events & accidents...

[penguin]

Friday, I went to see mr top neurology man. You may remember, I’ve been a bit poorly recently - viral meningitis, amongst others. Since then, I’ve been experiencing a rather bizarre/annoying collection of intermittent neuro symptoms, like, er, dropping things, balance & coordination issues, recall difficulties…general gimpyness, as my friend tim so nicely put it.

So anyway, Friday, neuro-man & his team ran all sorts of tests, some more scans , and made a lot of important sounding hmm noises.  Very vaguely announced that I had probably experienced "some sort of event". More hmm-ing followed. I discussed the appalling state of the UK music charts with a nice SHO. I was given an appt for Monday (today). I went home, somewhat bemused, and ate biscuits.

I returned, today, as instructed. Mr top neuro man was clearly attempting to break the record for how many medics could fit into a consulting room. Always funny, the way my hiv lot become suddenly defensive, protective even, when dealing with other teams - everyone sort of puffs up, starts using unnecessarily large words.

The verdict : the "event" was actually a small-ish cerebrovascular "accident" of the hemorrhagic variety (in English, a stroke) - probably caused by the meningitis, and the subsequent rise in intracranial pressure. My nose-diving platelet levels prob didn't help, either.
There then followed a very bizarre, party political conference-type discussion amongst the various medics present, covering subjects such as the possibility of secondary cns vasculitis, my bladder issues, and where most of 2003’s notes may have disappeared to.

Somewhere in the middle, I sat snuggled into nice blue jumper, humming "The Mighty Quinn". By the time I got to "…all the pigeons gonna run to him", I had reached a sufficient volume to interrupt proceedings.

[neuro man, quietly, to hiv dr - "er, what is she doing..?" hiv dr, smiling  - "oh, you get used to it…"]

Having re-focused, we then moved on to what could be done. This was a fairly brief convo, cos, er, the answer is :  not much, apart from monitoring, some more investigations, steroids etc, & some physio if I want it.
I am not to worry, apparently. Hopefully, most things will resolve themselves completely - in the meantime, I just need to be a bit careful with the best china ..

Kate

Songs of the day : mexico, j.taylor / atlantic city, bruce springsteen (good for brain cells, I reckon)

[newt]

How many bow ties?  - matt

[Teresa]

Kate,

So glad they figured out what happened. I'm sure they are right and you will be better in no time.
You hang in there. You have really been having a rough time of it lately. Sending you lots of positive thoughts and prayers.



Big Hugs
Teresa

[Eldon]

Hello Kate,

WOW! The really called out the medical squad on this one. I am happy to hear that they have found out the problem. You take care of yourself and take things easy. You are in my thoughts and my prayers.



Make the BEST of each Day!

[manchesteruk]

Been away from the forums for a few days and missed this one.  Hope your feeling better Kate you certainly sound back on top form reading this post anyway!

[penguin]

thank you everyone.

am ok, chris, yes - just a bit clumsier than usual etc. More irritating/embarassing than anything else!

kate

(and yes, there is a direct correlation between number of bow ties present, and the amount of, er, rubbish being talked  )

[Cliff]

Hi Kate,

Somewhere between employment issues and the regularly-scheduled dust up in the forum, I missed this one.  Stroke (um, cerebrovascular accident) seems kinda serious.  I hope it was just a one-time deal with no lasting effects.  Well stay on top of it....as I'm sure your team of bow-ties will.

For some stimulation, you could always go to the National Gallery and see Valesquez on exhibit.  I love his work (well not his portraits)...especially the contrast in lighting that he uses.

Cliff
P.S.- Who is on top of the charts?  And please don't say Scissor Sisters.  Whenever I hear I don't feel like dancing.  I don't feel like dancing.  But I do feel like throwing up.  A little.

[penguin]

thanks cliff.

charts, top 10 is an odd combo of scissor sisters, meatloaf, p diddy and some other people. Ag. This is music, now 

velasquez, not normally my cup of tea - although the light and dark, he was a master. I'm more a tate modern sort of girl - but yes, a gallery trip of some sort is a must, soon.

today i went to the park with a friend. did a small amount of walking, sat on a bench, had some restorative tea & cake. Think it's just a question of building up strength, slowly.  Which requires patience - something i tend to lack when dealing with my own health...

kate

[Christine]

Hi Kate,
I am sorry you had to go though all this. Tea and cake is always a good thing. Sending you good thoughts and prayers.

Christine