BS: 'Small' Strokes

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Feb 10 - 10:28 AM

I feel goals and memories and capabilities shifting again, and feedback from the environment (and peeps) verifies this.

Good thing I grew up handling chaos well, I guess..... I dunno...

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Feb 10 - 12:53 PM

I'm also quite sure that most people who "struggle" with brain issues are surrounded by other people who are ALSO "struggling," and that some people deal with that (their own and/or others)-- and some don't, in a timely fashion that is....

I have a Maxine cartoon that expresses it well-- "Don't make me write in UPPERCASE!"

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 09 Feb 10 - 03:31 AM

Beautiful posts in here, Susan.
Thank you.
Lizzie :0)

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Feb 10 - 11:57 PM

I would add-- to the above handout-- that a person recovering from ANY type or degree of brain injury or illness must trust her/himself no matter how strange things seem to get, and no matter how poorly anyone else understands the circuitous route their re-wiring takes as it heals itself.

I would add that it is helpful if others TRY to understand, but that it is not at all necessary that a single one of them ever DOES.

I would add that for 99.9999999+% of human beans, it is absolutely true that each one knows Which Way Is Up, and instinctively grows in that direction, which will occur under even the most horrific conditions.

And I would add-- I would insist-- that this innate sense of where life lies is deserving of respect, most importantly from ourselves and toward ourselves. Because that innate sense-- and the freedom to move in that upward direction-- are, essentially, human.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Feb 10 - 03:49 PM

Spaw, I'm sorry I had missed your post-just-prev. I wish (pray) you each the best of luck, and one another's continuing, great support. I still recall, BTW, the GREAT advice you gave me as a newbie on best use of the Mudcat. I think on that LOT, lately... thank you.

===

Brain Fog is a lay term for a symptom of a lot of Catters (we tend to call it CRS or CRFT). Below is a handout from a Sjogren's Disorder's info site, that summarizes a few of the things I had to discover by myself-- wish I'd had it all on one page!!!

===

What is Brain Fog?

Brain Fog is a lay term to describe fluctuating mild memory loss that is inappropriate for a person's age. It may include forgetfulness, spaciness, confusion, decreased ability to pay attention, an inability to focus, and difficulty in processing information. Remember that gradual cognitive decline from early adulthood is a fact of life.

Brain Fog can occur in Sjögren's syndrome (SS), but other factors might cause these symptoms and should be considered by you and your doctor.

What YOU can do about Brain Fog:

Manage your lifestyle to optimize your health and sense of well being.

Develop a close working relationship with your doctor(s):

• Always report changes in cognition/memory and mood (depression, anxiety).

• Make sure your physician knows about all the prescription and OTC medications you are taking. Especially in patients over 65-70 years of age, a major cause of cognitive dysfunction can be side effects of drugs and drug interactions.

• Inquire about your hormonal status, thyroid function, and blood pressure.

Additional actions:

• Rejuvenate with sufficient sleep. If after 8-9 hours of sleep you are still tired, tell your doctor.

• Minimize stress and anxiety:

• Set realistic expectations

• Plan ahead

• Take breaks throughout the day

• Learn relaxation exercises and practice them at regular intervals

• Balance work and leisure

• Let yourself laugh

• Talk about feelings

• Limit multi-tasking and focus on one task at a time

• Reduce caffeine and alcohol.

• Manage effectively musculoskeletal and joint pain.

• Exercise regularly. Adequate physical exercise enhances cognition/memory.

• Train the Brain! "If you don't use it, you will lose it."

• Boost your brain power: Continue to work into retirement (part time), learn new skills, volunteer, engage in social and mentally stimulating activities and establish new friendships and relationships.

• Take your body to the gym and don't forget to visit the "BRAIN SPA" – both will improve brain function.

• Recent scientific data show that longevity is associated with the successful management of chronic diseases, such as Sjögren's syndrome, not the absence of any disease!

Suggested reading: The Memory Bible, by Gary Small, MD, Director of the UCLA Center on Aging, available from the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation.

For more information on Sjögren's syndrome, visit the SSF Web site at www.sjogrens.org, call 800-475-6473, e-mail [e-mail] or write to the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation, 6707 Democracy Blvd, Suite 325, Bethesda, MD 20817.

Clinicians: Please make multiple copies of this Patient Education Sheet and distribute to your patients. If you have an idea for a topic or want to author a Patient Education Sheet, contact us at [e-mail].

