FAST stands for Facial droop, Arm inability to hold both out front without one drifting down, Speech slurred or garbled, Time to call 911 and report a suspected stroke if any of those three quick stroke assessments aren't passed!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Round 2
I seem to have picked up at least two different nasty and heavy-duty viruses this spring, triggering the reactivation of ME/CFS (previously known as Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome), that I battled for over 20 years, but has been in remission for over 3 years, since before my strokes.
I haven't said anything here yet because I hoped this relapse would be short-lived and not worth mention. Plus, putting it is writing "makes it real" and I can no longer pretend it isn't happening. It has gone on long enough, I have enough medical confirmation and symptoms, that it looks like we are in for another battle. I have been on anti-viral medications for a few weeks now (out of an anticipated 6 month course of treatment) and, other than needing mega amounts of sleep, think the medicine may actually be helping a bit already!
I was in and out of the local emergency room for tummy pain (that may or may not be related to these viruses), my appendix, the ovarian cysts they found on my stroked side that could have been referring pain to my "good" side, some combination of any/all of the above, or something else not yet discovered, (no one is totally sure), twice within 3 1/2 weeks, but am on day 7 of a relatively pain-free or at least low-tummy-pain streak. I was pretty feverish and have slept most of the day yesterday, but no pain!
We still don't know the reasons for the tummy stuff. That it is gone right now makes me wonder if the anti-viral medication is addressing the root cause, but we simply do not know. My next regular doctor's appointment is scheduled for about the 3rd week of May, so that if it is a recurrent feminine issue, we hope to catch it cyclically. Because of the internal stroke paralysis, I do not seem capable of properly transmitting pain signals, so I am leaving my doctors with quite the guessing game right now!
I haven't said anything here yet because I hoped this relapse would be short-lived and not worth mention. Plus, putting it is writing "makes it real" and I can no longer pretend it isn't happening. It has gone on long enough, I have enough medical confirmation and symptoms, that it looks like we are in for another battle. I have been on anti-viral medications for a few weeks now (out of an anticipated 6 month course of treatment) and, other than needing mega amounts of sleep, think the medicine may actually be helping a bit already!
I was in and out of the local emergency room for tummy pain (that may or may not be related to these viruses), my appendix, the ovarian cysts they found on my stroked side that could have been referring pain to my "good" side, some combination of any/all of the above, or something else not yet discovered, (no one is totally sure), twice within 3 1/2 weeks, but am on day 7 of a relatively pain-free or at least low-tummy-pain streak. I was pretty feverish and have slept most of the day yesterday, but no pain!
We still don't know the reasons for the tummy stuff. That it is gone right now makes me wonder if the anti-viral medication is addressing the root cause, but we simply do not know. My next regular doctor's appointment is scheduled for about the 3rd week of May, so that if it is a recurrent feminine issue, we hope to catch it cyclically. Because of the internal stroke paralysis, I do not seem capable of properly transmitting pain signals, so I am leaving my doctors with quite the guessing game right now!
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