Hello everyone,
Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, support and anything else during this difficult time.
Last time I saw my primary doctor was April 2019. At that time, all my vitals were in th normal range. No medications. I don’t drink, do drugs nor smoke. I had no risk factors of anything more serious happening.
Monday, August 31, everything seemed fine. Started my new job. Looking forward to getting an income again, after having been without income since mid-March.
Tuesday was my first of two full-day orientation days.This one mostly about company history an high level company details. Everything still seemed good for me.
Wednesday was supposed to be my second day of orientation. That was where I was going to get more info on my benefits, signing up for them, how to get in touch with my manager and “buddy” to help me get situated in the company. Unfortunately, that was the day things went bad. I woke up extremely dizzy. I thought maybe I was dehydrated. Tried to get to some water, wound up falling and hitting my head on the door frame, causing significant bleeding.
I was taken by ambulance to the ER. Head injury was only a minor scrape that had already closed when the paramedics arrived. At the ER, I was continuing to recover, and they didn’t see anything when they did a CT scan of my head. My blood pressure was skyrocketing, but that was most likely due to the dizziness, vomiting, and injury to my head. My BP went down as I recovered, so I was released around noon and told to get motion sickness medicine to help if the vertigo returned, and I was to follow-up with my doctor in a couple days.
That afternoon and evening, except for a very small bit of dizziness around 7pm, everything seemed like it was getting back on track.
Thursday, things got so much worse, and it happened quickly and without warning. I was sitting at my work laptop, getting in touch with a person I was assigned to, to help me get situated in the company. I set up an afternoon meeting with him, then I started feeling dizzy. I took one of the motion sickness pills, but it only got worse.
I managed to get to the bathroom without injury, but was sweating profusely, and dry heaving, as I hadn’t eaten yet that morning. Paramedics took me back to the hospital and I continued to deteriorate quickly.
At the ER, they did an MRI and found that I had suffered a major stroke. As a result, I was admitted to the hospital and then transferred to another bigger hospital with a better neurosurgeon team just in case they had to open my skull to allow my brain to swell. Thankfully, that was no necessary.
While I was in the hospital, I did suffer another more mild stroke that affected my vision. They determined, as a result of a CT scan with contrast, that one of the arteries in the back of my neck had at some point in the past stopped delivering blood to my cerebellum, which is what eventually lead to my stroke. The cause of that was most likely due to an injury (like whiplash) as opposed to any underlying medical condition.
I have no other health indications of being a stroke risk. I’m young for a stroke, my numbers (except blood pressure now) were all normal. Although now that I have had a stroke, and my current blood pressure is elevated, I do have more of a risk of future strokes.
I was in the hospital for almost a week. Just having been released on Wednesday, September 9. The stroke was in the balance center of my brain, which is why I’m struggling with balance and vertigo now. The milder one was in the vision center. That damaged area is permanently damaged now, so it will take time for me to recover, so that the other side of my brain can pick up the slack from the dead areas in my cerebellum.
For now, I’m off work until Monday September 21. During this time I am staying with my parents as well. I’m restricted from computer/cell phone/television to very limited quantities to allow my brain to heal. After I return to work, I’ll have to see how I’m feeling if I can take more time at the computer after work or need to be offline a while longer. I have a walker and am working with my parents 2-3 times a day walking with it to try to get stronger. I have meds, and will be getting set up with PT/OT for additional rehabilitation.
If anyone wants to get a hold of me, they can send me an email, a note on Discord, or give a note to Ancilla, Pleasure, or Meri, to send to me via Discord or Email. Due to my limited screen time for now, I may only be able to read the message, and may not be able to respond. Please know that I do read and appreciate the messages and encouragement.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and support. This is going to be a long road of recovery, but I will be doing what I can to get my strength and endurance back up.
With love,
Trasee