Patient Education Sheet: Brain Fog

The SSF thanks Elaine Alexander, MD, PhD, clinician and researcher in Sjögren's syndrome, biomedical consultant and Chair-Elect of the SSF Medical and Scientific Advisory Board, San Diego, California, for authoring this Patient Education Sheet.

===

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Sep 09 - 05:51 AM

Yeah......The actual intro of this drug may be as soon as the end of this year or as long as two years away. There are numerous other companies developing similar products and in the process of gaining FDA approval. I've been on Warfarin for 12 years and I'd love to see something else.

The drugs are still being evaluated for their effectiveness in patients like Karen (clotting disorder) and myself (A-Fib and a mechanical mitral valve) but I hope things keep moving ahead on those tests and evals and the stuff gets approved. One sure thing.....its going to be really pricey when its available, at least for a few years. Warfarin is dirt cheap but an incredible pain in the ass to use.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 Aug 09 - 07:53 AM

Hmmmm.....

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: bobad
Date: 31 Aug 09 - 07:34 AM

New drug for stroke victims

(UKPA) – 1 day ago

A new blood-thinning drug could end the use of rat poison as a primary medical treatment to prevent stroke, it has been claimed.

For half a century, thousands of patients at risk of stroke have been given warfarin to prevent blood clotting.

But treatment with the drug, commonly used to kill vermin, is risky.

Doses have to be carefully watched and adjusted to prevent excessive bleeding from cuts or stomach ulcers, requiring frequent clinic visits.

Warfarin can also interact badly with other drugs and certain foods, including green vegetables and grapefruit.

The new drug, Pradaxa, works in a different way and is far safer.

Patients taking the pill twice a day do not have to be constantly checked for signs of overdosing, and can eat what they like.

The drug is also much easier to use alongside other medicines.

Results from a major trial showed that Pradaxa was 34% better at reducing the risk of stroke and blood clots in at-risk patients than well-controlled warfarin.

Death rates were also reduced by 15% when patients were given the drug.

Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Related articles

Subject: Abrazos 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 02:58 PM

Since January's neurology apppointment I have continued to learn so much about brain function-- in general, and in mine.

One thing I have learned is the importance of knowing whether some function has been lost gradually-- which seems to be the case for many againg people and which can often be ascribed to mini-mini strokes and TIA, and to which the aging brain apparently, as others have reflected here in their posts, can be vulnerable. This is considered "normal".....

Or whether, as I experienced, the loss of function was sudden.

What seems to matter is not how much tissue was damaged in a small stroke, but how sudden was the effect.


What also seems to matter (as far as daily living is concerned) is whether the person's self-monitoring feedback loops are working or can be helped to work. As they said to me about another person I was caring for-- it doesn't matter how often the person asks for help (such as toileting help). What matters is when they do not know they need help, even AFTERwards (as in toileting help).

It seems to be a fundamental human requirement, in our times, to be able to ask for help. THAT has some serious medical ethics implications, but it seems to be how we are operating as a society at the moment.

It certainly has affected the medical care I have received.

We tend, in managed care, only to get help for those things which we have already identified as problems, and then the help is usually geared to what we request in terms of treatment. More and more, doctors are allowing what IMO is way too much self-diagnosis. I'm glad the doc listens, but I thank God I have one that argues with my own ideas long enough to be sure we both like the plan.


Abrazos,

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 17 Mar 09 - 12:13 PM

Another nice effect of all this re-wiring is that I am, by default, more focused on present time than any other time. I CAN think in other time zones, but I have to decide to do it to access it, and that's helpful and healthful, for me.

Examples of new strategies in light of that:

1. I decluttered my email with an automated reply that should help slow down a cascade of too-much-fun communications I seem to have set off. I can be "out of the office," too.

2. I have (had before, have redesigned) a homemade memo board next to the TV that is spang in my face from my chair. Blank legal size paper, laminated. Three post-its: EAT, WORK, MEDS, and a 4th post-it after an afternoon "spiritual life-coach" meeting mentioned above.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Feb 09 - 01:31 PM

PS, while I wrote all that, two nice young men (who'd had the manners to knock and ask first) were out back reducing the rabbit population. In mid-edit they knocked on the door to present the two carcasses I'd requested for the permission. I never heard a single shot, BTW-- they were that good about where they shot.

They said they'd bagged three and gave me the two agreed-- they'd purposely picked the two least-blasted-to-bits. They'd not only field-dressed them, they'd skinned them. They waited while I got a big ole Ziploc-- straight to the freezer with these beauties-- and as they deposited them I described where we usually see the rabbits in warm weather, and gave them a blanket OK to come anytime, whether we are home or not, and blast away as long as they bring their own bag for the pair to leave us in the doorway.

