David Mc Donald
Tuesday, 3/19/02, 2:45 PM
I was a healthy, albeit overweight, white male, aged 53 who went to a Chiropractor, in good faith, for an adjustment. I had a sore back and neck and my wife just got new insurance that covered Chiropractors. So I figured, what the heck, why not try to get some relief.
I was Managing a Liquor Store and was working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I was on my feet all the time, so I was pretty sore all over. The first few visits were X-Rays and Questionaires to fill out. The third visit, I actually saw the Chiropractor.
My back was manipulated for most of the visit. Then, just before I left, my neck was manipulated or as I like to say, my head was cracked. You could actually hear the cracking noise. Well, anyway, I went back to work at the Liquor Store. As the day wore on, I developed a wicked headache. It got so bad, that near closing I called my wife and told her that I loved her and that I felt like I was going to die because the pain in my head was so bad. As a matter of fact, it was so bad that I laid on the floor. Somehow, I managed to get home.
Meanwhile, the wife got in touch with the Chiropractor. I was told to take a couple of Excedrin and to lay down. For some reason I felt better and went to bed thinking all was well.
The next morning I was awakened with a call from the Chiropractor, and was told to come right in. When I got there, I went right in. The first thing was to take my BP, which was 280/115. The Chiropractor then decided to crack my head again.
That done, my BP was taken again. This time it was 270/110, going down slightly. I was told to make an appointment with my GP ASAP and check out that BP.
I managed to get in for that afternoon, so I went back to the store in the meantime. I still had a headache, but, for some reason, it wasn't unbearable. I left work at 3:30 for my 4 O'Clock appointmnt with my GP. He took my BP and it had gone down to 175/100, not too bad, right. He told me to come back to see him the next day and he'd check it again. I went home thinking all was well. Well, when I was having supper with my wife, all of a sudden I grabbed my head, mumbled something about Pain and fell to the kitchen floor. I was throwing up like no tomorrow and my wife called 911. All the time she kept screaming to stay awake.
I remember the Paramedics taking me away and that's about it.
It turns out that both of my Carotid Arteries were blocked. One had a blood clot and the other was dis- sected. I, because of the blockage, suffered 2 Strokes, one of the right side of my brain and the other was a brain-stem stroke. I spent the next five weeks in the ICU. When I was transferred to a Rehab Hospital, I couldn't even lift my head off of the pillow. And because of the Brain Stroke, I was Para- lyzed on the left side of my body. On top of that, due to the Brain-Stem Stroke, I was Paralyzed on the right side of my face and my Throat. Thus, I couldn't eat or talk.
After 6 long, hard weeks of Rehabilitation, I was transferred to a Rehab Old Folks Home. I still couldn't eat, but I tried to talk as good as I could considering the Paralysis of my Throat. In my opinion, I sounded like I was Re- tarded. I was also deaf in my right ear from the Paralysis which added to my speaking problems. I did manage to get around a little bit with the help of a hemi-walker.
I, finally got to go home, after 3 months of being away. Come to find out that I died twice in the OR on different Operations and that they had to use the Paddles on me both times, when I was in the ICU. I, of course, don't remember any of that.
When I finally got home I had Visiting Nurses come for the first 6 weeks. I then, entered serious Rehab at a Hospital for 3 months. It was here that I learned how to walk with a regular cane and got my left arm and hand moving. They don't really work, but they move somewhat. I, also, learned to speak a little better, to slo
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