I'm switching Primary Care Doctors. I am also switching offices. I can no longer deal with a Clinic that not only doesn't keep track of my records properly, but periodically looses said records and has to fish them back out of the system. And, they do not listen to their patients!
The Doctor never remembers my background when I show up, and when he does he is months behind and I feel like I'm running the session. I had enough of that, and I had enough of that Clinic. I will not return there, and I will not take my kids there.
My new Doctor is just across the railroad tracks on the other side of the town and the area seems better for office buildings. The office sounded extremely professional compared to the Clinic I had seen. I hope that isn't expectations falling around me. Frankly, anything is an improvement over that old place. Sheesh.
This all came around when I had the pharmacy resend some prescriptions over to the Doctor because of needing refills. They refused to fill out the prescriptions due to not making an appointment with them. I saw the Doctor on the first of December. I even have dated papers from that date. I argued my case, they went by what was in the computer - when they actually found my files about 10 minutes, and 2 "I need to put you on hold" (CLICK)" 's later. I'm tired of the bouncing game with my medical relationship!
So I hung up and shifted to my Health Care Provider's website to find a new Doctor. And, here we are...
Wednesday. Finally. Because of new things going on and old things needing looked at. I hope this change is going to be for the best...
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Seeing the Doctor: Updated
Blood pressure was good so no changes are needed with my medication. I like that.
But, I need to do my lung scan for my Pulmanary Embolism and that requires an I.D. that is current. My old I.D. vanished! I can not find it anywhere. That means it walked off with a two legged midget or...I lost it somewhere because my mind is totally gone in the memory department.
So, the adventure of obtaining a new I.D. begins next week. That should be so, so fun! Not.
More later.
But, I need to do my lung scan for my Pulmanary Embolism and that requires an I.D. that is current. My old I.D. vanished! I can not find it anywhere. That means it walked off with a two legged midget or...I lost it somewhere because my mind is totally gone in the memory department.
So, the adventure of obtaining a new I.D. begins next week. That should be so, so fun! Not.
More later.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Seeing the Doctor
I see the Doc tomorrow morning. Hopefully they will order a x-ray or scan or something technical like that so that I can get off of the blood thinner.
I'll update after my appointment tomorrow night.
I'll update after my appointment tomorrow night.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Hospital: The Crap I Do To Myself (Part 3)
When I was finally put in a room at the Hospital it was 6AM and all I can remember is a Nurse coming in to ask me about 300 questions about everything in the world about me. I'm all for past medical problems, family history, and even geneology but seriously, that much question and answer session without sleep? No! They should be more polite! Let us sleep, precious! Let us sleep!
The Nurse finally finished and told me as soon as a Doctor approved of a diet for me and then arranged for tests and other tidbits I would be able to rest and eat. I had been up since the morning of the 10th. It was the morning of the 11th, and I still had not had a chance to call my husband to tell him I was doing better, though I had not learned what what I had yet, at least I was stable enough and the pain was something I was prepared for now, and whatever medicine they had started me on, was helping ease the pain somewhat.
A Doctor and his troops finally came in at 8 AM. Breakfast came in to my room mate. The lady or man across the hall screamed hate for the food, startling me. The Doctor told me that the patient who was yelling would be moved eventually due to causing emotional distress for his or her room mate as well as others on the floor. Well, that is nice, I was thinking, because that would drive me nuts! The person was extremely loud and sounded very out of sorts. The Doctor finally told me that after a few more blood tests they would make sure I could eat something and get on a food plan for the next few days. Next few days? Why do I have to stay for days?
"So far we are positive of some things. You do have extremely high blood pressure. You do have Atypical pneumonia. You do have Pulmonary edema. You do have a mid-sized Pulmonary Embolism. We think you also have a Pericardial effusion, but we need to do more tests to be sure. We are starting you immediately on (mentioned about a million drugs here) so that we can get you on a non-lethal path and back to being healthy."
