My Stroke Story Chapter 1

On September 5 I was thrust into a new reality when suddenly my mind went from being lucid to thoroughly confused. I had just stepped into the office to tell my wife I was on my way to Home Depot. But when I spoke, the words “Home Depot” refused to form on my lips. My wife walked over and helped me with the words and I left the room, confused. I walked around a bit; my gait was completely normal. But I could not find the words I was missing. I began looking for other words, but they all seemed to allude me. I even tried the ABCs. Strangely I could mouth the ABCs, but my mind could not see the letters. I thought I should rest a minute. I thought I should walk. I called my wife for help, with confused words that clarified my neediness.

Lynne came upstairs and talked to me. She somewhat understood what I was saying. Her understanding cloaked the seriousness of the situation, and neither of us realized we should call 911. Neither of us suspected a stroke. I was too young and healthy.

I began to regain some clarity. The fog slowly drifted away from my mind, and we let it. No doctors. No EMT’s. Back to pressure washing the porch. And then off to Six Flags for some family time. Yes, really.

By that night I had self diagnosed the event as a TIA (thanks WEB-MD). And I learned that TIAs are often followed by full on strokes. I went to sleep that night believing I would never wake up… But I did. And I went straight to the family doctor. I was sitting on his porch when he arrived. When he heard what happened and that I did not call 911, he ripped into me. Then he checked me out and set me up with a variety of tests and a referral to a neurologist.

There were a plethora of tests, a cardiologist and a neurologist over the next couple months. I was poked and scanned and bled and ultrasounded. What we found out was that I have ZERO risk factors for stroke. However, we did find that I had a hole in my heart. A hole between chambers is not a risk factor, but it does create a pathway through which a clot in the body can take an express train to the brain under certain conditions.

After all the tests, we consulted with the family practice doctor, neurologist, and cardiologist. The consensus was that I would take a full aspirin every day and  do the “standard” stroke preventions. Eat healthy, exercise, and don’t smoke. The neurologist and family practitioner wanted me to go on a statin to lower my cholesterol; I balked at the idea. I knew very little about statins but had heard them demonized enough that I was uncomfortable at the idea. The doctor about jumped down my throat. I caved and accepted the prescription, but waited to fill it. First I wanted to research the issue. 

I read the book, The Great Cholesterol Myth, and blogs and research papers. My research called into question the idea of using statins and lowering LDL cholesterol as a primary objective. The science passed my engineer's sniff test. It put enough doubt in my mind that I decided to wait indefinitely on the statin. The major theses were:

• Cholesterol is a building block of blood clots, but it is not the glue. As much or more focus should be on minimizing the “glue"
• The “glue” in our blood is directly related to the amount of carbohydrates we consume
• Particle size is important to understand the true danger of LDL particles
• The side effects of statins are not as trivial as hoped 
• Carbohydrates can be more health adverse than saturated fats

The confusion related to proper nutrition is one of the most frustrating aspects of this. The same foods are loved by and demonized by different passionate, well-educated doctors doing their best for their patients. It is requiring a lot of research and open ears to sift through the many opinions.

On January 30th, I was at home with Lydia and Chelsea; Lynne was miles away at field hockey with Abigail. I decided to follow Julie Kozy in her cleaning endeavors and was going to make up some homemade multipurpose cleaner. I bent over to grab the palmolive from under the sink, and then stood up quickly. As I stood up, something  washed through my mind, and everything changed.

 

My sight instantly blurred. I could still detect light, but I could not distinguish anything. There was just a white sparkly field in front of me. I felt dizzy at the same time, and in one motion sat back down on my butt, on the floor, leaning heavily against the cabinet.  I could not stay there long though, because nausea hit in a matter of seconds. I knew where I was, and launched myself toward the sink, just in time for all my lunch to come streaming out of my mouth. Gross but real.

Lydia! Come here please. I need you.

I had all my mental faculties at this this time and could speak perfectly. Additionally, I had no musculo-skeletal issues.

Lydia was there as fast as her tree trunk soccer legs would bring her. She asked if she should get someone to take me to the doctor, and I said “Yes," but it should be an ambulance. Lydia was cool as a cucumber calling for the ambulance. She spoke clearly to the dispatch and answered all their questions as I caressed and found comfort with the kitchen sink. 

Before I knew it I heard the familiar sirens and then the footsteps of two much anticipated EMTs. After explaining my fixation with the kitchen sink and how I was feeling, they asked me if I wanted them to take me to the hospital. I think I was so shocked by the question, because I felt so crappy, that I did not answer right away. They asked again, telling me that they could not just kidnap me. Yes please, I stammered out. I heard one of the EMTs say she thought maybe it was vertigo.   Before I knew it I was flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, rolling head first through the house.  The stairs were no problem for their gurney, and after a few whirs and clicks of the gurney motor I was secured in the back of the ambulance. We took off and part way to the hospital I lost all awareness, and I would not remember anything for the next eight hours.