I am a Stroke Survivor, Part 2

So on June 7th, 2007, I find myself in the ICU of St Luke's South Hospital. I am 4 days short of 51 years old, this is not supposed to be happening. The day began a barrage of tests. I think I saw all the testing hardware available at the hospital. Sonogram, CT scan, and echo cardiogram tests were among the first to be performed. Each were intended to find the source of the clot or plaque that caused the TIA's. All turned up no evidence.

Vacation was planned for the next morning. Could we still make it? I lobbied the neurologist and nurses hard. I wanted to go! Late in the day, Terri and I met with the neurologist and I was successful in convincing him to release me with medication and a promise to return for testing after vacation. We were going to North Carolina!

But then TIA #3 hit, complete with facial droop. In a matter of minutes, my condition turned from ready for release to seriously ill. It is not normal for a patient to have 3 TIA's over 2 days as this usually portends a serious stroke is imminent. Good bye North Carolina, hello St. Luke's Brain and Stroke Center.


I was immediately transferred to the St. Luke's downtown location that specialized in caring for brain and stroke patients. The next few days were spent visiting other hardware for tests, all of which were not conclusive. Fortunately, I experienced no more TIA's. The final test, an angiogram, was the gold standard for vascular problems. In this procedure, the doctor made a small incision into my leg, and fed a wire into an artery, through my heart and into my brain. From there they released dye just below the suspected TIA location as they watched a real time video of the blood supply in my brain. I too was able to see what they did.

The dye was released as I felt a surge of warmth spread through my head. On the monitor, all the blood vessels in my head immediately became visible. From this, the doctor was able to tell that this was no longer a case of multiple TIA's. The restricted blood flow had killed a small portion of my brain, so the diagnosis was now that I had a minor stroke. The vessels around the damaged portion were already redirecting blood around the area.


Still the source of my problem was unknown and may remain that way forever. Fortunately, I have not had recurrence of a TIA in the subsequent 2 years. So on Sunday, June 10th, I was discharged from St. Luke's Hospital. In the third and last blog on this subject, I will describe what has happened since my stroke.