Showing posts with label STROKE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label STROKE. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
STROKE Part 6 - My New Partner in Crime!
When I woke up this morning I had no idea I would meet the most interesting woman I'd ever met and I had no idea she would make my crap existence there...... wonderful! I was laying down taking a nap before my afternoon torture session when the EMT's wheeled a woman into the room to fill the vacancy in the bed next to me. After all the powers that be came in to get her settled in and interviewed etc, she introduced herself and told me about her many strokes and all she had been going through that lead her to the stroke. I sat listening to her for hours. I was amazed at what a strong and courageous woman she was.
She was 96 years young and had all of her faculties about her. Her hearing was better than mine and she was as sharp as a tack!
She was 96 years young and had all of her faculties about her. Her hearing was better than mine and she was as sharp as a tack!
She was also diabetic and we shared many of the same problems. We had so much in common and so much to talk about and she understood my emotional outbursts that happened quite often...a side affect of the stroke. I cried often and LOUD! I had no control over it and it didn't matter if I was happy or sad it just came! I looked like afreakin lunatic! Looking back....looking like a lunatic isn't so bad...normal is highly over rated! But then again you're reading the blogs of a woman who loves sitting in the cemetery....blasting "Walkin on Sunshine" and watching the quirky black birds hop across the grass keeping perfect time with the music and ruffling their feather, giving an award winning performance or in some cases just a mating ballet.
I was a little envious of her (lets call her Ms. L) sharp mind, since the stroke I find myself confused and spacey and with huge gaps in my memory. Just yesterday I was getting dressed and forgot how to put my pants on....it came to me after a few minutes but I felt like a moron all the same. Then I wondered to myself, who in their right mind will ever be attracted to me again then pushed it out of my mind so I wouldn't be depressed the entire day.
ANYWAY I got a little side tracked there haha....Ms L told me about back in the early 1900's when she was 5 years old during a major fluepidemic..her mother was out in the fields working and she and her baby brother were playing inside when she got too close to the fireplace and her dress caught on fire. She said she ran screaming out the door and out in the yard, her mother saw her but had to jump fences and animal pens to get to her. By the time her mother reached her, most of her little body was covered in burns and because of the epidemic, there were no doctors around to come help her. Her mother scrubbed the burns daily and wrapped them in sheets. She lived through it and said nothing is painful to her after having experienced that kind of pain. She still had all the scars. I was in awe of her from that moment on. We became the best of friends and I thank God for bringing her into my life to re instill my courage and motivation and start living again.
STROKE Part 5 - Are You Freakin Kidding Me???
A young woman training in occupational therapy came to assist me to the bathroom and to the shower. Metformin is a medication to lower blood sugar and is supposed to prevent weight gain. Well the WAY it prevents weight gain is keeping you on the toilet with a rip roaring case of diarrhea and later on teeters back & forth between diarrhea & constipation.
well I was unable to clean myself up after using the restroom so I had to rely on the kindness of others. The young woman they sent me couldn't find a C.A. to assist so she proceeded to wipe my butt CHEEKS!.....I said "uhhh it doesn't come from my butt cheeks....I'm not feeling too clean" She assured me I was good to go and assisted me to the shower chair. She turned on the water and handed me a washcloth and told me to do as much as I could with my good hand and she would assist with the rest.
After my shower I was dressed in underwear and a gown and placed in my wheelchair with a sheet over my lap. For my first trip to the gym, the occupational therapist came to get me, but made it known from here on out I was responsible for getting myself there (back & forth - 4 times a day) 5 days a week.
I sat with her in occupational therapy for an hour and was wheeled back to my room to sit for the day because I couldn't exercise in a gown.
I sat up in my wheelchair from 6am until 2pm and noticed I was feeling uncomfortable and a burning sensation....I called the nurse to help me to the restroom where we found that I had not been cleaned earlier that morning (not in the shower either) and was left to sit in that all day long.
It took weeks for the infection to go away. It was very degrading and depressing and I was just about to give up on everything. I cried myself to sleep after dinner and slept like a rock (besides a couple trips to the bathroom and a few vitals checks and medication) till 4 am when the florescent lights stung my tired eyes once again.
