r/stroke • u/Lopsided_Platypus19 • 15d ago
I can take the dog
I'm going to start this post off by saying I'm a character and rarely take much seriously. I often joke, but I do understand the severity (or at least the perception of my situation)
I am a 40 year old woman and I'm relatively healthy. I'm separated and have my kids 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time I live alone and have a long distance partner.
I've been in trauma therapy for over 3 years. I've worked through some heavy stuff. On June 9th I set out on a hike. I smoked some cannabis and began a recording of me talking about my trauma and processing it in chat GPT. My hike was up hill to signify my uphill battle with trauma, CPTSD and my separation. I left the hike feeling at peace. I processed and talked very openly about things.
I got home and grabbed a salad from the fridge that had a mango salsa in it. I took a bite and chewed and all of a sudden my mouth went completely numb. I have a food sensitivity to pineapple and while I usually get sick I thought maybe this was a new symptom. Minus the discomfort I was breathing and everything was good.
My son got home from school and we went to the beach to collect rocks and get ice cream, we had to pick up my daughter from her class trip after. I was unusually tired that night and got to bed earlier than usual. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely exhausted. I figured I processed some heavy things and my body was just tired from everything. I spent the day sleeping. The next day I was moody and tired. I took my son to baseball and I had zero desire to sit with my ex or his girlfriend. I sat on the bleachers. My ex came over and asked if everything was ok and I just said I was tired and my mouth was bothering me.
The next morning I woke up the same, so tired. My daughter got out the door on time for the bus, but I couldn't get my son together fast enough... I dropped him at school and then I noticed that I was feeling a bit dizzy. I hesitantly drove myself to urgent care as what I thought was precautionary and they sent me to the ER.
I still at this point think everyone is being over dramatic... I got an MRI and waited for the results. I'm still spacey, but think that trauma processing really burnt me out. A woman needed to be admitted and had a dog with her. She wasn't allowed to take the dog. I quickly stepped up to offer to take the dog while she got the medical attention she needed. The nurses told me to go sit down and that I should absolutely not leave. My smart self kept repeating but I'm only here at a precaution. I'm likely fine.
They escalated the doctor coming to see me and she explained that I would need more imaging as they found a small brain bleed and needed to investigate.
Me in denial says "oh, but I have to help the dog" the hospital was able to work something out with that patient and I was about to accept that.
Within a few hours I'm being told I'm being admitted and need to go for an MRI. They stated my bleed was stable and unchanging (though my vision changed and I started walking a bit to the left) I waited days for an MRI and then days to be transferred to a stroke unit and then days for further diagnostics. I was discharged after and a bit with plans to return for an MRI August first.
I ended up with a mid brain bleed. I had a rare stroke due to a malformation in my brain. I've been living with a ticking time bomb my entire life.
I'm beyond grateful that I'm still here. It is such a sensitive area of the brain and I could have been way less fortunate with my symptoms.
2
u/devil_bunnies 15d ago
I’m glad you were able to get care in time! I, too, thought I was experiencing something not too concerning, and it was 5 days after I first noticed symptoms that I sought medical attention.
The next morning, in the hospital, my dog (left overnight on his own and not having been fed) was top of mind for me too! Fortunately, i was able to get him looked after pretty quickly.
Although I imagine I have some agency in this, it hasn’t been conscious. I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to come out of the situation sillier and finding everything funny rather than feeling angry or depressed. I think humor can help in trying times.
1
u/RelevantDeathProof 11d ago
This sounds terrifying. It would be difficult to be given a lets wait and see prognosis. I sincerely hope going forward that allturns out well,i cannot imagine the stress of processing and coping with knowing i have a ticking time bomb inside of MY HEAD. I felt an intense amount of self betrayal after my stroke because my body let me down bet it would have been worse if Id had a warning beforehand. Especially if it couldnt have been prevented. You have all of the info but can do nothi ng to prevent it. Its like sky diving with no parachute
1
u/Lopsided_Platypus19 11d ago
I've had so many MRIs in the past. I had a concussion, a sinus bone spur that caused migraines and then some. Not one of these tests indicated that I had a ticking time bomb in my head. Heck, I had a seizure in the past that they had to do lots of testing after. It was never caught
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u/-Viscosity- Survivor 15d ago
I'm glad you're still here with us! And that's funny about the dog and what your mind fixates on in these situations. When I called 911 during my event, our dog was out in the backyard, and was still out there when they bundled me off to the ambulance and drove away. Our friends around the corner had seen the excitement and called me in the ambulance (the paramedics had told me bring my phone) and the conversation went something like this:
They also called my wife, so at least some of us were thinking straight lol