I had no idea what any of that meant. He knew it too. So he nodded and left the room, leaving me with a handful of student Doctors to explain that the Atypical pneumonia, or walking pneumonia, started to mingle and play with other cells in my body to start up the Pericardial effusion. This made the Atypical pneumonia worsen with each week, leading up to the Pulmonary edema. And of course, all this lead to the Pulmonary Embolism because the fluids mingled with high blood pressure problems. So, a cold turned into walking pneumonia, which grew into fluid around my heart, which went to fluid in my lungs, which then ended up a blood clot that was mingling about. The aspirin made it move and slide enough to cause pain, cut off sections of my lung from having blood flow, and that was how simple it was. Simple? Really?
The Nurse finally finished and told me as soon as a Doctor approved of a diet for me and then arranged for tests and other tidbits I would be able to rest and eat. I had been up since the morning of the 10th. It was the morning of the 11th, and I still had not had a chance to call my husband to tell him I was doing better, though I had not learned what what I had yet, at least I was stable enough and the pain was something I was prepared for now, and whatever medicine they had started me on, was helping ease the pain somewhat.
A Doctor and his troops finally came in at 8 AM. Breakfast came in to my room mate. The lady or man across the hall screamed hate for the food, startling me. The Doctor told me that the patient who was yelling would be moved eventually due to causing emotional distress for his or her room mate as well as others on the floor. Well, that is nice, I was thinking, because that would drive me nuts! The person was extremely loud and sounded very out of sorts. The Doctor finally told me that after a few more blood tests they would make sure I could eat something and get on a food plan for the next few days. Next few days? Why do I have to stay for days?
"So far we are positive of some things. You do have extremely high blood pressure. You do have Atypical pneumonia. You do have Pulmonary edema. You do have a mid-sized Pulmonary Embolism. We think you also have a Pericardial effusion, but we need to do more tests to be sure. We are starting you immediately on (mentioned about a million drugs here) so that we can get you on a non-lethal path and back to being healthy."
I had no idea what any of that meant. He knew it too. So he nodded and left the room, leaving me with a handful of student Doctors to explain that the Atypical pneumonia, or walking pneumonia, started to mingle and play with other cells in my body to start up the Pericardial effusion. This made the Atypical pneumonia worsen with each week, leading up to the Pulmonary edema. And of course, all this lead to the Pulmonary Embolism because the fluids mingled with high blood pressure problems. So, a cold turned into walking pneumonia, which grew into fluid around my heart, which went to fluid in my lungs, which then ended up a blood clot that was mingling about. The aspirin made it move and slide enough to cause pain, cut off sections of my lung from having blood flow, and that was how simple it was. Simple? Really?
The E.R.: The Crap I Do To Myself (Part 2)
In the hospital they asked several questions. I filled out papers and even answered some more questions while they took my blood pressure. The high numbers on the blood pressure machine, and my temperature, made them hook me up to an EKG immediately in a room next door. They placed sensor pieces on my legs, my chest area, and my stomach area. I had no idea what they all did, but I did know on the shows that speak med speak an EKG, or a Electrocardiography, reads the heart through those sensors and it is based on the heart beat and the muscles of the heart. Read more about EKG's here.
I still do not remember what my blood pressure was. I do know that it was not as high as it was when I was having my son, Mr. D., now that was high ladies and gentlemen. I was so very close to having some kind of attack with those numbers. Thank goodness having the baby stopped that! Moving back to the EKG and the hospital. Once they did the EKG they switched over to me moving into another section of the E.R.. I sat in the E.R., on a stretcher with wheels, near the Nurse Desk, while people moved back and forth with whatever they had to do there for over 20 minutes. I was hurting. I was sweating from the pain, hunched over, and occasionally I know I moaned because when the pain hit, from a deep breath or something else, I was dying from the pain. I now understand and can define the word agony.
Finally a nurse came. She fussed and cussed like a sailor at me sitting in the walkway like I was. She moved me toward a room, then stopped, realizing it was already occupied. She sighed and moved me back to where they had me, and gave me a robe. I had to remove my clothes then and there, in the narrow walk space between holding rooms of the E.R. and the Nurse desk. All I could think of was the men all around there and ugh..I had to do what!? It makes me grin even now. I put this big floppy robe on me first, with her help, and making a tent like shape around me we moved everything off of me without even flashing one inch of skin. Praise be the intelligent and caring Nurse! Once we did that she covered me up, placed my clothes and things in that typical drawstring hospital bag that crackles and crinkles, and said she would be back because she wanted to find me a doctor and a space to get into.
