Seizures

Change in Vitals:
pupils unequal or dilated
Pulse rapid or slow and strong
Irregular respiration

Motor function:
inability to speak or slurred speech
Facial weakness on one side
Sudden clumsiness or weakness of a limb
Paralysis on one side
Decerebrate or decorticate
Difficulty swallowing

Yes, I agree with you Mame, it is a stroke, a mini one that can be the precurser of a bigger one.

When I say "not a stroke" I mean, a TIA in itself won't cause permanent damage, so, if he has one, I feel relief in that I know I can get him safely to the hospital one way or another. If he has a big stroke, there may not be time.

Part of me feels I've been derilict in not addressing this. But a bigger part reminds me how many times I have gotten him help, or was instrumental in him finding out the cause of something that could have turned into something much worse.

In a way, it's kind of like bear, squinny and their son. He has seizures all the time, you get him to the hospital whenever you have to, but when this **** is happening all the time, you get to where you have to decide if this is a 911 situation, or if it's just another thing you deal with. I may be wrong in that assessment, and forgive me squinny/bear if I used you as an example that might not fit well.

Or, like noddy and her husband. The stuff that happened to him all the time, and you can't always get the other person to see reality.

yeah, I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but TIA's, mini strokes looks possible to me. If he gets wacky today, then 911. If he doesn't, doctor tomorrow at 11am.

I don't know if he's still loosing blood somewhere if this would make his blood count drop so quickly again to have an effect. I don't know if he's loosing blood somewhere that is causing little clots.

I do know I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with.

You know, I'm so grateful for A2K right now. To just be able to come onto her and talk helps an enormous amount.

Thanks everyone.

oh man! Sorry, chai, I know this is hell for you.

Could be TIA, could be any number of things but one question that comes to mind is whether he is still on coumadin?

The fact that he needed a transfusion with a 6gm Hgb a week ago and they adjusted his coumadin makes me wonder if he isn't now throwing off small clots.

Sitting here in your room with you today.

Adding info, not about TIA's, but that business about stroke medication (something like TPA) - it depends on if it is a hemorrhagic stroke or an ischemic (clot) type...
http://www.webmd.com/stroke/guide/stroke-medications

Stroke definition in that link too, and it doesn't seem to cover TIA's as they are quickly recovered from versus causing brain damage. Naturally, I'm no expert.

Anyway, hang in there today, you guys.

oh no, he's off the coumadin, off the soma.

do you mean he might be throwing off clots Because he's off the coumadin?

Anything is possible with anti-coagulants, chai. He was on them for a reason, they supposedly worked "too well" and caused his hgb to drop to the point where he passed out. He got a transfusion, they adjusted his anti-coagulants, and sent him home.

Who the hell knows what his Hgb is today? If he is still leaking somewhere and trying to heal then throwing off small clots is not unrealistic. If he's anemic again then that could be what caused his disorientation again last night (how's his pallor?)

Your plan of action is spot on. Watch him today. If anything happens then 911, otherwise doc tomorrow (ask them to check his hgb and to order a PT/PTT to check on his coag).

Hard to say. My, er, friend the patient is on Coumadin. Again, I'm no doc.

Re the vascular thing. This, um, friend, was scanned and found to have some low % blockage on one side, high on the other when it came to the carotids. Got opened up by the wonderful vascular surgeon and it turned out both sides were pretty clogged. Scans aren't always perfect.

TIAs, when there's carotid involvement, can happen whenever the reduced space in the carotid is somehow blocked off. Such as when the head is held back. This person would get them after napping because of the head being held straight back with a pillow underneath the neck. Now that person either uses a larger pillow or goes to bed to sleep and not the couch. I understand this kind of TIA can happen to women in a beauty parlor, during hair washing. Same head and neck position.

Just want to add that I worked in Pediatrics for 6 yrs (not as a health care professional) and heard all kinds of stories about parents who could have saved their children's lives if they'd called 911 instead of driving to the hospital themselves. The paramedics KNOW what they're doing and the difference in them getting to him SOON or you getting him to the hospital LATER in a car could be the difference between life and death.

He only has one life; you only have one husband. CALL 911 - that's what they're there for. Believe me, they would rather it turn out to be nothing than not get called and his life be in jeopardy or over. They're in contact with the ER docs the minute they get to him so they'd be prepped for when he got there.

Sorry to sound like I'm lecturing because I'm not. Just advocating using the system in place. They truly don't mind being called out.