Category: Doctor

Numbness Part II

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Although when I had my bout with numbness I my right hand, tongue and wrist two weeks ago and went to the ER, I
chalked it up to being a migraine symptom, I was unprepared to have it all again the following Friday. Especially since I didn’t get a migraine either time…not that I’m complaining about that! I just don’t know WHY it’s happening.

I had hoped Dr. Kwan would express a little more interest in that, but I kind of blew it off as a symptom of migraines and we left it that I’d address it with a neurologist. It had only
happened once at the time of our appointment, so I may have pushed it a bit more had it happened the 2nd time.

At this point,the two common denominators associated with both times it has happened are that I was laying and sleeping on the couch on my right side for some time…..and it was Friday! LOL Somehow I doubt the later is a reason.

I was also wondering if I may have some nerve damage in that hand/arm. When I came out of surgery, I had some pretty
horrific black and blue marks over the entire surface of the inside of my lower right arm due to IVs and blood being taken. I had them in both arms, but the right arm was horrible for weeks. So, I’m wondering if one of those did some damage….I just don’t know and probably won’t know until I can get in to see a neurologist. I currently don’t have one, so I’ll need to get some referrals from people. Kelli, my nurse from Health Reach, is going to look into some people in my area instead of in Scarborough, which would be great.

Check up

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This morning, I met with Dr. Kwan, who is actually a neuroradiologist, rather than a neurologist which I have been my mistakingly calling him. He’s a specialist basically, who does coiling.

He had seen my shots from the MRI and MRA from last Tuesday and said things looked very good. I wasn’t even able to find the aneurysm on the MRA images because it had clotted so well, but I sure could on the one MRA image he showed me from the day it happened! WOW! I had no idea it was that large. Very scary especially when I saw how close it was to my left eye and he made a size correction that it was a 11 mm annie, rather than 10 mm. That’s almost a half an inch.

Again, it was located in my left internal carotid artery behind my left eye.

He showed me images taken throughout the surgery where each coil was inserted. Really fascinating stuff. Dr. Kwan was also able to squelch any fears I may have had by answering a lot of questions I’m sure he didn’t have the time to answer, but I’m grateful he at least made the effort.

One of the main questions I had, was how did he get to the LEFT side of my brain from the RIGHT side of my groin.mDr. Kwan begrudgingly drew a diagram…but I found this one as well. Makes sense.

He said the headaches I’m experiencing were still probably being caused by blood reabsorbing into my system and it could go on for months until it completely lets up.

Dr. Kwan said that only something more catastrophic happening would be a signal of a problem with the coiling. So, when I sneeze and it hurts…don’t worry! It may happen for some time yet.

He said to use common sense with getting back into things like housework, driving and work. I need to pace myself and ease my way into it. He said it’s not uncommon for most people to be off work for three months. I’m hoping to get back to work, at least part time from home soon. We’ll see.

Keeping my blood pressure normal is also important as the higher it gets the more the blood is pumped through those
arteries and can cause stress.

Dr. Kwan did NOT recommended any serious neck manipulation, so I’m not sure how that will come in to play with the OMT therapy I’ve been having monthly.

He DID say a beer or glass of wine now and then won’t hurt me, nor will a cup of strong tea or a pot of tea…so that’s good! And he said getting a massage would be good, but with not a lot of neck manipulation.

Overall, I was very pleased with the visit. I still have concerns with other parts of my head, like sinus and migraines, but he basically directed me to go to a neurologist, which I think I will with the help of my regular PCP.

Two MRIs in One Week

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Around noon-time yesterday I ate lunch, took a Vicadin and laid down on the couch to possibly sleep!

Shortly after doing so, my thumb and index finger on my right hand went numb. Like I was getting a migraine. Oh, crap! What if I’m getting one…what do I do? Can I take an Excedrin Migraine WITH a Vicadin? I didn’t know. Then, as quickly as they went numb, they regained feeling. Hmm…what was that? I wasn’t having any other migraine symptoms like spots in my eyes or sick to my stomach or horrible head pain.

I did sleep a little. I was going to go get something to eat for dinner and my entire right hand went numb and the right side of my tongue went numb. Then my wrist went numb. What the heck was this? A migraine or not? I just didn’t know and I was concerned only due to the fact it was all on one side and it came and went throughout the afternoon. Of course, due to my aneurysm, I’m thinking stroke!

