So, I had a stroke. Now what?
 

Tuesday, December 11, at the end of age 58, I am told I had a mild stroke. Spent 3 days in the hospital "being watched". I guess I should feel fortunate 'cuz I haven't got any physical defects, well, from the stroke anyway! I do have a problem with sight, which is annoying and for some reason doesn't seem consistent. So, my dear elder friends; anyone else deal with this life experience? If so, what can I really expect. I must admit, I'm a bit freaked out here. Plus, I am not to work "for a time, to rest". Which means financial strain for my family. Nice at Christmas, but, such is life. Any advice would be appreciated.
Regards, Merry Christmas, Doug

GOOD LUCK for a speedy recovery.

Not a stroke for me just cancer so can't relate to the issues you are encountering but do agree with ----- "such is life".

What does your doctor say about your riding?
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The things the OP will probably need are regular medical examination for blood pressure and maybe examination of your blood flow through the neck and within the brain. There also might be thought about your thinking processes.

The questions that may need answers and assessment are your current body and heart conditions, your weight, your food and alcohol consumption, and your current exercise levels, plus if you have any emotional and/or financial stresses.

You don't to have any answers here to any of those questions, but trust me, they are things that will need some sort of reality in dealing with any that might exist.

^^^^^^^^^^¦ Exactly ... ^^^^^^^^
I've got to think you're on BF because you ride, diet and stress are big factors. Eliminating sugar and other processed foods is a good thing. Stressed? Try to concentrate on your beautiful views while riding ....

With all those tests that they did, did they determine what caused the stroke? In my father's case, it was a blood clot caused by his atrial fibrillation (heart) that traveled to his brain. Fortunately, it was in the back of the brain and he just had some minor peripheral vision loss, not any muscle weakness or paralysis.

Wishing you all the best in your recovery.

Greetings all~
Thank you so much for the concern and best wishes!

I have had ALL the tests needed, sometimes more than once! Conclusion: my PCP told me my vitals, levels are all within good standing. Resting Heart Rate - 68. BP - 118 over 75. Cholesterol total is 184. And, apparently, all other triggers are not present. I don't smoke, have a BMI of 23, am "aware" of what I eat, and have a low alcohol drink level (once or twice a week). However, enter STRESS. That nemesis may have done me in: sole provider owing a business, working a part-time additional job, last child in college (tuition bills!!)

As stated: I do feel "lucky" as in I don't have any of the paralysis, weakness that can be attributed to stroke. Just would like the vision thing to settle down and my head to stop this dull ache. I miss work. I miss training. It's hard to "relax" when so much of my time, that was my time to relax, was in the saddle or do-jang.

Appreciate the concerns gang. Don't take for granted what you've got today, ever.

I have not had a stroke. I did break my neck and have C1 & C2 fused. My take away is that you should follow the advice of the medical professionals. That's about the best advice I can give. Good luck. Hope all goes well.

I've known enough people who've had strokes to understand that they are all different. So I'm going to give best wishes and not advice.

Thanks for your reply.

The stress is very important to take into account. I didn't have a stroke, except I think injury bleeding which was a smallish issue, but parts of my long-term recovery process from brain injury has been fatigue management and some psychologist assessments.

While things like that may be a bit more difficult at low or no cost to achieve in your medical system compared with the one where I live, the fatigue and thought managements do play important roles in you (rather than expectations of others) managing ability to reduce the stress in particular as much possible.

The eyesight thing also is something that has affected me due to connecting nerve injury, and seeing an eyesight specialist and making them understand what happened and have knowledge to improve your prospect is important.

Mine was excellent and specified a spec for a lens on my affected eye to reduce serious double vision when looking sideways wearing my original glasses. My eye-brain connection appears now to be well recovered and I will be seeing the glasses specialist again in the New Year for new lens design.

That's all for the moment. Cheers...

Thread moved from 50+ to 50+ Pills and Ills.

TOTALLY AGREE!!
My worst assumption was, "oh I'm a healthy guy, this must just be..."

Thanks again for the concern everyone. Guess I have a slow daily process to maintain, patience with myself has never been easy.

My advice is to ignore ANY medical advice you get on the internet, especially on a bicycle forum, and do what your doctors tell you.

