Leanna Brulport
Hi everyone, my name is Leanna, I am 48 years old and I had Ischemic stroke on Sept.11, 2007. I was 47 at the time. I felt fine when I got up ...I was off work, it was the day after my oldest son’s 27th birthday. He had been away in the Army for his last 5 birthdays and since I had to work all day on his birthday I had big plans to bake him a cake and go out to lunch with him on my day off. I got up and went to the restroom, feeling fine. Little did I know what was in store for me … I went out to the kitchen to get some coffee, grabbed a cup & when I started to go across the kitchen, my left leg wouldn't go , my arm was heavy, I felt myself falling to one side. I tried to call my youngest son in the living room (asleep on the couch) but it was like I couldn't yell. My voice had no volume(I find it hard to yell still...I'm sure the family is happy about that...haha) I was so lucky that right then my oldest son came in from the gym (he was going to go in the sauna for a while but changed his mind at the last minute and came home). I told him something was wrong. I realized I was having a stroke and told him. I told him to call his dad because we have 3 dogs and I was afraid they would go nuts when the ER’s came but he said it was an emergency and he was calling 911 right then. My legs were going into spasms and I felt I was falling so he helped me down on the floor. The rescue squad came and as soon as they got here there my 3 dogs laid down next to me, they didn’t bark or anything (which usually they go nuts barking when someone comes to the house), they just laid around me. I was taken to a local hospital where they determined I was indeed having a stroke and then took me by care flight to a big hospital in a near-by city. Wow my first time flying…not at all what I had envisioned (Hey … this wasn’t Hawaii!).
I was looked at and after seeing there was a clot they decided I would have a Catheterization thru the femoral artery in which they were going to try to use TPA to dissolve the clot. I watched a little television that had my brain on it and the cath. trying to get the clot. It was weird…the whole time my legs were shaking like I was having some sort of a seizure. They kept telling me I had to hold still or I could bleed to death. I tried to explain to them I had no control. After what seemed like forever they put me under. They finally stopped the stroke after 9 hours. They tried the TPA but they said the clot was old and wouldn't dissolve. They ended up putting a stent in and wedged the clot to the wall of a vein. they said it couldnt get loose again...I can only hope and pray they know.
This all had happened on a Tuesday and when I woke up in the hospital it was Friday but I thought it was the same day! My husband said that I was awake talking to them but I don’t remember any of that.
I was at the hospital for a month. That first friday a physical therapist had me walk for the first time. Wow was that scary... I used a walker and walked about 10 feet... it took all I had. I had Therapy at the hospital everyday when I was there. When they finally told me I was to go home I was scared because I felt so safe in the hospital, home seemed so far away. I went to a stroke group in the hospital, thank goodness one of the ladies brought a big box of tissues, it was so sad. My psycologist said it was a greiving process...I had lost my independance and was greiving for my loss. Between crying and laughing I was a mess. It got better with time ,tho. Up until just recently, I was going to physical therapy and occupational therapy once a week but it has run out for the year (insurance only pays for 20 visits). My speech wasn't too bad, I took speech therapy at the hospital and then for a few weeks when I got out. I miss my therapists so much...I owe them alot.
Now … after a lot of therapy I am now walking with a cane and can use my left arm a little. They determined that my stroke was caused by my super-clotting blood (Lupus Anti-coagulant) which I had no clue I had. I am now on Warfarin and a baby aspirin (the baby aspirin for the platelets so they don’t build up around the clot or in the stent) and trying to get back to my normal (?) life. I try to keep upbeat (sometimes it's hard) but all in all I am doing well. I had a terrible headache the day before the stroke and was having TIA'S for at least 6 months before I had my big stroke. I had a few where my speech was slurred and I was dizzy and anxious, then one day my vision was halfway gone, like completly grey on the bottom portion of my sight, I thought it was becuz I was driving facing the sun for awhile, and it didn’t last very long, only around 5 minutes. Another time my face was numb like I had novicane but only on one side. My hand was numb off and on a few other times. I also had dizziness. I told my doctor about it and he gave me pills for inner ear infection, and about the numbness, i suggested a pinched nerve in my neck … he sent me for a neck xray , then I suggested a blockage in my neck, he gave me a stress test then echo cardiogram , which was nothing cuz my heart was fine. I was upset becuz I knew something was going on and then he gave me pills for depression, but I told him I wasnt depressed..at least not till I had a major stroke anyways!! I looked up symptoms online and it was there but I thought it was for old people, my graqndparents had strokes in their late 70's. It also said MS when I put my symptoms in. they said at the hospital that the clot was old, I guess it was floating around my head for 6 months.
Thanks to Leanna for sending in her profile. Anyone else who would like to share their story can send it along with a photograph (if you're not shy!)
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