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The Recovery Tour: Pretext
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
The Recovery Tour: Pretext
*Disclaimer* This report only tells the story of why we needed a Recovery Tour
Dear Blaine and I had come to the realization that “October really screwed us over.” What followed October was an interminable winter for us, both literally and metaphorically. But back to October.
As a means of cushioning the blow of the approaching snow-belt winter, we booked a trip to my former “favorite place on Earth;” Lido Key. This was an exciting trip because it was Blaine’s first time on Lido, and I’d been wanting to take him there since we met.
We were to fly out on Monday, October 20th. Sunday morning, I woke excited and sat down at the computer with my morning coffee. www.foxnews.com is what my brain told my hands to type. The only correct characters that showed up were the o and the n. Hmmmmm. I backspaced and typed again. Only the o and n were correct. I backspaced again, and watched my left hand not type what I was telling it to. At that moment, like it was being dipped in lukewarm water and a rate of approximately 1 inch per second, a numbness spread from my left fingertips up to my armpit then started down the left side of my trunk. The left side of my body ceased taking orders from my brain, and I couldn’t move.
“I’m having a stroke!” I said out loud, and realized that the next thing that would happen would probably be that I would fall out of my chair onto my left side. I picked up the portable phone with my right hand and held tight, so that once I hit the ground I could call for help.
But I didn’t fall. (Thank you God) I used the phone to dial my 19 year old daughter sleeping upstairs. “Come down right now,” I told her, and she did. I practice medicine for a living, so when I told her that I was having a stroke, she took me seriously. To my delight, the symptoms completely disappeared in 5 minutes, and I felt fine. We sat, nervously looking at each other, and I convinced us both that I’d just had my first panic attack. I sent her back to bed and jumped in the tub for a soak.
Then the second round started. Second verse, same as the first. I didn’t have the phone anymore, so I sat it out in the tub and about 15 minutes later, was able to stand up and get out. My daughter and I threw some clothes on, stopped at a corner store for Aspirin, and made way to the ER.
My diagnosis was TIA, a “mini-stroke”. The CT of the head showed no major bleed. The ER doc was very unhappy with me for signing out AMA but no one was going to keep me from showing my Blaine around Lido Key! At the time, Lido was my St. John! So I took Aspirin daily and took the risk of having a complete stroke very far from home.
We had a nice trip, but I had lost my self-confidence. Dear Blaine never left me out of his sight, the entire trip. We watched a couple go out to the beach from our balcony one day. A man guided a young-ish woman haltingly out to the water’s edge. “ Oh, how sweet,” Blaine said, and I cried. “What do you think is wrong with her?” he asked. I told him it looked like she’d had a right brain injury or stroke.
We arrived home a week later, with me still feeling very vulnerable and damaged. As I crawled into bed, I found wetness. Pulling back the sheets, I found a fresh DNA deposit! I jumped out of bed and ran to the dresser, pulling open my top drawer. Dear God! It was out of order. Blaine checked a cash hiding place and we’d also been robbed.
I never entered that room again. We bought a new bed the following day and everything from my dresser left the house in black trash bags. Blaine had to re-organize the entire house, so that we could change bedrooms. This violation of our sanctuary left me anxious and unsteady and over the next few months, I settled into a purgatory of depression. I recognized it too late and the docs wanted to try all new meds that took time to prove effective or ineffective. When it seemed Blaine would never have his wife back, he pulled out the trump card. “One week. Wherever you’ll get better.”
As the meds started to kick in, I emerged from the fog, and remembered a place that I’d heard of long ago, in my training. An ER doc was leaving for vacation. He was taking his family to St. John for the month of December. “How in the world can you afford to go away for a month?” I asked. “Cinnamon Bay Campground.” Those words rang in my heart and I decided that someday, I’d camp in paradise. I found you good people, and started to formulate my plan. I studied this forum like it was my job, and my darkness faded to light.
October really screwed us over.
We’re going on our Recovery Tour, to St. John .
Dear Blaine and I had come to the realization that “October really screwed us over.” What followed October was an interminable winter for us, both literally and metaphorically. But back to October.
As a means of cushioning the blow of the approaching snow-belt winter, we booked a trip to my former “favorite place on Earth;” Lido Key. This was an exciting trip because it was Blaine’s first time on Lido, and I’d been wanting to take him there since we met.
We were to fly out on Monday, October 20th. Sunday morning, I woke excited and sat down at the computer with my morning coffee. www.foxnews.com is what my brain told my hands to type. The only correct characters that showed up were the o and the n. Hmmmmm. I backspaced and typed again. Only the o and n were correct. I backspaced again, and watched my left hand not type what I was telling it to. At that moment, like it was being dipped in lukewarm water and a rate of approximately 1 inch per second, a numbness spread from my left fingertips up to my armpit then started down the left side of my trunk. The left side of my body ceased taking orders from my brain, and I couldn’t move.
“I’m having a stroke!” I said out loud, and realized that the next thing that would happen would probably be that I would fall out of my chair onto my left side. I picked up the portable phone with my right hand and held tight, so that once I hit the ground I could call for help.
