OK, it's actually been over a year since this happened, but I'm going to insert it into my blog in the appropriate place (back date the entry). I'm doing this for two reasons: (1) At the time, I was incapacitated to the point where writing in a blog was impossible and (2) to fill in the many-month gap in the story - trying to do this before I forget everything that happened (I probably have already forgotten a great deal). The dates are going to have to be approximate (other than the initial event) - Laura had them marked on a calendar - but then we went and threw the calendar out at the end of 2009.
The Event
I was feeling somewhat peculiar on Monday, October 5th, 2009. I can't specifically say what it was, but I wasn't feeling completely OK. I went in the morning - must have been about 11am - to get my hair cut. When I got back home I hassled Laura and Dave about taking the dog for a walk, and they must have left about noon. I had some lunch, and remember a flushed/hot feeling behind my right eye ... I thought this may be a sign of a stroke, so I had a glass of water and laid down on the couch for a bit. I told myself that I would get up in a bit and check myself for signs of a stroke at that time. Weirdly prescient. When I got up from the short nap, at almost exactly 12:30pm, I could feel my right arm and leg starting to go numb. I knew immediately that it was a stroke, and fortunately the phone was sitting on the coffee table right in front of me. I dialed 9-1-1 and they sent an ambulance right away.
I could hear the ambulance arrive, but at this point couldn't move or talk loudly. I could tell they were at the front door, and after some intial banter (don't know if they could hear me or not) came upstairs to find me bent over on the couch. They put me in a chair and carried me out of the house and, as luck would have it, I could still talk and saw our neighbor Angie at the front door. I confirmed with the ambulance guys where I was headed (Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster), and Angie said she'd tell Laura when she got home. I remember she and Dave arriving very soon after I got to RCH.
Royal Columbian
I was met in Emergency immediately by a stroke team, and was admitted by Dr. Mendavev (Neurologist). Shortly after arriving, I was asked to give their permission to administer the clot-fighting drug TPH. At this point I could still write, and filled out some consent forms for the hospital. After the drug had been administered, I was wheeled back into emergency - where I remained for a coupe of nights - before moving upstairs to the Neurology ward. Mom and dad, Rob, Don, and many of our friends visited me at RCH. While at Royal Columbian Dr. Mendevev ran the full gamut of tests - everything from a MRI, CAT scan, brain angiogram, ultrasound of my legs and carotid arteries, and everything except a spinal tap. They found nothing. The stroke was in the cerebellum at the base of my brain. A clot in an artery no larger in diameter than a human hair.
I felt pretty good in the hospital. I don't remember ever being depressed. I spent that first weekend - October 10-11 at RCH, and had lots of visitors (people wanted me to reimburse them for parking at RCH - very expensive). Physio had me up and walking a few times, and although I couldn't notice it, I leaned heavily to one side - my center of balance had changed.
Eagle Ridge
I got lucky, and on the Tuesday, October 13, I moved aver to Eagle Ridge Hospital's Rehab Program. I started Physiotherapy with Sandra on Wednesday the 13th, and at this time my voice was basically unaffected, so I had no speech therapy.
I got certified to enter and leave a car that first week (but not to climb stairs), and went out on Saturday to the mall, and to home (downstairs only). Don, Carol and kids came over and spent Saturday with me. On Sunday, we went for a walk (I was in a wheelchair) through Rocky Point, and even went to a movie. Overall, my progress seemed good.
When Kathryn (my daughter, who was working teaching English in Ankara, Turkey) heard the news about me, she came home for two weeks - so I saw her that weekend and in to the following week. Dave, my son, was to leave for India and Nepal on October 6th! Fortunately, he had bought trip cancellation insurance, so got most of his money back. Laura and I contributed the rest, so Dave was made whole, financially anyways.
Second Floor
On or about October 20th, my friend Andrew came to take me to lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Halfway through lunch, I found that ability to chew was gone ... halfway through a grilled cheese sandwich. Andrew wheeled me back to the unit, and they moved me up for a few days to the second floor - Managed Care Unit (normally for cardiac patients - I was in the same bed as I was in in 2006 for my heart!). I went for another MRI, and all they could determine was that there was some swelling in the area of the stroke, which should go down in a few days. During this time, they kept my bed for me downstairs in Physio - so after 2 or 3 days, I moved back downstairs.
Second Time, Second Floor
One evening about October 24th, I passed out while on the toilet. I was unconscious for a minute or so - and I subsequently lost my ability to swallow at will, and talking was off and on. Up to the second floor (MCU) I went again. This time, I was in MCU for 3 or 4 days, and then moved to a general ward around October 27th. I was sent back to RCH for another MRI (note that the ambulance attendants were working to rule - on strike). The results for this one seemed forever to come, but eventually the on-call hospitalist (doctor) let it slip that I had had another stroke. This news really devastated me, but Dr.Mendavev pretty much summed up my situation - it doesn't matter what they find, it only matters how I feel.
While I was on the second floor, I had all kinds of new challenges. I lost my ability to speak completely, so I was using a laminated board with letters on it ... quite the challenge for people to follow me pointing! I couldn't shave or brush my teeth - so mom and dad, who came every day for a few weeks, would help me with those things. I couldn't chew food, so I was on a minced food diet (gross), which I frequently spit up uncontrollably. My brother, Rob, wore a few lunches courtesy of me. While up there Dr. Mendavev put me on Prosac - at that point I stopped sleeping. I took myself off Prosac after only a week or so, but the insomnia kept on. I had to be put on a wait list for Physio now, as I had been gone for too long. Finally, on November 12th I moved back down to a new bed in Physio.
Second Physio
Along with a new bed I got a new physiotherapist (Ruth) and Speech Pathologist (Colleen). Ruth said, the very first day, that if I could resign myself to staying in a wheelchair for a little longer, she would get me walking with no intermediate (and maybe permanent) steps.
I stayed at the hospital for that first Physio weekend, but went home (and upstairs!) every weekend after that. Speech Pathology seemed to be more hit-and-miss. I still cannot speak that well, 16 months post-stroke, but it seems to improve very slowly.
Home
Progress at this point seemed steady. Although I still couldn't sleep, Ruth in Physio had me walking just like she said she would. I was at the Diack Christmas Party on Saturday, December 12th ... I couldn't walk very good or very far, but I was walking. I was home on December 24th - 29th, back for a couple of days, and then officially discharged on January 5th (actually came home o the 4th, and went in on the morning of the 5th to be official). The doctor responsible for the Rehab Facility gave me a prescription for ten Ativan (my request), as it was the only thing that seemed to help the sleep ... if I only knew then what I know now, I'd never have started down the Ativan path.
Today
Although I'm back-dating this, today is January 18th, 2011. It's been almost 16 months since the first stroke (there were 3 or 4 of them in total). The only explanation for all of them has been bad genes. I carry no risk factors for stroke (or heart disease for that matter). The stroke does have it's precursors if I look closely, though. Preceding the stroke for years was a feeling of lightheadedness that has now gone away. I had a two-day-long dizzy spell in 2007 (likely a TPA). I had a weekend-long bout of labrynthitis in the summer of 2007 - likely another TPA. Back when I was a teenager, I had a bout of severe labrynthitis (maybe a TPA). I had a real numb-inducing-fine-motor-skill-affecting stroke (but not long lingering - back to normal in a week) in 2008. Interesting that after that one was fully investigated, the CAT scan showed signs of an "old" stroke. When you add all of this up, knowing that they all affect the exact same area of the brain, and that I've had nothing since, it seems to add up to a major "blow-out" event. That's what I think it was. I think I'll live a long, normal, life once this event is completely behind me (it may take years).