I think by that time I was used to the pain. I wish I could say I never did get used to it. But I am used to it. I still have the pains every now and then. Moving back to the Hospital: I had a breathing pattern for when the pain came. I figured out how to breathe very, very slowly and it would not hurt as badly. It was tolerable. When the nurse came back she was ready to take me to a nook in the one end of the E.R., but another nurse showed up. He took charge and immediately had me across to another section of the E.R., telling the lady I was his now. She smiled and moved on. I still don't remember her name. I will always remember her kindness.
The male nurse was just as kind and he was hooking me up to all sorts of machines. The sounds reminded me of when Little A was in the hospital as a baby. The bloops and beeps of the machines reading her vital signs. I had the same things on me. When he clipped the glowing finger reader on my hand I almost cried. I felt my heart clench from the emotion of the memory, and being tired, and in pain, and sick...it all just hit me at once, and the machines went off all willy nilly, and he was asking me to breathe and calm down because of my blood pressure. The pain was so, so damn strong when I got upset. It took a lot to breathe slowly and get myself back on track. Once I did everything was getting back to whatever is "normal" for me. The machines calmed down. He was happy, went out to do some orders for me, and came back with pills to take for my blood pressure and then to give me some hospital socks. Of all things. Socks. But they made my feet feel better. How odd. Something that simple making things feel better.
In this large E.R. room I was hooked up to machines reading me. The curtain was closed. I could not see any activity but I could hear so much of it on the other side of the fabric. I heard talking. I heard some laughter. I smelled food. I smelled medicine. He arrived again, and I do not even know how long he was gone, and checked on me, looked at my arms for IV's, and then headed back out. I spent nearly seven hours in that room. People came back and forth with different duties. I got an IV put in. Medicine was started on them. Blood samples were taken. I got an x-ray around my chest. Then more blood was taken. Eventually I was given some morphine for pain. It did not do a thing. I was so unsurprised by that. I finally asked what was going on. The nurse told me that I was being held in the E.R. till the doctors could figure that out. Oh. Yay.
I still do not remember what my blood pressure was. I do know that it was not as high as it was when I was having my son, Mr. D., now that was high ladies and gentlemen. I was so very close to having some kind of attack with those numbers. Thank goodness having the baby stopped that! Moving back to the EKG and the hospital. Once they did the EKG they switched over to me moving into another section of the E.R.. I sat in the E.R., on a stretcher with wheels, near the Nurse Desk, while people moved back and forth with whatever they had to do there for over 20 minutes. I was hurting. I was sweating from the pain, hunched over, and occasionally I know I moaned because when the pain hit, from a deep breath or something else, I was dying from the pain. I now understand and can define the word agony.
Finally a nurse came. She fussed and cussed like a sailor at me sitting in the walkway like I was. She moved me toward a room, then stopped, realizing it was already occupied. She sighed and moved me back to where they had me, and gave me a robe. I had to remove my clothes then and there, in the narrow walk space between holding rooms of the E.R. and the Nurse desk. All I could think of was the men all around there and ugh..I had to do what!? It makes me grin even now. I put this big floppy robe on me first, with her help, and making a tent like shape around me we moved everything off of me without even flashing one inch of skin. Praise be the intelligent and caring Nurse! Once we did that she covered me up, placed my clothes and things in that typical drawstring hospital bag that crackles and crinkles, and said she would be back because she wanted to find me a doctor and a space to get into.
I think by that time I was used to the pain. I wish I could say I never did get used to it. But I am used to it. I still have the pains every now and then. Moving back to the Hospital: I had a breathing pattern for when the pain came. I figured out how to breathe very, very slowly and it would not hurt as badly. It was tolerable. When the nurse came back she was ready to take me to a nook in the one end of the E.R., but another nurse showed up. He took charge and immediately had me across to another section of the E.R., telling the lady I was his now. She smiled and moved on. I still don't remember her name. I will always remember her kindness.
