Tag Archives: Renown Medical Center

Stroke of Fate: Fighting a Winning Battle

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in About Reno, Generational, Health, Lessons of Life, Travel

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Why don’t strokes ever cause super powers?

Weapons of Rehab

A stroke has no sense of honor, nor fairness. It can destroy every aspect of human dignity and leave behind a pulp of flesh. A stroke can wipe out speech, sight, hearing, touch, smell, mobility, cognitive thinking, and the list goes on. Never have I heard of a case of a stroke doing good, like giving heightened senses, or more strength. Strokes don’t even fix missing functions, like giving a blind person their sight, or a deaf person hearing. Quite frankly strokes suck.

After my stroke I was faced with the possibility that I could be incapable of independent living for months, years, or even the rest of my life. That didn’t happen. While I still can’t drive, nor safely move without some type of aid (wheelchair, walker, cane, etc.) I can get around on my own. I can eat as long as I’m mindful of what I’m doing, and see well enough to write, although I often have to use just one eye. My prognosis is great, with the expectation that almost all of my disabled functions will repair over the next few weeks and months.

It’s not easy, but I am fighting a winning battle. I’m fortunate because my stroke did not do more damage. I am frustrated by the fact that my brain seems to lack the capacity to correct my balance and vision issues. Cognitively I know exactly what needs to be done, but my brain has the ability to overrule logic and tell my body that I’m about to fall to the right, so lean right….I said correctly, my brain thinks I’m leaning right, but then insists on shifting more to the right. This irony must be fun for my Conservative friends, but to me it only shows how screwed up we become when we lack balance.

Vertigo has become a major issue in my recovery. The sense that the room is spinning varies from almost non-existent, to a strong rotational pull every time I move my head slightly. Walking becomes a drunken stagger when my vertigo kicks in, which makes my physical therapy sessions almost useless.

Still, everyday I am a bit closer to a full recovery and there are times when I feel almost normal. I have a great team of therapists who are working with me to get better…possibly to get me out of their hair. I’ll talk about living in Rehab next.

Stroke of Fate: Time and Tide (Thank You, Basia)

13 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Aging, Generational, Health, Lessons of Life, parenting, Random, Relationships, Women

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Basia's Time and Tide cover

One of my favorite albums is Basia’s Time and Tide. Basia has taken me through many emotional times and I should not be surprised that after this stroke she returned into my life. My brain and body have decided to have a partial trial separation. I know I know they are meant to be together, but now they’re not talking, so with Basia’s help I’m trying to get them back together. Fortunately, I have many people helping us.

Here and now is all it’s about, let’s use it or lose it.
Promises by Basia

Here And Now
Both my daughters live in Colorado. When they heard that I was hospitalized they began talking about coming out. I was ready to discourage it because I couldn’t see the purpose or value of them flying to Reno, Nevada.

I was wrong. I failed to comprehend  the significance of their presence. I have a good close-in support system here with my spouse (Saralinda,) son (Alexander,) and in-laws, but my daughters (Kelli and Katy) added to that support in ways I never could have imagined.

Love is contagious, it’s a part of a chain
Promises by Basia

My temporary home for restart my life

They arrived a few hours before I was transferred from Renown Medical Center to Renown Rehabilitation Hospital. They became an extra lift in the uncertainty of the transfer. Saralinda, Kelli, and Katy, joined forces in becoming an advocate for my recovery and the hospital staff recognized that I was not alone. I don’t fully understand how that impacted my care, but I do know that the staff seemed to appreciate their involvement.

I’ll be there if you need me, I am your helping hand.
New Day For You by Basia

A New Day
Tuesday was an important day in my recovery. On Monday I had a swallow study performed complete with a camera up my nose. From that test I learned that my NG tube would have to remain for the near future because my throat was not working correctly. My swallowing had improved from Saturday’s, but it looked like I was facing at least a week of looking like Mr. Snuffleupagus and the idea of being able to taste food again seemed farther and farther away.  

I still couldn’t walk without falling over, I’d lost temperature and pain sensation over half my body, my right and left eye were each giving me their independent version of the world, my head and body were in a constant state of spin, and I survived by fluid going in my arm or goo going to my stomach via my nose. There was not a lot of good news.

However, all that was blunted by the news that my daughters and one of my granddaughters would be arriving on Tuesday. In the moment it didn’t seem to be that important, but in hindsight, it made my world seem much brighter. It was Tuesday when my life seemed to come back to firm ground. On that day my stroke found out who it was dealing with, and it didn’t expect to be met head on by women of mass reconstruction. It whimpered.

It would be on Wednesday that I…and my stroke, would meet the rest of the team…the medical staff at Renown Rehabilitation Hospital. It was an another good day for me…not so much for my stroke.

