On August 20th I experienced a stroke but didn’t
know it. This is my story.
I was watching television and suddenly part of my vision
disappeared. There was no pain. I have had migraine headaches in the
past. They typically include that a
small portion of my vision is obscured and I “see” a small aura of bright light
around the edge of my vision. My
migraines will generally last about an hour and then everything returns to
normal.
This time I thought that that was happening again, but there
was no aura. This experience had more of
my vision field gone. My “headache” was
not going away. I went for a walk
thinking a little fresh air might help.
When I crossed the street I could hear cars, but I couldn’t see
them. I would have to turn my head further
to get the vehicles into my vision.
Since I had not experienced any pain, I felt no need to contact a doctor
yet.
The next day, the vision had cleared up. The lower right portion of my field of vision
was just gone. It’s hard to
describe. It wasn’t black or white or
gray. It just seemed not to be there,
but I knew it was supposed to be there.
I tried to read, but the end of each line wasn’t there. I was starting to get a little more concerned
and expressed it to my wife, but still didn’t pursue the issue medically.
Finally, Wednesday morning there was still no change. I decided to call my family doctor’s office –
and knowing my doctor is not in on Wednesdays – and asked to get in first thing
Thursday morning. The nurse asked my
symptoms and after describing them, she arranged for me to see another
physician that afternoon. She said this
new physician was just getting her practice started and these symptoms sounded
like something that she specializes in.
My daughter was my chauffeur for the afternoon. The doctor went through a general exam,
similar to what my regular doctor puts me through for my annual physical. She was trying to look deep into my eyes (best
way for me to put that) to look for any damage.
Since my eyes would not stay stable enough for her to see, I was sent to
an ophthalmologist. She also scheduled
me for a MRI brain exam for Thursday morning.
After a good dose of
drops to dilate my eyes, I went through the eye exam. The ophthalmologist found no damage of any
kind to my eyes.
The next morning I spent 45 minutes in the MRI. I also had a dye put into me to help
highlight my brain on the film (although the film was only in black and
white). After waiting another 30
minutes for a doctor to read the results, the receptionist told me that my
first doctor wanted me back in her office to talk with me. Well, this was not
good news. So my wife drove us back to
see her.
The doctor started off by telling me I had experienced
something with a really long name – in laymen’s terminology - I had had a
stroke. She said it was a very small one
on the back of brain on the left side in area that controls vision. She
proceeded to check me out again to see if there were any apparent residual
effects from my stroke.
My youngest brother had passed away about 6 months earlier
and there had been no definitive cause of death. I had found him dead in bed. There was the possibility that whatever
caused his death might be hereditary.
So, back then I had an ultrasound on my heart. It was determined to be just fine. Now the family doc had an ultrasound done on
my carotid arteries in my neck. A-OK
there.
No apparent physical lingering effects, although my vision
was beginning to return. When I would
read a line of print, at least I could see some of it. It just looked like a poor quality ink jet
print. So the doc put me on a low dose
aspirin and a minimal diuretic. My next visit would be to a neurologist, but I
would have to wait for insurance approval first. The first, middle, and last instruction I had
from the doctor was clear – another experience like this I was to head to the
emergency immediately!
Well, that Friday evening I suddenly experienced very
blurred vision, but it was in a different area of my vision field. So off I went to Parkview North. Again, no pain. By the time I arrived there I was already
started to feel better. After 3 hours of
nothing – other than the vision clearing up – the ER doc arranged to get me
into a neurologist ASAP after Monday.
I got in the next Tuesday to see the neurologist. He took a look at my MRI films again and
confirmed the diagnosis. He started
looking at some other issues in my health history. His concern centered on my snoring. Sleep apnea has been linked to a possible cause
of strokes. So a couple of weeks later I
found myself wired at a sleep center to record what I do while I sleep. I also
had another heart ultrasound that examined my heart in more detail. The results indicated moderate sleep
apnea. At that point I also asked the
neurologist further about my earlier MRI results. He showed me the spot on my brain where the
stroke occurred. He said I ‘was very
lucky.” That hit me with a lot of
impact. So, the result now is that I
started sleeping with a CPAP, a device that forces air into my breathing while
I sleep to prevent me from suddenly stopping breathing.
I reflected on the fact that my father had experienced a
major stroke in his early 40’s and he was a chronic snorer. I suspect that maybe this is how my brother
died.
All of the tests that I have experienced have returned as
normal, except the sleep apnea. Of
course, I still need to lose more weight.
The doctor said I could be taken off the CPAP if I lost at least 40
pounds. That does give more incentive. More time on the treadmill.
I never would have thought of myself having a stroke. I was always expecting the widow maker heart attack.
I write all of this as a warning to others that could be
susceptible for something like this also.
Get yourself checked out.