The male nurse was just as kind and he was hooking me up to all sorts of machines. The sounds reminded me of when Little A was in the hospital as a baby. The bloops and beeps of the machines reading her vital signs. I had the same things on me. When he clipped the glowing finger reader on my hand I almost cried. I felt my heart clench from the emotion of the memory, and being tired, and in pain, and sick...it all just hit me at once, and the machines went off all willy nilly, and he was asking me to breathe and calm down because of my blood pressure. The pain was so, so damn strong when I got upset. It took a lot to breathe slowly and get myself back on track. Once I did everything was getting back to whatever is "normal" for me. The machines calmed down. He was happy, went out to do some orders for me, and came back with pills to take for my blood pressure and then to give me some hospital socks. Of all things. Socks. But they made my feet feel better. How odd. Something that simple making things feel better.
In this large E.R. room I was hooked up to machines reading me. The curtain was closed. I could not see any activity but I could hear so much of it on the other side of the fabric. I heard talking. I heard some laughter. I smelled food. I smelled medicine. He arrived again, and I do not even know how long he was gone, and checked on me, looked at my arms for IV's, and then headed back out. I spent nearly seven hours in that room. People came back and forth with different duties. I got an IV put in. Medicine was started on them. Blood samples were taken. I got an x-ray around my chest. Then more blood was taken. Eventually I was given some morphine for pain. It did not do a thing. I was so unsurprised by that. I finally asked what was going on. The nurse told me that I was being held in the E.R. till the doctors could figure that out. Oh. Yay.
Unhealthy Delay: The Crap I Do To Myself (Part 1)
It all started with...a cough with pink phlegm.
"What the hell?"
I ignored it. That was in October 2009 just before we were heading out to do...something. Heck, I can't even remember what we were going out to do. After that, every time I moved too much, moving up and down the stairs, walking into the store from the parking lot, walking in the store...any physical movements ended up with me coughing up pink phlegm. I looked it up on-line. There are so many things that are involved with pink phlegm! I just nudged it into the "I have a cold" category and ignored it. We did not have insurance yet. I could not afford a doctor's appointment. Why go for a cold?
November. I couldn't walk five feet without feeling like I needed to sit down. I couldn't get a breath in. I felt tired. God, so damn tired. It was like I felt like I weighed 8000 pounds and there was no way to breathe sometimes. Eventually I slept on my left side without much problem. I would stay that way. All day long. I was able to fix food....then flop down again. I would walk so slow when we were out. It was like walking in thick mud. I know it was worrying my family, and me, but still...no insurance! We could barely get on with what we were making. More bills would mean harsher times. I would not do that to my family. Boy oh boy, what in the world was I thinking? Well, as I know, I am not alone with those thoughts. Many people think these thoughts more often than not. Many put off health care to save money. I was not alone!
December was just as bad and I was getting used to it all. Getting used to it. That phrase scares me. I could not walk more than a few feet before I stopped. I could not take in a full breath. I actually used to force myself to try to breathe in like I could once upon a time. I could count to 14 or 15 seconds for a deep, full breath during meditation. In December I was only able to count to 5. Five seconds of breathing. What was I thinking? Yes, we were not insured, but....never again. I would rather have bills than do that ever again. Please, if you are reading this. If you are ill, and you do not have insurance, go anyway!!! Please. Trust me. Go.
January 2010! Finally our insurance will kick in. We hear it will kick in around the middle of January or so, but I can go and they can call the insurance people since we were waiting on a card. I made an appointment for January 17th to go into the doctor, finally. I would be seen and it would all be over. Around January 3rd I started to crave....Aspirin. I would eat it every four hours. I would get up at night to just put one on my tongue...taste it, and spit it out because I was worried about overdosing on it, or hurting my stomach...or anything. It was odd! I even researched aspirin addiction to see if there was such a thing. Nothing could be found about it being an actual addiction....I was so confused! Why would I crave aspirin like it was the only thing I could ever want?
January 10th, my symptoms were worse, I coughed up blood and not just pink phlegm. It was time to go to the doctor without an appointment. I decided to go to the E.R. when my husband came home after work on the 11th. He agreed to take me. I sat down to this computer. I had a glass of milk, aspirin, and a couple of peanut butter crackers. Byron went to bed and Little A soon followed. Mr. D was on the day bed near me in the living room where he fell asleep. I was about to play some game or maybe check e-mail. I reached for the milk....and I was met with a fresh, deep pain in my right side. Just under the armpit, and into my chest area.