:~)

~Strokebrain Strikes Again

Subject: Beading the Diocesan Education/Formatrion Necklace
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Feb 09 - 01:25 PM

Thanks, Maeve. I only saw your reply today. It's fortuitous-- I needed to write the following. (I hope other strokers will continue to write their experiences too-- not just "my" thread).

That hologram image is not original with me, and I have used it long before Strokebrain. It IS of interest FOR strokebrainn, though, isn't it? I hadn't seen that; I'll pass it along when I have a chance.

It is related to what I believe and experience as our complete freedom, as human beans, to choose our viewpoint-- to choose from what angle to view any idea, fact, situation, etc.-- and to choose, therefore, more creatively and flexibly, how to address the "whatever." (See www.rc.org)


Here is an integrative example, from a contribution I made recently to a "debate" on which way to best educate new clergy-- one "side" favored semimary education only, and the other featured local education only. Both sides had very strong and important points.

Because I love both of the sides and the people espousing them, and because of other thoughts I had recently been having, I spoke up with a "teaching moment." An image came to mind of a Native woman, beading a necklace. I puased before I launched into the meat of it to think how this group could be led to see what I was seeing.

"So often," I relaxedly began, "in our human thinking we assume that different paradigms are opposing paradigms. Yet the two I just heard fit together quite well. Let me describe what I am seeing in my mind as I've listened to the conversation. (the pause)

"We all agree, here, on the curriculum, don't we? We all know what it takes to be prepared for ministry. OK--

"Assume that the education's content-- the curriculum-- is linear. Defined... long... narrow. I'm seeing it as a string, a cord. We can refine our ideas about the texture of the cord, but a cord is a cord.
The curriculum is the currioculum is the curriculum. We test for it in the General Ordination Examination, nationally, and we all know about the canonical areas it covers.

"OK, now think of the formative experiences where people GET the curriculum. Think of a few of the ones you yourselves have experienced. They may have been year-long events, they may have been weekend workshops, they may have been single meetings rich in significance and feeling. [making a round shape with my arms as they think absorbedly and watch me....] Those are not linear-- but rounnnnd, something you can..... roll around in your mouth.... and savor... for a long time....

"Those are the beads to string onto the cord.

"You get your [anti-racism] bead and string it. You get your anti-sexual-abuse bead, your New Testament bead, and so forth. [people rushing ahead of my words now in their facial expressions-- they GET IT].

"Of course each bead may be a different color, size and shape.... at a certain point you knot the cord and there you have the training toward [a particular ministry license we've been discussing].

"Imagine all the people in the congregations, stringing their beads. Putting them together. Multi-strand necklaces that are very strong, and very beautiful.

"Wouldn't YOU want one too?"


~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: maeve
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 06:07 AM

Susan, I continue to read of your progress here. I'm glad you've had some singing recently, and glad you have something in place with the eyedrops to further identify what is happening with your eyes.

I love your description of the hologram in your hand approach to dealing with stroke-brain. That's the sort of description "Neurology Today" would be interested in printing.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Jan 09 - 08:26 PM

As I might have expected, it's easier to re-learn how to make up verses for spirituals when good friends sing along and wait patiently for the right brain fart to occur. Thanks, Dick and Susan, for singing with me!

The last MudGather here was during the fresh-strokes period. No wonder I couldn't think of any songs I knew, surrounded by singers that weekend.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Dec 08 - 12:52 PM

According to my great opthalmologist, who has taken inordinate time and care to see what's going on with me this month, "Accomndatative Spasm" is the $50 word for what he agrees I seem to have did to my eyeballs.

My assignment today is to do ALL the "bad" things that "cause" it and see if the new eye drops prevent it. This includes wrapping up a documewnt on brain-histopry details fdor the January nbeuro appt, snuggling in to some great saved movies and documentaries, and caering to the gloomy SDA_producing lighting here that I would more usually light up with artifiucuial light. In other words, it's practically a chocolate day so by bedtime I should be happily lapping some up.

