My stroke occurred at about 2:00 pm on a Saturday. I was driving on a major New Orleans avenue (Claiborne Avenue) when I was hit. Although, I have often been asked what the symptoms were, describing it is somewhat difficult.
The stroke hit me suddenly without any warning as I drove. It was not painful. It was more like a curtain falling and a change of state occurring behind the curtain. Another analogy would be that a powerful but painless karate punch had landed across my body and my body was no longer the same, afterwards.
My vision immediately went screwy as I began seeing double which made cars appear to sit on top of each other. Fortunately, my voice and my thinking were unaffected. I told my adult daughter riding with me:
"I am having a heart attack or stroke! You are going to have to help me get home".
I had survived the initial onset of the stroke but some tough months lay ahead.
My daughter acted well as I suffered the stroke. Somehow I parked the car and was able to walk around holding on to the car for support and balance - my legs were like rubber - to the passenger's side. My daughter then drove home and picked up my wife who rode with us to the nearby West Jefferson Medical Center Emergency Room in Marrero, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. I was in the hospital within about 45 minutes after the stroke occurred.
I was immediately taken in a wheelchair ahead of the usual waiting line of patients in the emergency room and was observed over the next few hours by the Emergency Room doctor and his medical staff. There was some question in their mind as to whether I had had a stroke or some type of seizure.
During the wait, I became nauseated and vomited. By this time, I could not walk or even stand without heavy support. My brain and voice were still functioning well, though. I knew at all times what was going on.
At about 5:00 pm or so, I was carried to a room on the acute unit. I don't know what medications were given me at this time but I soon fell asleep.
My treatment had begun! The treatment would last in the hospital for the next six weeks and, at home, for a few additional months.
Visual Illusion. The next morning after I was admitted to the hospital, I awoke with a visual illusion. My vision was tilted 90o out of phase. For example, persons in the room appeared to be walking on the wall. This illusion quickly passed and my vision returned to normal (though I still had double vision).
The out-of-phase vision episode did not alarm me since I knew it was an illusion resulting from the stroke. I had the same illusion on the second morning but, after that, it did not reappear.
I was covered with tubes when I awoke the first morning. Two of my daughters - one of whom is a nurse and the other an Occupational Therapy Assistant - were in the room along with hospital staff, and I received exceptionally good care, possibly partly due to my two daughter's interference in practically everything the hospital did. My daughters were a pain in the butt, however, the hospital tolerated them quite well. Good hospitals love good caregivers!
I was still a little nauseated that first day. That night, a girl from work sent me a bunch of candy and I gulped down a candy bar. I still had a taste for sweets. It was the last solid food I would eat for several days due to nausea from the stroke.
Attempt at Early Stroke Therapy. A great effort was made to get me standing up and moving around the first week after I was striken but the nausea and dizziness was too great and I just couldn't balance well enough. However, both physical therapists and occupational therapists came to my room daily and I performed exercises with dumbbells and performed other simple exercises.
Difficulty in Eating. Early on, I had little appetite due to the nausea and I was also having some problems with swallowing. After a few days, a tube was inserted through my nose to my stomach and I received some nourishment via that source. Eventually, a decision was made to do away with the nose tube, although, I was told that, if things didn't improve, they might have to cut a feeding opening into my stomach, a common occurrence for stroke victims.
The nose feeding tube had been so miserable that the thought of an opening being cut in my stomach did not alarm me. Anything to get rid of the nose tube. Fortunately, I didn't have to have the operation.
At this point, I did not have the balance to walk or stand alone or even walk with a walker. I also had double vision and I still had nausea and poor appetite (I have friends that would have killed for the ability to lose weight as fast as I was losing!)
Fortunately, I had no paralyses and my thinking remained clear.
Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Levels. During the days in the hospital, they took frequent readings of my blood pressure and blood sugar. Blood pressure was much higher than I had ever seen and blood sugar levels bounced all over the place. The hospital staff did not seem overly concerned about the (temporary) blood pressure elevation and I believe the policy with a stroke is to let the blood pressure come down slowly. I continued to take essentially the same high blood pressure medicine that I had taken prior to the stroke.