When I gasped from the pain that I felt....the pain grew to a fire like burn that cut off the breath, leaving me frightened and unsure as to what I should do. Was I having a heart attack? Was it a stroke? Was it just heart burn and if I burped would it go away, and was heart burn like that!? I didn't like it if it was! (I have never had heart burn..) Then my thoughts went to the aspirin. What if taking it, being addicted to it, had caused my stomach to wear out? What if this was the stomach lining worn out and eaten through? I was breaking out into a sweat when I got up, finally "getting it" that I needed to go to the E.R.. Now not the next day! I concentrated on breathing.
I got up slowly, walked, half-bent over into the bedroom, and woke up my husband who had just laid down. I actually felt bad waking him up. I got my shoes on. I still don't know how I did that. I grabbed my wallet. Then my robe. My baby boy had my coat and was all curled up in it. I moved with my husband out of the house, leaving the sleeping babies behind with their Uncle downstairs. I don't believe we even told him we were going to the Hospital! I kept worrying about them on the way to the E.R..
Half-way there I was ready to just flop over. I have a high pain tolerance. I have a huge, huge pain tolerance. This was really, really intense pain. I remember my husband telling me it wasn't too far. I think he said other things. I really wish I could remember what they were. I do know they were calming words, though, because we suddenly were at the E.R..
I just wanted my husband to go back home and be with the kids. I was worried about them more than me. He stayed until he was sure I was being watched closely and went home. I later heard that the kids were at the door when he got home, asking about me, and if I went to the hospital. What a night....my goodness. I can not imagine waking up to hear your parents going to the hospital....and then suddenly they were gone out the door? Wow. Just, wow.
"What the hell?"
I ignored it. That was in October 2009 just before we were heading out to do...something. Heck, I can't even remember what we were going out to do. After that, every time I moved too much, moving up and down the stairs, walking into the store from the parking lot, walking in the store...any physical movements ended up with me coughing up pink phlegm. I looked it up on-line. There are so many things that are involved with pink phlegm! I just nudged it into the "I have a cold" category and ignored it. We did not have insurance yet. I could not afford a doctor's appointment. Why go for a cold?
November. I couldn't walk five feet without feeling like I needed to sit down. I couldn't get a breath in. I felt tired. God, so damn tired. It was like I felt like I weighed 8000 pounds and there was no way to breathe sometimes. Eventually I slept on my left side without much problem. I would stay that way. All day long. I was able to fix food....then flop down again. I would walk so slow when we were out. It was like walking in thick mud. I know it was worrying my family, and me, but still...no insurance! We could barely get on with what we were making. More bills would mean harsher times. I would not do that to my family. Boy oh boy, what in the world was I thinking? Well, as I know, I am not alone with those thoughts. Many people think these thoughts more often than not. Many put off health care to save money. I was not alone!
December was just as bad and I was getting used to it all. Getting used to it. That phrase scares me. I could not walk more than a few feet before I stopped. I could not take in a full breath. I actually used to force myself to try to breathe in like I could once upon a time. I could count to 14 or 15 seconds for a deep, full breath during meditation. In December I was only able to count to 5. Five seconds of breathing. What was I thinking? Yes, we were not insured, but....never again. I would rather have bills than do that ever again. Please, if you are reading this. If you are ill, and you do not have insurance, go anyway!!! Please. Trust me. Go.
January 2010! Finally our insurance will kick in. We hear it will kick in around the middle of January or so, but I can go and they can call the insurance people since we were waiting on a card. I made an appointment for January 17th to go into the doctor, finally. I would be seen and it would all be over. Around January 3rd I started to crave....Aspirin. I would eat it every four hours. I would get up at night to just put one on my tongue...taste it, and spit it out because I was worried about overdosing on it, or hurting my stomach...or anything. It was odd! I even researched aspirin addiction to see if there was such a thing. Nothing could be found about it being an actual addiction....I was so confused! Why would I crave aspirin like it was the only thing I could ever want?