And then if the drops-approach confirms the Dx, there shall be new and much stronger lenses. Can't afford them NOW, but I've learned so much about coping with this that I think I can do OK till next year's scheduled new lenses on the vision "care" plan. If I go into major spasms, there will be the drops. :~) Muscle relaxers for the eye-focusing muscles.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Dec 08 - 08:45 AM

A thing I'd tried and tried to think my way through would not think, so eventually I shrugged, set it to rest, and boogied on. Suddenly today I could see the whole thing, and probably even talk about it, including how to resolve it for a GREAT result. And now I see how stroke-brain kept it hidden; all I had to do was look at it in a way I have always had, from the correct angle, relaxedly and without fearing the unraveling. I can hold that view in my hand, turn it to any angle desired, and continue to see it clearly. Like a hologram. It's quite lovely, actually, to do that.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 09:01 AM

Got some GREAT news yesterday from an eye specialist I went to, in an effort to better understad and (hopefully) manage the eye/neuro components of the weird eye stuff I've been experiencing. (I went because I'd had a scary and REALLY weird NEW thing last week.) He did every test in the book and then some, and he LISTENED (he's also a friend of ours). And it turned out that it's all mechanical eye muscle stuff, that I can continue to manage pretty much as I have been doing, and not new neuro stuff. Also he will call my optometrist to request one last tweak to the setup on the glasses. It's a bit like a sound system-- always the one last tweak.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 10:05 PM

Yup, thus the workouts. TOP priority. Audiobooks, ideas, all that stuff flow in the water.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Janie
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:12 PM

Sounds like a real good idea to pace yourself, not only during the rhythm of the day, but through this busy liturgical season also.

((((((((((((hug))))))))))))

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 07:11 PM

Yup. Done much the same here.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 06:56 PM

What do you get if you have a room full of monkeys pounding on typewriters?

Well the world has finally answered that - you get Wikipedia!

Having become tired of the mass ignorance and stupidity there, what with the ignorant lunatics being in charge of the deletion section of the asylum, I accepted a Facebook invite from a friend.

Best thing I've done for a while.

Really stimulated the old brain cells.

Apart from linking up with a lot of mucatters, I've found some new really nice people while playing some of the games there.

I never used to be good when younger at certain types of games that involved strategy and tactics, but over the years I have improved my life skills in real life by by doing these games.

Best thing I've done in a while - it really makes the grey matter work! More tired at first, thus sleeping better, because making the brain work harder is good for it.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 12:49 PM

From a note to a friend.

Sorry I was not my usual responsive, chirpy self yesterday.

With stroke-brain, I try hard to keep a daily routine that works well for me-- AMs are for brainwork, and fulfilling commitments I have made. This is because as the day goes on, anything that has proved too hard for stroke-brain accumulates into a variable degree of confusion. Also any lack of sleep catches up with me, with a vengeance, in the early and mid afternoon.

By 3PM I am, sometimes, not in the best shape mentally.

And that's why THAT part of the day is usually for PHYSICAL stuff-- pool, yard chores, etc.

By late evening I usually get my head clear again for the next night's sleep and good dreams. Then I wake up fine in the new day (especially if I keep the schedule, and EAT, and turn on the faux-sunlight lamp). Then that day usually goes pretty well and the afternoon is not so messed up.

Yesterday it was trying to use the internet to see how I will get around for the January doctor visits...

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 02:44 PM

m, :~)

I hope it came through in my post, at least to those who know me a little, but I find all these unexpected mis-speaks hilarious and I never confuse it wioth simply being dumb or poorly vocabulated. (like the new word?) I've been enjoying laughing at myself for years, ever since the day I careened off a pony making a tight turn, bounced a few times, and then laughed so hard I could hardly climb back up. Or the day my jeans fell down around my young-adult ankles in downtown Boston noon rush hour. But with stroke brain I crack myself up more than ever-- the pressure of being the "quickest one" is off, maybe for good!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: maeve
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 11:00 AM

I continue to follow with interest, Susan.

The rhyming thang...LOL Now we know how rhymed poems began, eh?

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:31 AM

They say different types of neuro damage result in different species of dysphasias-- some get rhymes, some get near-synonyms, some get nonsense. I usually produce the first. "Toenails" became "nose..... NOPE..... tails.... (nope).... TOENAILS!"

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 08:26 PM

Thanks, Bee. I think I have the "smarts" thing pretty well wrestled to the ground; I'm as "wise" as ever, not really too much slower, and usually able to work around the missing pieces. It seems to help that more folks know about it now-- they cut me a moment's slack to find a thought.

Waiting till January is not really tiresome; I have so much to do right here, right now, that I'm just glad to be able to DO it.

Thanks for your good thoughts,

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Bee
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 07:25 PM

Hey, Susan.

