Scary News

Wife Kitty

One of my bridesmaids called me last night and told me that she'd spent all weekend undergoing tests at the hospital.

Apparently she was driving home from her job on Thursday when her left arm suddenly went heavy and numb. She was able to get home safely, but the numbness began to spread so her neighbor called 911. Then, while she was in the ambulance en route to the hospital, the numbness took over her entire left side and she lost the ability to speak. They thought it was a stroke.

Thankfully, they've run a CT scan, an MRI and a full work-up of her heart, and they couldn't find any evidence of a stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, blood clot, clogged artery, etc. But they have no answer as to what happened to her.

She goes in for more bloodwork today, then she has an appointment with a neurologist. In the meantime, since she continues to have random bouts of numbness and she becomes physically exhausted very easily (she's sleeping at least an extra six hours each day now, and she can't even walk her son to his school a couple of blocks away without being wiped out), she's been taken off work for the week.

Good thoughts for her would be appreciated. Hopefully they'll just tell her that it was a bad migraine with lingering side effects, or that she pinched a nerve or something without knowing it, and that it's not a big deal.

harper0813

That sounds terrifying! She is in my thoughts. I'm hoping for a good outcome!

tiny speck

That is really scary! I hope they can find out the cause and that it's easily treatable! Keep us updated.

Knottie_22382102

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_moms-maids_scary-news?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:357Discussion:38ac1d99-4825-4ded-9065-a2d42464c3ccPost:dc498dd3-9a64-4ff5-8bca-5f9b9ccfdc9d">Scary News</a>:
[QUOTE]One of my bridesmaids called me last night and told me that she'd spent all weekend undergoing tests at the hospital. Apparently she was driving home from her job on Thursday when her left arm suddenly went heavy and numb. She was able to get home safely, but the numbness began to spread so her neighbor called 911. Then, while she was in the ambulance en route to the hospital, the numbness took over her entire left side and she lost the ability to speak. They thought it was a stroke. Thankfully, they've run a CT scan, an MRI and a full work-up of her heart, and they couldn't find any evidence of a stroke, heart attack, aneurysm, blood clot, clogged artery, etc. But they have no answer as to what happened to her. She goes in for more bloodwork today, then she has an appointment with a neurologist. In the meantime, since she continues to have random bouts of numbness and she becomes physically exhausted very easily (she's sleeping at least an extra six hours each day now, and she can't even walk her son to his school a couple of blocks away without being wiped out), she's been taken off work for the week. Good thoughts for her would be appreciated. Hopefully they'll just tell her that it was a bad migraine with lingering side effects, or that she pinched a nerve or something without knowing it, and that it's not a big deal.
Posted by Wife Kitty[/QUOTE]

Sounds a lot like what happened to my friend's husband. At 33, he was trying to go to work with his wife (they own a dental practie together) and he had trouble opening the car door at first....odd... then his speech started slurring like he was drunk... and then he was really tired...and then he couldn't walk. As a dentist, she has enough medical training to know something was up right away and had started driving him to the ER. He recovered within a few hours fully but it took days for them to tell him he had a stroke.

His personality changed a lot, he was kind of mean for a few months and then he got back to normal. Super scary for sure.

I hope she's okay!!

Wife Kitty

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_moms-maids_scary-news?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:357Discussion:38ac1d99-4825-4ded-9065-a2d42464c3ccPost:4a52dc1b-cc2a-4b7b-8ae2-637d86c36f3c">Re: Scary News</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Scary News : Sounds a lot like what happened to my friend's husband. At 33, he was trying to go to work with his wife (they own a dental practie together) and he had trouble opening the car door at first....odd... then his speech started slurring like he was drunk... and then he was really tired...and then he couldn't walk. As a dentist, she has enough medical training to know something was up right away and had started driving him to the ER. <strong>He recovered within a few hours fully but it took days for them to tell him he had a stroke.</strong> His personality changed a lot, he was kind of mean for a few months and then he got back to normal. Super scary for sure. I hope she's okay!!
Posted by MuppetFan[/QUOTE]

This is part of what scares me. Luckily because of her symptoms, the ER listed her as a "possible stroke victim" right away, so that was the first thing they looked for. No sign of it during the weekend, but can it really take so many days for something like that to fully show up?

I also wonder if it's sciatica. My dad had it a couple of years ago and he couldn't feel his left leg. The numbness was especially bad in his foot; he couldn't tell where, when or how hard he was stepping as he walked, so he ended up falling on his face several times.

Simply Fated

She must be so scared! I can't even imagine!!

FMIL12

Very similar to symptoms I experienced and after more tests and scans than I can list I received an MS diagnosis. I hope it's different for your friend but I am getting treatment and symptom free:) so I hope she sticks with getting a diagnosis no matter what the outcome!

Wife Kitty

Thank you for your well wishes, everybody.

I heard from her again last night. The good news is that the doctors still don't think it's anything life-altering or threatening... no tumors, no MS, no strokes, nothing like that.

The bad news is that they still don't know what it was, and meanwhile her symptoms are getting worse. She had to go back into the hospital yesterday, where she endured yet more bloodwork and testing. Numbness is constantly in both of her arms now and she really can't do much of anything. It was bothering her so much, she said, that when the nurses were poking her with the needle as they struggled to find a vein, it actually felt better because it momentarily made the numbness stop.

Now she's wondering if it might be Lyme Disease, even though she doesn't remember being bitten by a tick and it's relatively rare in her area. They're testing her for everything under the sun, including that. She should have the results in by next Wednesday.