January 10th, my symptoms were worse, I coughed up blood and not just pink phlegm. It was time to go to the doctor without an appointment. I decided to go to the E.R. when my husband came home after work on the 11th. He agreed to take me. I sat down to this computer. I had a glass of milk, aspirin, and a couple of peanut butter crackers. Byron went to bed and Little A soon followed. Mr. D was on the day bed near me in the living room where he fell asleep. I was about to play some game or maybe check e-mail. I reached for the milk....and I was met with a fresh, deep pain in my right side. Just under the armpit, and into my chest area.
When I gasped from the pain that I felt....the pain grew to a fire like burn that cut off the breath, leaving me frightened and unsure as to what I should do. Was I having a heart attack? Was it a stroke? Was it just heart burn and if I burped would it go away, and was heart burn like that!? I didn't like it if it was! (I have never had heart burn..) Then my thoughts went to the aspirin. What if taking it, being addicted to it, had caused my stomach to wear out? What if this was the stomach lining worn out and eaten through? I was breaking out into a sweat when I got up, finally "getting it" that I needed to go to the E.R.. Now not the next day! I concentrated on breathing.
I got up slowly, walked, half-bent over into the bedroom, and woke up my husband who had just laid down. I actually felt bad waking him up. I got my shoes on. I still don't know how I did that. I grabbed my wallet. Then my robe. My baby boy had my coat and was all curled up in it. I moved with my husband out of the house, leaving the sleeping babies behind with their Uncle downstairs. I don't believe we even told him we were going to the Hospital! I kept worrying about them on the way to the E.R..
Half-way there I was ready to just flop over. I have a high pain tolerance. I have a huge, huge pain tolerance. This was really, really intense pain. I remember my husband telling me it wasn't too far. I think he said other things. I really wish I could remember what they were. I do know they were calming words, though, because we suddenly were at the E.R..
I just wanted my husband to go back home and be with the kids. I was worried about them more than me. He stayed until he was sure I was being watched closely and went home. I later heard that the kids were at the door when he got home, asking about me, and if I went to the hospital. What a night....my goodness. I can not imagine waking up to hear your parents going to the hospital....and then suddenly they were gone out the door? Wow. Just, wow.
Just Like A Dory
I believed what happened to me (um, well, one of my main health problems anyway) was called TMI, but it is not TMI! It's a TIA!! I'm sure I have suffered from TMI before (too much information!) but you know, it isn't a disease or a condition and....actually if I'm really sarcastic it could be a disease...
Carrying on. One of the conditions I have had to deal with, and sadly, I am still recovering from, is a Transient ischemic attack. Basically, and luckily, I was in the hospital when my TIA happened. I was in bed, and had just eaten, when the left side of my body gave out on me. I was reaching for my water pitcher, and in my head I had put my hand around the handle, but....no. Nope. It was not on the handle. It was still resting on the bed near me. I tried again, and it moved some, but it was weak. I tried again, and as a Nurse aid came in, I told her - very slurred as I spoke, that I was having trouble moving my arm. She went out to get a Nurse. That nurse came in, spoke with me, saw my face was not moving when I spoke (just on one side), heard the slurring, and went to get one of my doctors. He in turn came in, same thing happened, and he left and got a specialist.
And soon I was no longer in my old room. I was moved to the stroke center to be observed and watched. I have never been so @#$%# scared in my life. I thought my blood clot was something to be scared of, but no, this was worse. I knew what I wanted to speak about, what I wanted to say, but it never happened. The voice was not mine. It was slurred, it was slow and completely babble. My brain was saying "That is not me." but it was. Frustrating. Frightening. Even now I feel that I should have been able to speak better and that it was all so...out of body.
I have already had a battle - and it is still creeping in with my TIA complications - of Bells Palsy. Because of the Palsy symptoms being such a close mimic of some of the signs of having a stroke (and the TIA), I went into the E.R.. I was admitted. It took a couple of days of tests to make sure it was just Bells Palsy and not a stroke or another TIA. Once the Palsy left I thought it would stay gone, but occasionally my lips can actually flicker into a pucker on their own and stay stuck that way for a few seconds. I do not feel this is a huge thing to deal with, however, if I do it in public I hope to whatever god may be listening to make sure I am not puckering up toward some trucker with plumber jeans on! Egh!