STROKE Part 4 - Pimp My Ride
An older gentleman arrived in my room around 5pm to pick me up and transport me. He put me into a wheelchair and wheeled me down to the van, backed me onto the lift and raised me up, loaded me in and we were soon on our way. I remember the sun on my face and that it was still fairly warm for October but all I could seem to think about was missing Halloween with my son for the very first time in his 13 years and it made me so sad. I wondered if he would understand and forgive me for being so careless with my life. I hoped he wouldn't hate me for being handicapped when all of his friends mothers were healthy & active mothers.
I arrived at the rehab hospital and got changed into a fresh gown and into my new bed and my belongings put away all by 6pm. A very nice nurse brought me a dinner tray and after 5 days of a strict cardiac diet, the food they brought tasted like gourmet cuisine! I had my fill of egg beaters and turkey loaf! I do have to admit though....after a month of daily broccoli at least 2 meals a day....I don't think I'll ever be able to eat it again.
Later that evening the nurse brought me my own wheelchair to use for the length of my stay. I was determined to NOT get too used to it...it was NOT my friend! it was simply my mode of transportation until my body started working again. I knew it HAD to work eventually, God spared my life and he must of had a reason.
STROKE Part 3 - Say Hello to My Little Friend
When you're modest and proud...you feel like you'd rather die than let someone put you on a bedpan or see you naked....but when you're shy, modest, proud and LARGE...I cant even tell you how that feels. When you're diabetic on top of it you better hope metformin isn't one of your medications in that little cup the nurse brings you when you know you'll be riding that tiny bugger! For those of you who take metformin or glucophage, you know what I mean!
STROKE Part 2 - Spaz Attack
You have a strong urge to move your legs which you may not be able to resist. The need to move is often accompanied by uncomfortable sensations. Some words used to describe these sensations include: creeping, itching, pulling, creepy-crawly, tugging, or gnawing.
Your RLS symptoms start or become worse when you are resting. The longer you are resting, the greater the chance the symptoms will occur and the more severe they are likely to be.
Your RLS symptoms get better when you move your legs. The relief can be complete or only partial but generally starts very soon after starting an activity. Relief persists as long as the motor activity continues.
Your RLS symptoms are worse in the evening especially when you are lying down. Activities that bother you at night do not bother you during the day.
Well imagine a "painful" RBS (Restless BODY Syndrome) accompanied by excruciating leg, thigh, hip, hand & arm CRAMPS, It started as I sat there in that busy hospital ALONE because the friend who delayed calling 911 heard the doctor say "had I come right in I probably wouldn’t be is this condition" felt very guilty and made a quick exit not thinking about the fact leaving me all by myself at a moment like this would be even more cruel in my eyes than not calling 911.
Anyhow I sat in the bed feeling like I needed someone to help me stand so I could make the cramps and RLS go away. I tried to call out to passing nurses and staff but couldn’t make my voice loud enough to get their attention. After trying for what seemed forever, I decided I would scoot myself to the edge of the bed and carefully slide off and stand using my good leg and arm to support myself.
SURPRISE! it didn’t go as smooth as planned and I scooted myself straight down into the floor with all my dead weight...slamming my hip, arm, shoulder and head, on my GOOD side against the door, a chair and floor before coming to a painful stop. I lay in the floor crying not just because I was now a bruised mess but because my ego was horribly bruised too. I had always been very independent and in control, is THIS what I had to look forward to?
I finally pulled myself into an upright position and leaned against the wall trying to flag someone ANYONE down to help me get back into bed. Everyone was dashing up and down the halls trying to keep up with the demand and nobody looked in my room. FINALLY I was able to flag a girl down after 15 minutes of sitting on that cold floor half naked and very bruised.
A few people came and helped me back into the bed and gave me something for the cramping and the pain of trying to think I knew what was best for me with my head strong and stubborn way.
I sat in the ER most of the night (cramping, crawling, restless, itching, and in gnawing pain) waiting until they were able to find a room for me.