In regards to blood sugar levels, the hospital staff simply adjusted to the blood sugar level. If my blood sugar level got too low, they gave me some orange juice and if the blood sugar level got too high, they gave me some insulin via needle injection (only time I have ever had insulin).
Obviously, big swings in both blood pressure and blood sugar are common in stroke victims.
During these weeks in the hospital, I was unable to go to the bathroom by myself or bath myself but the hospital therapists and staff were very helpful. Having two daughters in the medical field helped a lot in this area since they were used to having to help stroke patients take care of themselves.
After a couple of weeks, I improved enough so that they moved me from the acute ward to the ward from which patients attended regular therapy. Patients attending the therapy sessions were stroke victims like myself and persons suffering from other illnesses or accidents affecting their mobility, etc.
Therapists take their jobs seriously at West Jefferson Hospital and physical therapists, occupational therapists, taste and swallowing specialists, etc. worked with me. I cooperated as much as I could but I often had dizzy spells and semi-fainting spells that kept me from fully participating in the therapy.
But despite my dizziness, I learned a lot in hospital therapy:
1. Moving from one surface to another. This may not seem much to a non-stroke victim but it is to a stroke victim. Moving from the bed to a wheelchair and from a bathroom commode back to the wheelchair were the type of surfaces we learned to move to and fro from.
2. Dressing. It was a struggle but they made us dress ourselves every morning.
3. Bathing. This was a major problem for me because I inevitably got dizzy and usually had to be supported when I bathed. I did not finally bath alone until about a month after I got home from the hospital (three months after the stroke occurred).
4. Wheelchair Operation. At first, when they pushed the wheelchair too fast, I got dizzy but I got better over the weeks and eventually was going places on my own.
My hospital stay was soon to end but I had learned a lot in the hospital.
After six weeks in the hospital, I was sent home. I was still having dizzy spells, could only walk a short distance on a walker, and had double vision. Even sitting upright on the side of the bed without toppling over for an extended time was difficult. But I had recovered some from the stroke.
By the way, my weight in the hospital had dropped from 205 to 179. How is that for a six week diet! (Having a stroke is not a recommended way to lose weight!)
I still had an excellent mental attitude and always felt I would continue to recover from the stroke. Part of this optimism was due to my strong support system - competent family members in medical field, a work organization that stood by me when I was sick and brought me back to work when I had recovered enough from the stroke, etc. My fellow employees at work were great to me as were my close friends. I think I must have been the first in the two groups to suffer such an illness. They couldn't do enough for me.
Few could be so lucky as me and it does make a difference when a stroke patient has a strong support system.
Home Therapy for the Stroke Patient. Home therapy was great for me. I had fallen behind in the hospital due to the dizziness but that changed quickly at home. By the end of week one at home, I had two physical therapists and two occupational therapists and one nurse taking turns working with me. Plus, I still had my occupational-therapy-assistant daughter taking a very active role. (The regular therapists tolerated interference from her very well and even encouraged her efforts).
As the dizziness left, my appetite returned and I began to eat like a horse.
I began to regain the weight I had lost.
The stroke victim was rapidly recovering!
"Go Ahead and Fall". The home therapists were tougher than the hospital therapists. No more eating while lying in bed. No more using the portable potty. In a few weeks, I had to get rid of the wheelchair and go solely to a walker. They made me turn loose the walker and stand alone. When I was fearful of falling, they said,
"Go ahead, fall! I'll catch you."
My wife and therapist daughter joined in this chorus. I remember my wife yelling at me more than once, "Go ahead, Van, he won't let you fall!" But I wasn't so sure!
I never fell although I did let myself down to the floor on several occasions.
I had to try or else. Failure was no longer tolerated.
