Originally Posted by
Wheever
So after a visit with a Cardiologist, (yes! A road biker!) he thinks my stroke was caused either by Afib or something called a PFO--which is basically a hole between the ventricles that would have let, say, a small clot from the leg make it to my brain, rather than dissolving in the lungs.
For the Afib, I'm getting a little doohicky called a LinQ implanted that monitors my heart and uploads to a mother ship at night; for the possible PFO, a trans-esophageal echo (TEE) is being done first week of May. In the overall scheme of things, I think I'd rather it be the PFO, because it's repairable. If it's Afib, I'll have to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life, and at risk of a heart attack for all the Afib reasons.
Overall, I seem to have recovered well from the stroke, but as @
canklecat says above, I'm hyper-vigilant about my heart and brain, worrying that I could have another stroke.
One upside is the Cardiologist told me to go ride as normal; the downside is when I did, I got light-headed, probably from the BP meds. :-/
Lordy, getting old sure does suck sometimes!
Don't feel that the AFIB is entirely medication only, the ablative and cry-ablative therapies have come a long way. So much is being uncovered about AFIB, VFIB and the other anomalies of the rhythm now. I am dealing with AFIB right now, actually right at this minute dammit, and its a balancing act with medication(s,) cycling distance/intensity, possible ablation therapy, cardioversion, etc.
Glad that you found a Cardiologist that understands cyclists, they are hard to come by. Mine told me to keep cycling, don't change anything yet, I believe I'll trust him. I must have read and re-read, "Haywire Heart", half a dozen times now, if you don't have a copy of it yet, get one.
Bill
Bill