I stay away from Mudcat sometimes, or just do a couple posts. Doesn't mean I don't think of you!

I'm glad your doctors seem sorted out, though waiting until January must be tiresome.

I personally doubt you've lost much in the way of smarts! I know I have, but it's down to normal aging, and not so much smarts as being a touch slower on information processing.

You know I don't pray, but if good thoughts have any influence at all, you have mine. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Nov 08 - 02:02 PM

The neuro and internist appointments will be Jan. 21/23.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 12:08 PM

I'm starting a new daily devotional today, and have called in some prayer support as well as some IRL practical, prayer, and encouragement support. The day's reading in the devotional is particularly apt, considering my musical side:

Oct. 30.

    My halting words will some day turn to song--
    Some far-off day, in holy other times!
    The melody now prisoned in my rimes
    Will one day break aloft, and from the throng
    Of wrestling thoughts and words spring up the air;
    As from the flower its colour's sweet despair
    Issues in odour, and the sky's low levels climbs.

From: The Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald (also available at Project Gutenberg)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Oct 08 - 11:06 PM

"I talk to the trees - that's why they put me away!"

Spike Milligan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Oct 08 - 09:51 AM

I'd have a talk with those trees...... I hear they can get up and walk when the motivation is strong enough.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Oct 08 - 04:08 AM

If strokes was catching my neighbour would be a good candidate for another - she at it again - cutting down my trees, lying that since her 'stroke' - which was probably as faked as her last 'heart attack', that she can;t lift her arms above her head - she's out in the yard working now, lifting her arms above her head.... :-).

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Oct 08 - 09:48 PM

:~) Well, we know smarts isn't catching, so strokes probably aren't either. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Oct 08 - 08:52 PM

The degree of numbness I mentioned seems to come and go - some days it is just not there.

"I actually really like getting to a place where I'm not smarter/quicker than EVERYone and everything around me"

Yeah - it was fun when I was in Mensa :-) but Aussie Mensa imploded when certain committee members wasted huge amounts of funds by suing another committee member - and they lost the case anyway ... Mensa is still going, but I just stopped paying membership and walked away. Just because some people ARE JUDGED SMARTER ON A TEST, doesn't mean they CAN ACT smarter... The first Mensa meeting I went to - International meeting - top brains from all around the world etc, nobody remember to buy milk for the coffee.... :-)

I do consider that a lot of people don't read the BS threads much anymore, and most really wouldn't know what to say about such a condition that they really don't want to think about, for they fear it happening to themselves.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Oct 08 - 11:45 AM

Thanks, sweetie; I do tell myself that.

I think of you often! ???maeve???

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: maeve
Date: 15 Oct 08 - 11:40 AM

Susan, just remember that lots of Mudcatters don't read the BS threads, and that many who used to do so have cut way back due to the ...shall we say... argumentative tone of many BS threads.

Others may have no clue what to say.

I'm glad you're continuing to take hold and LIVE.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Oct 08 - 11:32 AM

I'm sure this is going to sound really presumptuous (I was going to say "big-headed, LOL), but I actually really like getting to a place where I'm not smarter/quicker than EVERYone and everything around me. Take the new puder, for example. I'm sure it's faster than the old one, and I don't care why. It's also set up for computer dummies, which I hadn't been for a long time, but which I kinda like being now. I COULD wrack my brain to do everything on a computer I used to do, but it's also kinda nice that they make them now for old folks who never had computers, because that's just right for me. And I COULD cable in the old puder to retrieve the millions of great bookmarks-- they may also be on an external drive I haven't bothered to hook up yet-- but it's pretty easy to find the few I really care about when I need them now.

One thing, though, is really a little odd-- and that is the number of MudBuds I didn't PM about my strokes, who have not posted here and who I therefore presume know nothing about something I've been open about for some time now. It's sort of a big deal in my life, at least... Oh well! I guess it's a chance to learn who my friends really are. I know that sounds troll-ish; maybe it is. All I know is, it's been on my mind for a couple of weeks and I decided to just go ahead and SAY it.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 10:33 AM

I'm learning so much!

The optic nerve is a BIG area of interest: I need to learn all about it, and I have a great local doc who can help me do it plus annual scans of mine for him to look at.

I also have some new data to analyze for his use, and some experiments to do so I can chart my observations.

A computer/monitor glitch resulted in Hardi buying us a new home puder and going back to the older monitor. I like the speed of the new puder but a lot of my music programs aren't on it yet, and the old monitor is a lot less clear than the old one. Vision experiments and clipping sound files for my aquatic workouts are going to take priority for a bit-- so a lot less reading/posting at Mudcat for awhile.