The walker was soon taken away and I started on a cane. However, at this point, I improved so rapidly, the cane was used for only a week or so. My wife now uses the cane to help herself up when she kneels in the flower bed. A friend who had a knee operation also made use of the cane.
I was soon walking unaided again although I was still wobbly.
The Stroke Patient in Out-of-Home Therapy. Although the home therapy is what really got me going, I still had five weeks of out-of-home therapy to go to . This was performed at the local Ochsner Hospital Therapy Clinic. This additional therapy was beneficial but, by that time, I was on my way and I probably would have made it without this last therapy.
One last thought on therapy. Medicare paid for all my therapy (and all my hospital expenses!). You won't hear me griping about Medicare again!
Five months after the stroke, I returned to work. During the first month or two, my fellow employees transported me to and from home and work. Then I began to drive again.
I am an engineer and, in my job, we have to do some field work involving boats. While my fellow workers did not let me operate the boats, they helped me into the boats (there is nothing more difficult to stand on than a small boat bottom if a person has balance problems) and hauled me to job sites.
Things worked out well at work although I finally retired in July 2005 (20 months after the stroke) at the age of 74 .
Shortly after retiring, New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina and we had to evacuate to Baton Rouge (90 miles north of New Orleans) for a month. I had no problems during this period - a sure sign that I had largely recovered from the stroke.
I am on a heavy Warfarin blood thinner dosage because the atrial fibrillation (see below) continues with me and probably will continue with me for the rest of my life. ( I believe that Warfarin is used in rat poison but it sure is useful for humans, also.)
I pretty much eat what I want. I don't drink alcohol at all anymore, and I don't smoke at all. Other than for those two items, my life is pretty much back to normal.
It could have been a lot worse!
It should be noted that about six months after the stroke, my recovery reached a plateau and additional improvements came very slowly.
Part of this plateau effect is normal for a stroke victim. Probably, I would have made more progress had I continued a therapy program. But returning to work full-time eliminated much of my free time and I dropped most of the therapy exercises I had been doing.
After my retirement, I realized my recovery from the stroke had reached a plateau and I became determined to restart a program for further improvement. I was not satisfied with being a little wobbly, having trouble stepping up on street curbs, etc. So I started and have continued a daily hour-long walking & exercise program. Although progress is slow, my balance has improved at a faster rate than during the time period in which I performed no therapy. I encourage any stroke victim to continue with a reasonable therapy program after the regular therapy is over. This should, of course, be done after consultation with a doctor or therapist. In my case, my therapist daughter has also provided much needed guidance.
Since suffering the stroke, I feel close to others who have had strokes. Some very famous people have suffered strokes:
President Roosevelt died of a stroke while in office.
Winston Churchill died of a stroke.
President Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke while in office and was partially paralyzed. He recovered enough to serve out his term.
President Andrew Johnson died of a stroke.
Actor Gene Kelly died of a stroke.
Actress Ava Gardner suffered a stroke. It should be noted that she lived a number of years after the stroke and that former husband Frank Sinatra paid her medical bills.
TV Star Lou Ferrigno suffered a stroke
This is, of course, a partial list. Unfortunately strokes are common. On the good side, treatment of victims has improved greatly as I found out.
Summary: Stroke Treatment. Strokes occur when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or when a blood vessel in the brain is ruptured. These attacks are serious medical emergencies but with proper medical treatment and therapy, a victim can survive and prosper. The story of my stroke, the medical treatment I received, and the therapy that put me back on my feet were covered.
(Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. This page - Stroke Treatment - My Stroke Experience provides some of the details of my treatment when I suffered a stroke in October 2003. It is not intended to be a guide for treatment or guide for prevention of strokes. I am not competent in those areas but am providing my observations strictly as a stroke victim. My observations are from the view of a layman. Hopefully, the reader will obtain some useful information from my experience. But for detailed information on medical treatment or on recommendations for preventing a stroke, contact your doctor.)
Last Updated: 03/10/10
e-mail me at: vanc13@cox.net.com