We got time, oh baby, there’s no rush
Gonna be a better day for us
Time and Tide by Basia

Stroke of Fate: Day Two

12 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by in Aging, Health, Lessons of Life

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I spent Saturday night fighting muscle spasms all over my body, possibly from a reaction to the nausea medication given to me in ER at Renown Medical Center. I was also feeling weak and disoriented. The right side of my face felt like I been punched by a massive fist, but with no pain, just numbness. I had no idea why my body was malfunctioning so badly with no obvious trauma. A stroke was the most  plausible cause, but no one really knew.

Me and my NG tube

Sunday morning brought new symptoms. I now had double vision. My right eye took the same image of my left eye, but put it above and at a 20° angle, which was higher on the right, lower on the left. In addition, both images seemed to spin and skip. I have not been falling down drunk many times in my life, but that is the only way I could describe this sensation.

I was incapable of functioning as a normal adult. I couldn’t stand, walk, eat, drink, see, read, or write.  I now relied on an IV to supply my fluids, and by late Sunday, would need a tube inserted for nourishment.

90° Flip: This is what my brain did to my vision for about four seconds if I closed my eyes, relaxed, then opened them

The answers did not come after initial MRI scan. The Radiologist found no visible sign of any type of hemorrhage in my brain. More tests were scheduled, but the diagnosis would eventually come after a second look at the MRI scans. I had a tiny stroke on my brain stem. The doctor told me that this type of stroke caused Wallenberg’s Syndrome or Lateral Medullary Syndrome As it turns out I am almost a textbook case.

While I was in the neurological unit I learned that I had lost heat and prick sensation on my right side of my face and the left side of my body. I could sense touch, but not pain, nor temperature. I also discovered that if I closed my eyes and relaxed, once I opened my eyes, the visual image would be turned at a 90° angle for about four seconds and then would spin and become horizontal. By the end of Sunday I had a good understanding of how much damage my stroke had done. It would be Monday before I would see any signs of hope of recovery.

Stroke of Fate: Day One

11 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by in Aging, Health, parenting, Random

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All days come from one day, That much you must know
You cannot change what’s over,  But only where you go

Pilgrim by Enya

Last Saturday, February 4, was our 17th wedding anniversary. It was also the day of two six-year-old birthday parties that our son was to attend. The first birthday party was at Fun Quest in the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV, USA. At about 3:15 PM I was eating the remnants of the piece of birthday cake that my son barely touched when I felt woozy (a technical medical term.) It felt almost like the way I feel before I become sick, but I wasn’t nauseated. It passed, but I told my spouse that I may need to leave. She became concerned, but the feeling was slowly fading.

Paul Kiser

About five minutes later it happened again, but this time was stronger. My spouse left me, and I assumed that she was getting Alexander and saying our goodbyes. Shortly, Virginia,  the Grandmother of the birthday boy was sitting next to me. She was a nurse and she began asking some questions. Although I wasn’t presenting the classic symptoms of a stroke, I’m guessing that my behavior indicated that something neurological was amiss. Again, the feeling subsided.

In another five minutes it came back stronger. At this point I knew this may be more that just a sudden onset of a flu. Virginia asked me to lay down and I was in no position to disagree;; however, the moment I laid down I felt the I was gong to lose the cake I had eaten, so I stood back up. I don’t know exactly what I said, but I indicated I needed to leave and headed out of the room. My spouse had gathered up Alexander and Virginia came up to me and said to lean on her. I did and the farther we went the more I became reliant on her support as my balance forced me to fall to the right.

We finally got to our car and left for the Emergency Room at Renown Medical Center, which was a few blocks away. There was no wait. My situation seemed obvious to everyone that I needed medical assessment immediately. In ER my symptoms were a loss of balance, a feeling of weakness, extremely high blood pressure, a tingling on the right side of the face, tingly right fingers, and possibly some dropping around my right eye. My spouse summoned our son’s grandparents who came and eventually took Alexander to the next party in hopes of keeping him from becoming drawn into the drama that he couldn’t fully grasp.

Meanwhile the ER staff set about to learn what was going on in order to establish a treatment. As a precaution they were going to give me an aspirin. That’s when we discovered I couldn’t swallow even a sip of water, let alone a pill. A CAT scan was done with no overt indication of a stroke.

The feeling was that it was either a small stroke, or an infection, with a stroke being more likely. I was admitted into the neurological unit and scheduled for a MRI scan on Sunday morning. At this time my vision was still normal, and my strength was good on both sides of my body, but I couldn’t stand, nor swallow. It would be Sunday before the damage was complete and I would know why.