Mid-mornings are the best time to try to catch me by phone, but I'm limiting chair-time too so I may not hear it ring. But I'll be thinking of all my MudBuds.

:~)

Be sweet (but not twee),

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 08 Oct 08 - 07:06 PM

If she'd like to correspond, PM me her email address.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Oct 08 - 04:54 PM

A friend at work is dealing with small strokes. I'll go look through the thread and see if any of it relates to what she described recently.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 08 Oct 08 - 04:43 AM

Thoughts and prayers continue........

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Oct 08 - 05:02 PM

Where I got referred is part of this: http://www.planetree.org/

Very cool-- patient empowerment model.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Oct 08 - 03:14 PM

... and I'm glad I did, because the "new worries" have been deferred by my great doc: I'll see the neuro of his choice around the first of the year.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Oct 08 - 04:00 PM

I'm really starting to think of these "small strokes" as God's Brain Surgery. I remember praying to get rid of most of the things that seem to be gone, and I don't miss them a bit. I just spent a lovely fall afternoon, rocking in my porch recliner and then marking some treelings to keep when he mows, converting all the worries into gratitudes. One of the best days of my life! I wish Hardi were here to share it-- he's out gallivanting my MIL around in the fall foliage.

With a coupla hundred bucks worth of the filet mignon I'm waiting to divide up for the freezer, and the eggs that will make all the thawed ground beef into meatloaf, aaarghhhhh!

There's so much that I can do now, that I love to do! So I'm doing it!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 05:31 PM

Today was one of those days that, when I look back on them later, I see quite clearly where this persistent notion came from, that I am actually the only person who can be in charge of my own healthcare-- not any doctor, nurse, practice group, or healthcare system. In my younger years I suspected it, but I rebelled against it. Today I can just remind myself that a phone call billed as "urgent"-- that never came-- maybe isn't really so urgent.

See, on the one hand there is a mountainous pile of potential worry and "Gotta Do Something Now!" On the other hand there is quite a large pile of historically solid Benign Reality. Today, so far, I did most of the things I had planned to do, and didn't notice any serious obstacle to doing them. (Enter Scarlett O'Hara in hoopskirts.)


So it's up to me to decide:

<> whether to take it personally that my call didn't come, from the one doc I picked to be my main guy after years of really abysmal rural health care, and assume it's a case of more lousy healthcare--

or

<> whether to assume that the doc had read the MRI report and just hadn't been so worried that he felt the need to set aside over-booked patients, hospital rounds, and a first baby due any minute at home, to call me.


.... And the docs wonder why we end up taking responsibility for ourselves and not treating them like the Gods they used to be able to pretend they were! They went out of the "I'm God" business a long, long time ago. :~) The job was open-- so I took it.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 08:52 AM

Check. Doing really well, actually.

Thanks, friend.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: katlaughing
Date: 03 Oct 08 - 12:20 AM

Deep breaths and keep us informed as you are able and want to, please, Susan. Just remember, too, they can be wrong and things can change. You are held in the loving arms of your God and I know you are watched over. (I know you know this, too.:-) I am giving thanks for your complete and immediate healing. I give thanks for this or something better for the highest good of all concerned. So mote it be!

love,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 09:54 PM

Thanks, Bee, and for your quick response, too.

Uh..... yeah, really just sorta on hold at the WTF stage. My main doc got a copy of the MRI report-- I should get my own copy tomorrow-- I'll call his office in the AM and see where he wants me to do it.

I've been wanting to see a neuro anyway, to discuss how what-all I've been experiencing overall is related to which part of the brain-- just for curiosity's sake, really. So now I have a reason to see one that the insurance will cover-- to that extent, it's all good. And I know a fair amount about MS-- I know that rapid diagnosis is the ideal but rare, so if that is my thing, this fast-track is not a bad thing.

But I think I'll just let that WTF linger till the AM-- as my doc said after the stroke reports, I'm already doing everything I need to be doing.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: Bee
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 09:41 PM

All I can offer is my good wishes, Susan - and that 'ruling out' is a good aim - diagnosis is an art as well as a science, I think. Try not to worry, though I know it's very hard.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Small' Strokes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Oct 08 - 09:34 PM

Wow, Bee!

.... just got a voicemail from my doc-- she sez I have spots on my brain and next step is neuro to rule out MS.

WTF?

~S~