From what I have been told by the Specialist, about my TIA, is I had risk factors that just gave my brain no chance of fully recovering. There is some damaged brain cells up there. Some affect the left side of my body. I have weak hands now. I can sometimes get stuck on stairs. My left leg is like "um, what...oh...yeah moving..right.." so I get into a delay. I believe, in all certaintly, that I have become Dory from Finding Nemo. Yes! I love her! And it explains how I can be, sometimes. Just like a Dory.
Other complications affect my mind and...I don't know what section it is though. I get words mixed up in my head. Their meaning changes on me. My mind totally believes, as an example, that this is a perfectly good way to speak:
I am going to the bathroom to cook up a good roast.
My mind agrees that bathroom is the right room to do that, then I do a Homer...doh! No, I mean kitchen ! Not the bathroom! I find myself doing a mental shake, and sometimes I laugh so much. Some of the mixed up things can be a little crazy! It's good to have the humor!
The other complications are just from everything I have dealt with since October of 2009. That is when I started to get sick. That is when it all began to go down hill....but not now! Now, I'm Dory, and now, I just keep swimming! Yep, Just Keep Swimmin!
Carrying on. One of the conditions I have had to deal with, and sadly, I am still recovering from, is a Transient ischemic attack. Basically, and luckily, I was in the hospital when my TIA happened. I was in bed, and had just eaten, when the left side of my body gave out on me. I was reaching for my water pitcher, and in my head I had put my hand around the handle, but....no. Nope. It was not on the handle. It was still resting on the bed near me. I tried again, and it moved some, but it was weak. I tried again, and as a Nurse aid came in, I told her - very slurred as I spoke, that I was having trouble moving my arm. She went out to get a Nurse. That nurse came in, spoke with me, saw my face was not moving when I spoke (just on one side), heard the slurring, and went to get one of my doctors. He in turn came in, same thing happened, and he left and got a specialist.
And soon I was no longer in my old room. I was moved to the stroke center to be observed and watched. I have never been so @#$%# scared in my life. I thought my blood clot was something to be scared of, but no, this was worse. I knew what I wanted to speak about, what I wanted to say, but it never happened. The voice was not mine. It was slurred, it was slow and completely babble. My brain was saying "That is not me." but it was. Frustrating. Frightening. Even now I feel that I should have been able to speak better and that it was all so...out of body.
I have already had a battle - and it is still creeping in with my TIA complications - of Bells Palsy. Because of the Palsy symptoms being such a close mimic of some of the signs of having a stroke (and the TIA), I went into the E.R.. I was admitted. It took a couple of days of tests to make sure it was just Bells Palsy and not a stroke or another TIA. Once the Palsy left I thought it would stay gone, but occasionally my lips can actually flicker into a pucker on their own and stay stuck that way for a few seconds. I do not feel this is a huge thing to deal with, however, if I do it in public I hope to whatever god may be listening to make sure I am not puckering up toward some trucker with plumber jeans on! Egh!
From what I have been told by the Specialist, about my TIA, is I had risk factors that just gave my brain no chance of fully recovering. There is some damaged brain cells up there. Some affect the left side of my body. I have weak hands now. I can sometimes get stuck on stairs. My left leg is like "um, what...oh...yeah moving..right.." so I get into a delay. I believe, in all certaintly, that I have become Dory from Finding Nemo. Yes! I love her! And it explains how I can be, sometimes. Just like a Dory.
Other complications affect my mind and...I don't know what section it is though. I get words mixed up in my head. Their meaning changes on me. My mind totally believes, as an example, that this is a perfectly good way to speak:
I am going to the bathroom to cook up a good roast.
My mind agrees that bathroom is the right room to do that, then I do a Homer...doh! No, I mean kitchen ! Not the bathroom! I find myself doing a mental shake, and sometimes I laugh so much. Some of the mixed up things can be a little crazy! It's good to have the humor!
The other complications are just from everything I have dealt with since October of 2009. That is when I started to get sick. That is when it all began to go down hill....but not now! Now, I'm Dory, and now, I just keep swimming! Yep, Just Keep Swimmin!
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