Stroke of Insight - Stroke of Luck Part 1
Life can change in an instant, one moment you're sitting there listening to music as you're driving and talking to someone sitting next to you and in a matter of seconds everything you knew to be true in your life has changed and nothing is as it was and NOTHING will ever be the same again. It felt like I had been drugged or someone had slipped something (alcohol or otherwise) into my soda and it hit me all at once. I was driving down Avenue B when I suddenly felt drunk. I asked the person in the SUV with me if he had done something to my soda, he said no. I looked over at him and said "you must make me feel intoxicated then" and laughed it off.
I continued driving the rest of the way home. I was feeling very odd, I pulled up into my driveway and turned off the car. I opened my door and stepped out, I staggered and fell against the side of my house. My friend asked what the hell was wrong with me and I said I didn't know. He said my sugar was probably off because I am diabetic and hadn't eaten in quite awhile.He helped me walk into the house where I proceeded to cook myself some dinner to see if that would indeed help. In the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't because my inner voice was telling me.....I was having a stroke!
I ate a little dinner and went to the restroom to splash cold water on my face. I fell over the toilet and had a really hard time standing back up. I called my friend into the bathroom and told him to call 911 but he refused. He said I was being dramatic and just needed to take a nap. I told him (now slurring) I didn't feel well and thought I was having a stroke. He said "you're 42 Jenn , you are NOT having a stroke you're TOO YOUNG!" I laid down like he told me to and waited 10 minutes or so. I was feeling worse and walking was becoming increasingly harder.
I went out in my living room and asked my sister to call 911 and my friend told her someone else was taking me to the hospital and not to call. My friend called a girlfriend of mine asking her to give me a ride and she told him she was already in bed and to call 911. He told her that the ambulance would be too expensive and to give me a ride. MEANWHILE I'm begging him to call 911, unbeknownst to me he was on probation for a dui and wasn't supposed to be drinking and was afraid if he called 911 he would get in trouble.
Finally my girlfriend walked down to see what the commotion was, took one look at me and called 911 herself. By the time the ambulance arrived I was paralyzed on my left side and unable to stand or walk.
I remember sitting in a lawn chair in my yard waiting for them so they wouldn't have to go inside and wake & upset my son. My cockapoo sat in my lap with his little body pressed closely against mine protecting me from this influx of uniformed strangers flooding my home and yard.
I remember someone asking my name and having to repeat it several times until he could understand me.
I remember people surrounding me asking if I was on drugs or drinking....I have never in my life taken an illegal substance and rarely drank. I remember someone asking "who is the president of the United States" and "what year is this" and several more questions I was rather unsure of. I remember being loaded into the ambulance and apologizing profusely to the EMT's for being a big girl and not easy to lift and thinking that the EMT caring for me looked like Russell Crow....who WAS Russell Crow and why did I care all I wanted was to go to sleep. The last thing I remember was this Russell Crow look alike covering me with a pale blue blanket.
The next thing I remember was being in the ER and several people working furiously to hook up I.V's and explain an injection that could help correct the damage done by waiting too long to call 911, I only had 13 minutes to make a choice to take the medication or not.
There were many good reasons to take it and just one reason not to. I asked the doctor what was the down side to the wonder drug and he said it could cause a brain bleed and ultimately death. I tried calling my sister to get her opinion but was slurring so bad it was hard for her to understand me. My girlfriend explained it to her on the phone and she said I should take it BUT the very thought of that small percent chance of a brain bleed and never being able to see my son or loved ones again made that choice for me. (having to do it over....knowing what I know now and living through the things I have in the last 3 years, I think I'd take the medication). to be continued......
Saturday, September 10, 2011
SIGNS OF A STROKE - I recognized the signs and lived
NOTE THE TIME WHEN ANY SYMPTOMS FIRST APPEAR. If given within three hours of the first symptom, there is an FDA-approved clot-buster medication that may reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke. There are also two other types of stroke treatment available that might help reduce the effects of stroke. Read more about stroke treatment.
Learn as many stroke symptoms as possible so you can recognize stroke as FAST as possible. Click hereto download the FAST Wallet Card to keep a reminder of stroke warning signs with you wherever you go!
Stroke symptoms include:
- SUDDEN numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg - especially on one side of the body.
- SUDDEN confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
- SUDDEN trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- SUDDEN trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
- SUDDEN severe headache with no known cause.
Call 9-1-1 immediately if you have any of these symptoms
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