:ride: Yeah, I get that. I respect and actually enjoy my Doctor. He's a valued friend. It's comforting to know there are those who understand my two-wheel addiction and have been through similar situations.

3 years ago I had a stroke, 56 now. also I started riding road bikes since my stroke and it's helped a bunch. also a brain trauma such as a stroke is never mild and always affects you. I never had an issue with anxiety or depression until about 6 months after my stroke. I was always fit and doing sports but stress is a killer.
learn from it and grow from it. change whatever needs changing and do as your doctor suggest.

I would absolutely reject medical advice on a biking forum out of hand, even from a doctor posting here. The person giving the advice doesn't know the "patient's" history, has not examined them, and doesn't have any objective data save what was relayed by the internet "patient". In many or most circumstances, the person giving the advice based on their own experience did not completely understand what was explained to them by their doctor. Their anecdotes are generally non-applicable, and in some cases dangerous.

The likelihood of your average internet poster confusing anecdote with actual data and relevant medical information is extremely high.

Having said that, people will always ask their friends and neighbors questions about things that none of them have any idea about. It's human nature. My (non-medical) advice....be very, very cautious about the value of advice from anonymous strangers, especially on important subjects. Like...strokes, for example.
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My erstwhile surfing buddy and best friend had a series of small strokes some time ago. He had strange symptoms including seeing auras around things and the like, and some paralysis. He sought medical attention promptly, but no one apparently thought it was a stroke. It wasn't until he had a pre-op physical that the hole in his heart was discovered. Apparently, we're all born with that to allow blood to bypass our lungs (not used in the womb), and for most of us, that hole closes with time. For some it doesn't, and some blood flow to the lungs is bypassed, along with one of its functions ... filtering small blood clots.

So my only thought is make sure your docs stay on it to try to find out the cause until they've exhausted all reasonable possibilities.

It's all true ... none of us are spring chickens, and we're no getting any younger. We adapt, and hopefully, we prosper. Good luck to you!

So looking at your posting history on Bike Forums, including what I sense to be a lot of medical advice, your advice in those is discountable in every case. Perhaps apart from your knee replacement, you might want to let us know your personal experience with brain injury, caused by something like a stroke or a workplace accident, and the extensive medical advice you must have received for it.

I can think of several other doctors who are cyclists and post on Bike Forums. I would certainly read what they write before anything posted by you.

The Mayo Clinic is highly regarded in various parts of the world and offers this information on stroke that the OP may find useful if not already:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...s/syc-20350113

I am a neurologist and an avid cyclist. Current guidelines suggest your LDL cholesterol should be below 70 as secondary stroke prevention. Get it checked. Make sure you don't have a PFO (patent foramen ovale.) Make sure you don't have a congenital clotting disorder (Protein C, protein S, antithrombin III, factor V leiden, e.g.) If your echocardiogram and vessel imaging studies are normal, then you should have a 30 day cardiac event monitor and if that is normal, you might get an implanted cardiac loop monitor. Many strokes are from heart dysrhythmias that are paroxysmal. Endurance athletes are at risk for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, and I would look hard at this with your neurologist and cardiologist. Happy holidays.

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My festive Christmas!
Whew; been awhile since I've responded to my own thread!

Spent my entire Christmas "holiday" in hospital. I had another "event" on Christmas eve afternoon that sent me packing back, bummer.

I felt so bad for my family. My daughter's home on break from college as a first year freshman. I'm sure there's no chance of a Neuro-science degree in her future after all this! My wife was awesome, actually, is. She never left me, got less sleep than I, spent most of the time in a stiff chair; my sweet advocate. If there is anything positive through all this, it's the re-inforcement of my love/respect for her and hopefully, the further strengthening of our friendship.

I think there may have been a break through! Testing is starting to show that I have an enlarged chamber in my heart that may be allowing "blow back" (layman terms). Possibly a hole that never sealed well from birth. May need a
surgical procedure to seal it, and, hopefully, case, or, chamber closed. Time will tell as there are more tests to see results. Still have to go through Opthymalogy to assess my vision. That seems to be my biggest issue to date.
I'm very pleased with the care and concern of my Doctors thus far; Geisinger Medical Center has been great. BTW, if any of you are nurses, God love ya, you are SAINTS!

Thanks for the continued concerns, prayers, and understandings. Now, quit reading this dribble and go ride...