But I didn’t fall. (Thank you God) I used the phone to dial my 19 year old daughter sleeping upstairs. “Come down right now,” I told her, and she did. I practice medicine for a living, so when I told her that I was having a stroke, she took me seriously. To my delight, the symptoms completely disappeared in 5 minutes, and I felt fine. We sat, nervously looking at each other, and I convinced us both that I’d just had my first panic attack. I sent her back to bed and jumped in the tub for a soak.
Then the second round started. Second verse, same as the first. I didn’t have the phone anymore, so I sat it out in the tub and about 15 minutes later, was able to stand up and get out. My daughter and I threw some clothes on, stopped at a corner store for Aspirin, and made way to the ER.
My diagnosis was TIA, a “mini-stroke”. The CT of the head showed no major bleed. The ER doc was very unhappy with me for signing out AMA but no one was going to keep me from showing my Blaine around Lido Key! At the time, Lido was my St. John! So I took Aspirin daily and took the risk of having a complete stroke very far from home.
We had a nice trip, but I had lost my self-confidence. Dear Blaine never left me out of his sight, the entire trip. We watched a couple go out to the beach from our balcony one day. A man guided a young-ish woman haltingly out to the water’s edge. “ Oh, how sweet,” Blaine said, and I cried. “What do you think is wrong with her?” he asked. I told him it looked like she’d had a right brain injury or stroke.
We arrived home a week later, with me still feeling very vulnerable and damaged. As I crawled into bed, I found wetness. Pulling back the sheets, I found a fresh DNA deposit! I jumped out of bed and ran to the dresser, pulling open my top drawer. Dear God! It was out of order. Blaine checked a cash hiding place and we’d also been robbed.
I never entered that room again. We bought a new bed the following day and everything from my dresser left the house in black trash bags. Blaine had to re-organize the entire house, so that we could change bedrooms. This violation of our sanctuary left me anxious and unsteady and over the next few months, I settled into a purgatory of depression. I recognized it too late and the docs wanted to try all new meds that took time to prove effective or ineffective. When it seemed Blaine would never have his wife back, he pulled out the trump card. “One week. Wherever you’ll get better.”
As the meds started to kick in, I emerged from the fog, and remembered a place that I’d heard of long ago, in my training. An ER doc was leaving for vacation. He was taking his family to St. John for the month of December. “How in the world can you afford to go away for a month?” I asked. “Cinnamon Bay Campground.” Those words rang in my heart and I decided that someday, I’d camp in paradise. I found you good people, and started to formulate my plan. I studied this forum like it was my job, and my darkness faded to light.
October really screwed us over.
We’re going on our Recovery Tour, to St. John .
Wow, I'd say you really did get screwed over by October! I know how horrible a home invasion is. You feel violated and completely unsafe. Took me months to get over it when it happened to us. And to deal with health issues as well. You really do feel damaged in both body and mind. I'm glad you got feeling better!
- words can't describe what I just read - praying you are fine now.
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
Oh man. You sure did deserve a trip to STJ.
My folks went to Italy in 2007... in October. (cue the warning music.) Mom broke her leg (tibia plateau) the day after they got there. They came home as soon as her cast (ankle to thigh) was dry. When they got home, they found that their house had been broken into and robbed. All mom's jewelry was gone.
They kept in good spirits, looked at the bright side (great support from friends and family, fabulous treatment in Italy, and insurance covered the damages.) Back to traveling and enjoying life, and again feeling like their home is a sanctuary.
I admire your spirit. Don't let the bastards get you down!
My folks went to Italy in 2007... in October. (cue the warning music.) Mom broke her leg (tibia plateau) the day after they got there. They came home as soon as her cast (ankle to thigh) was dry. When they got home, they found that their house had been broken into and robbed. All mom's jewelry was gone.
They kept in good spirits, looked at the bright side (great support from friends and family, fabulous treatment in Italy, and insurance covered the damages.) Back to traveling and enjoying life, and again feeling like their home is a sanctuary.
I admire your spirit. Don't let the bastards get you down!
Last edited by chicagoans on Tue May 26, 2009 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mindehankins
- Posts: 3014
- Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
- Location: Western NY State
I'm sorry you had to go through that too, ChrisN! And yep, I'm allll betterchrisn wrote:Wow, I'd say you really did get screwed over by October! I know how horrible a home invasion is. You feel violated and completely unsafe. Took me months to get over it when it happened to us. And to deal with health issues as well. You really do feel damaged in both body and mind. I'm glad you got feeling better!
oh my gosh- you really did get put thru the ringer-
I am so glad that you have come out the other end--and that you recognized the signs of a stroke/TIA--
scary crap-
sounds like you have the right people by your side--and hope that you find things improving.
I am so glad that you have come out the other end--and that you recognized the signs of a stroke/TIA--
scary crap-
sounds like you have the right people by your side--and hope that you find things improving.
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
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Berlingirl
- Posts: 499
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:09 pm
- Location: New England
