I had a real scare!

[mjgkramer]

Two days ago I was on the highway driving home from town. Approaching our turn off I suddenly had a thick gray “curtain” block the vision in my right eye and could only see out of the left eye. Normal vision returned after 5 minutes or so, just before I arrived home. I went into the house, took two aspirin and headed for the ER, 15 minutes away. The CT scan and blood test they did were OK but they said I had had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) and should see our primary care doctor in the next few days. I saw him yesterday and he put me on Plavix, a blood thinner, in addition to the full strength aspirin I take every day. Scary.

In case you wonder, I have taken cholesterol medication and the values have been very good for many years, I eat a relatively healthy diet, and have never smoked, not even once. However for whatever reasons, I had to have a triple bypass in 2009 and had the left carotid cleaned out in 2010. It does not run in the family to the best of my knowledge and my 97 year old mother is still going strong.

[Speedy]

Hey, gosh, scary stuff, take care!

[cbelt3]

Kudos to you for knowing EXACTLY what to do with the asprin... except I would have called for an ambulance... having a TIA means you can have another one rapidly... a survivable TIA isn't survivable if you crash at high speed.

But I understand the reaction. I'm pleased you are doing well.

[DP]

cbelt3 wrote:
Kudos to you for knowing EXACTLY what to do with the asprin... except I would have called for an ambulance... having a TIA means you can have another one rapidly... a survivable TIA isn't survivable if you crash at high speed.

But I understand the reaction. I'm pleased you are doing well.

+1.

[A-Polly]

Wow, glad you are okay. Thanks for the description of your TIA and how you handled it — I think personal stories help us remember that anything can happen at any time, especially as we become :oldfogette:

[mjgkramer]

Thanks to all of you for your concern. Part of the reason I knew what to do is that wife and I were volunteer EMTs in Kingwood, TX, back in the 80s. As for the decision to drive myself to the ER it was a calculated risk. I actually did not tell wife I was having a problem until we were in the house. She is recovering from recent surgery to install a shunt in a ventricle in her brain as treatment for normal pressure hydrocephalus, which was discovered in January.

My training as an EMT was also useful when I experienced a problem that resulted in the triple bypass and the porcine aortic valve replacement in 2009 and the carotid clean out done the following year. I experienced shortness of breath when leaning back in my recliner or lying on my back in bed, which went away after a few minutes. I went to a cardiologist and told him I was having a heart problem. They did an angiogram (I think that's what it was called) and discovered a badly leaking valve and 90% or so blockage of three coronary arteries. Part of the problem with the valve is that it was a bicuspid rather than a tricuspid valve which made it prone to leakage.

Here is a picture of the plaque that was removed from the carotid. It was very close to causing a major stroke. Incredibly the other carotid was only 5% or so occluded.

cbelt3 wrote:
Kudos to you for knowing EXACTLY what to do with the asprin... except I would have called for an ambulance... having a TIA means you can have another one rapidly... a survivable TIA isn't survivable if you crash at high speed.

But I understand the reaction. I'm pleased you are doing well.

[cbelt3]

Woah.. that is a VERY occluded carotid !



and... :barf: ::o

[vision63]

Good God! My mind is blown. I'm glad you're ok. Your wife too!

[Rick-o]

Glad to hear it didn't turn out worse. It could have easily went the other way.

Get well and have a speedy recovery.

[Black]

You were driving, thought you were having a stroke, and continued driving home?