I tried to get in touch with Dr. D’angelo AND Dr. Kwan’s office, but of course they were both closed for the holiday. Great! I just needed someone to tell me this WASN’T a
stroke…so….off we went to the Augusta ER.

Luckily, no one was there again so I got right in and had to go through the whole story about four darn times.

The first “Dr.”’ to see me was either an intern of some sorts who didn’t speak very good English. Why can’t people learn to speak the language fluently before taking a position like that?
But…that’s another Blog entry!

I did NOT care for her saying “Ummm……..” before every single exam segment. She wasn’t picking out paint chips, she was supposed to be giving me an exam and knowing what she’s doing. If she hadn’t said “Umm….” it wouldn’t have been so bad….I guess.

Finally saw a REAL Dr. and he wanted me to have an MRI. GREAT! Lovely. Can’t wait. Just had one three says ago. The feeling in my hand and tongue had all come back and I was feeling better, but I reluctantly agreed it would be better to know now than wait it out all weekend. He said the MRI unit at that particular hospital is not “available” over the weekend, so I caught it at a good time.

They fed me a sandwich because we’d have about an hour wait and it was also time for some Tylenol, which they also gave me. I hate being back in a hospital again.

At 7:30 I went in. It was a little bit different (older unit I think) than the one in Scarborough, but one NICE thing
was that they let you listen to music of your choice! They put these huge headphones on you and it really dulled the noise. I liked that, but I did not like not having any communication with the person doing the exam, which I did in Scarborough. I got through it fine.

Within probably 10 minutes after the scan, the results were read by “the best radiologist in the hospital” and everything looked good. The Dr. thinks it may have just been a migraine,
but possibly due to the Vicadin, there was no pain. I didn’t really have any other migraine symptoms, so I guess, but I am glad I checked it out and he did confirm it wasn’t stroke related. I just really didn’t know. Dave was convinced
something so isolated wouldn’t be a stroke, but the Dr. said they had a 40 year old woman in last week with numbness in one side of her arm and hip and it WAS a stroke, so I was glad we checked it out. We got home around quarter to 9:00.

I suppose I may go through this for a long time until I hear from Dr. Kwan, what I should and shouldn’t be concerned
about. My list of questions for him are getting much longer!

I’m tired today, but feel okay. I just almost feel a little silly for running in to the ER. I wonder how many other
people who have aneurysms feel that way too when something happens that they’re just not sure if it’s a result of the brain surgery or not.

MRI/MRA

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Yesterday I had an MRI and a MRA.

Well….first thing. I THOUGHT I had had an MRI before in the 80’s when I had those lovely 7 migraines within 5 days. Well, apparently I did NOT as this was nothing like I had ever experienced before that’s for sure!

Right before we left the house, I had a double-vision issue. Thankfully, it was very brief, but it was enough to scare
me for a minute and rethink my going for the MRI at all. But it didn’t last long. I think I just over did it this morning. Sounding like a broken record!!

LOUD! Very loud. I wasn’t sure what I could or couldn’t wear into the room and the only thing I had to take off was
my bra, due to the hooks and my watch. Obviously my glasses too. There was a kind of helmet that came down completely around my head and face and these foam pads were put inside the helmet on both sides of my face. Very restrictive, but not painful.

I wasn’t expecting loud though. They gave you ear plugs and ran through several scans that were in lengths ranging from 1 minutes to 3 minutes. Then the big MRA which recorded my blood vessels which lasted 7 minutes. 7 LONG minutes! Very hard to keep completely still for that one.

I also felt something odd in my legs and feet during the scans. When it was done and a woman came in to help me out of the darn thing, she asked me if my feet raised off the table. When I think thought about it, they did! She knew that the shoes I had on from LL Bean had steel bands in the footing. The guy who brought me in did not, so he didn’t take them off. She WOULD have and told him afterwards for the next time. LOL That was an odd sensation for sure because the shoes were being pulled towards my chest near the machine, but I didn’t realize it.

Needless to say, I was beat afterwards,nhad a horrible headache, eye ache and ear ache and hungry. We ate, then got home around 6:30. I went right to bed with a cold cloth on my head and laid down until Dancing With The Stars came on. A Vicadin and a tylenol later, I feel better.

Results will be next Tuesday.