FAST - Time to head to the ER

[mekender]

Yesterday about 4pm, I was laying down about to sleep for a few hours after being up for over 48 hours straight... Wife is downstairs with the kids and starts feeling bad. Within about ten minutes she is helped upstairs by my teenager. I stir a bit and she is showing all the signs of a stroke, face is a bit droopy on the right side, right side of her body is numb and weak, speech is slurred a bit. She lays down on the bed and the symptoms start to go away rather quickly, but then a headache starts right behind her left eye.

Auyp, time to get to the hospital... We get there and they start checking vitals, her BP was hitting above 250/180!!!

Looks like it was not a clot relate stroke, but rather due to extremely high BP, her brain shut down blood flow to try to protect itself... They put her on a blood thinner and an IV drip to drop the BP and she sat in the ICU all night. Looks like her BP is now down in the ~140 range, so a lot better.

Hindsight says we should have probably gotten out the door quicker, but the important thing is we got there and she is being treated...

[JustinR]

Dang, hope she makes a full recovery, that's scary.

[randy]

Glad you spotted it and took action.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery

[Rumpshot]

Way to many people don't recognize the signs of a stroke. Glad you and yours did and that you reacted. Hope your wife gets through this and a solution to preclude it happening again. Good thoughts and prayers your way.

[blackeagle603]

That hits close to home. Sounds like outcome thus far is encouraging.

The first 3 hours are key and you need to be seen by a Doc so they treat in that window. It took 7 1/2 hours for me to see a doc. Although I did get triaged quick. They dogged me for not calling an ambulance when I had my stroke. Even though it was quicker for my wife to drive me they said I'd have gotten thru the queue quicker in the very busy ER.

My primary care doc gave me his mobile number in case it ever happens again. He wants me to call 911 and then him in that order. He'll get to the ER and make sure I'm expedited through.

[g-man]

Good to hear she's doing reasonably well, considering. Due in no small part to your prompt action, so many kudos for that. Also, thanks for the reminder on the FAST acronym.

[Catbird]

F Face Drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person's smile uneven?

A Arm Weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S Speech Difficulty – Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like "The sky is blue." Is the sentence repeated correctly?

T Time to call 9-1-1 – If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you'll know when the first symptoms appeared.

>>>LINK<<<

[Precision]

Holy Crap.

Didn't you get the message Dawn and Rumpshot are the only ones on this board allowed to be sick in any kind of major way. Glad to hear she got treatment and is already doing better.

Tell her we are praying for her.

[Steamforger]

The ol' tongue test is another great one. Have the person stick their tongue out. If it's bent to one side, then it's time to get to facilities for help.

[mekender]

Copying what I posted to FB:

About 3:50pm yesterday, my wife started experiencing the above symptoms... I was in bed after being awake for a couple of days straight and working all night the night before. She came upstairs and sat down, talking to her it was clear that she was not talking correctly, she was complaining that the fingers in her hand felt fat and hard to move. Shortly after that, almost all of the symptoms stopped but she started complaining that she had a headache and that it was behind her left eye...

That was when I told her that we were going to the ER... In hindsight, I probably should have just called 911...
About an hour after the first symptoms started, we were taken back into the ER and they started taking her vitals... Her blood pressure was somewhere around 250/212!!!

They got her on an IV for blood pressure meds and did a CT scan which did not show signs of a stroke. The ER doctor believed that since he was not seeing signs of a stroke, but that her BP was still so high, that it was a case of temporarily restricted blood flow to an area of the brain, not a clotting or hemorrhage related stroke. They were not seeing any signs of loss of motor or cognitive functions so that was a good thing.

After spending the night in the ICU being monitored, the took her for an MRI this morning and they did find signs of a small stroke in her right basal ganglia but they do not see any signs of any deficits, so that is a good thing...

Right now, she is resting and sleepy because of the anti-anxiety meds they gave her before the MRI and they are hoping to move her to a normal room this evening. Barring anything else, she may be able to come home tomorrow.

Going forward, she will have to be on BP medicine and we are looking at a huge change in diet, exercise and an overall reduction in stress levels around her... According to a family member that is familiar with such things, she is extremely lucky to not be showing any signs of damage, and if it happens again, she may not be as lucky.

If you see any symptoms like the ones above in someone around you, understand that it is a critical medical situation and that person needs medical help as soon as possible.