Road to recovery

Typically not a drooler

I must say I'm sorry, dear readers, for not being here. Sure, some have likely done happy dances (I'm looking at you, Mr. Anonymous), but some have worried (thank you).

I'm fine, but as I'm writing, I'm still off work until I get medical clearance, which will hopefully be soon. I can only take doing nothing for so long.

I had moved some boxes into the house on March 1 and felt a little lightheaded, but considering I hadn't eaten yet, I just thought my blood sugar was really low. I decided to drink some orange juice, but was unable to swallow and instead became a fountain, spitting the juice everywhere (and I'm still cleaning it up). I also couldn't speak, was drooling, and was confused by the microwave ... and no, that's not normal for me. After a few minutes, it resolved.

I decided I would call my doctor in the morning to let her know what had happened, just to be safe.

A bit later, I got up to head to the bathroom and noticed the side of my right foot was tingling. By the time I washed my hands, I was again drooling, and unable to swallow or speak. I tried writing something, but it was illegible. This time I decided I needed to do something, and got dressed, put more food in Luke's bowl, and drove to the emergency room (by the way, don't do this).

When I got to the desk in the emergency room, the attendant asked me what was wrong, but all I could do was wail (and even with bronchitis, I've got a voice that carries) and gesture at my throat and my head. She gave me paper and a pen, but I was still unable to do much more than a scrawl. I did finally manage to write something that resembled "stroke," and they quickly got me to the doctors in the back.

The next couple of hours were a blur of tests, blood draws and attempted communication with the nurses and ER doc. They were able to conclude that I had indeed had a light stroke and was a candidate for tPA, a clot-buster.

Since I knew what tPA was capable of, I consented. By the time the paramedics arrived to transport me to the larger hospital in Little Rock, I was able to get out a few somewhat intelligible words. By the next day, I had most of my speech back, and was aching to get back home to my own bed and crazy cat, but I would have to stay another day.

I finally got home late on March 3 and cuddled with my boy, with the knowledge that I'd had an embolic stroke (where a clot breaks free and travels to the brain). The episode earlier in the day on March 1 was most likely a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is usually a warning that a stroke is to come.

Wednesday, a TIA happened again, just for a couple of minutes. Luckily, the night before when I was being discharged, my nurse Emily told me that if I felt the symptoms again to take a 325 mg aspirin and call 911. The symptoms had mostly resolved by the time the paramedics got there, but I now know this isn't something to ignore. Several hours later, I was discharged and home again, dealing with a cat suffering from an acute anxiety attack.

Not everyone has the same symptoms, and they can vary with the part of the brain affected; mine was on the left side. My symptoms were primarily aphasia (difficulty speaking) and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). I could understand everything I was asked, but was unable to communicate, which for someone who communicates for a living is terrifying. Still, the FAST mnemonic is good to remember (face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911).

Now my focus is on recovery and hopefully I will soon be returning to work. I still have a little trouble finding my words, and a little trouble typing, but shouldn't have to have speech therapy. Luckily, except for the temporary loss of fine motor control in my right hand, I had no visible physical signs.

I was already on a low-fat, pretty bland diet due to IBS, and genetics dealt me blood pressure and cholesterol naturally a little on the high side, so I'll have to rely on my medications and losing more weight. And because I'm not the most patient of people (polite yes, patient no), I need to develop a bit more of that quality.

I'm hoping you'll be patient with me as well.

Most columnists would probably not recommend writing about something so personal, but I'm not most columnists. I'm hoping that you'll learn from my experience, and watch for the warning signs.

While risk increases with age, just about anyone can have a stroke, especially if you have several risk factors. You can find out more from the American Stroke Association (www.strokeassociation.org).

And don't worry; my sense of humor and snarkasm is still intact. Patience is a work in progress, even though I was able to resist correcting a misspelling on the dry-erase board in my hospital room. That won't happen again.

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Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Read her blog at blooper0223.wordpress.com.

Editorial on 03/11/2015

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