Good Morning:
I found your website through the Brain Talk forums. Although I do not technical qualify as a member of the "VAD / CAD Club", my experience may allow me join as an "Associate" member. I did not (according to my doctor)have a stroke but I did have a dissection of my left VA.
A littlebackground is necessary - I will attempt to keep it a short as possible. I am a 36 y old male in good physical shape.
In Oct. '01 I was playing in a soccer match. A long ball was sent to me in front of our opponents goal. Iwas going to play the ball off my chest to my feet. My defender attempted to head the ball away from behind me. He ended up coming too far forward and came over my back.
My head was forced down (chin in chest ) as we went to the
ground. I continued the game but my neck was hurting by the end of the match. My neck continued to hurt for the next several days. I assumed I had pulled a muscle in my neck. We did not have a match the next week due to bad weather so my neck got better and the pain went away.
Two weekslater I was playing in another match. Early in the
match my neck started hurting again. Again, I assumed I had aggravated a strained/pulled neck muscle. I played poorly in the match. I was mis-kicking the ball, I felt fatigued, just generally out of sorts. I went home after the match and found that my right arm and abdomen were burning and hot. I also had poorbalance - I would drift to left when I walked or would tilt to the left whenI stood still.
I attributed it to fatigue.The next morning I felt worse.
Continued burning and loss of balance. I went to work to get
a few things finished and then went to the Emergency Room at our local medical center. The ER doctor did various tests - CT,x-rays, neuro work-up, etc. Everything checked out ok. Blood pressure was 107/60 which is about normal for me. I have a buddy who is an Orthopedic Surgeon and he came to the ER while we were there. The ER doctor said he couldn't find anything wrong. My buddy said he couldn't find anything wrong but knew SOMETHING was wrong. He called a neurosurgeon and went over my condition a little. The neurosurgeon
scheduled an appointment for the nextday.
He had my buddy order an MRI and a MRA for early the next morning. I was to have those tests and wait for the films and take the films to theneurosurgeon. When I got to the neuro's office he took the MRI & MRA films and looked at them with a nearby radiologist. He then did a full neurowork-up.
The symptoms that he found were as follows:loss of balance - always falling to the left burning and other sensory weirdness on whole right side of body And finally the symptom that most concerned him (and one that was missed in the ER)my left eyelid was drooping (ptosis) and my left pupil was smaller that myright. After doing the exam he said that the MRI & MRA did not show any problems but my exam did indicate that
something was going on. He finally said "I'm worried about you. I'm admitting you to the hospital." He then went on to explain what he suspected was happening.
He told us that he felt like the collision in the previous game had pinched my vertebral artery and caused a dissection. A clot began to form over the ensuing weeks. During the second game my blood pressure increased and pieces of the clot
started breaking free and causing TIA's. He sent me to the hospital and immediately started Heparin. Later that evening he had an arteriogram done.
He told us thenext morning that the arteriogram confirmed the dissection and clot. I was in the hospital for 3 1/2
weeks on Heparin. I had a total of 5 MRI's and/or MRA's and three arteriograms. The doctor told us that he was tryingto get the clot organized and that after it was organized it would no longer be at risk of breaking free and causing a stroke.
He said that I could live the rest of my life with one VA. Only after a couple of weeks did we learn how bad things really could have been. He told us that the clot started just short of the point where the two vertebrals join to form the basilar artery and continued down the bloodstream to stop only 4 mm from the PICA. Had the clot continued to grow it would have blocked the PICA and that would have been the massive stroke.
He said that I was probably hours away from that point when I walked into his office.
After 3 1/2 weeks I was discharged from the hospital. I was on Warafin to continue to help the clot organize. I felt fine -
burning was gone, balance ok, everything good considering I had a blood clot in my brain.
About 1 1/2weeks later I woke up one morning really feeling odd. Right side of body burning, a little nauseous, dizzy. I went to work and continued to feelbad. My secretary knew something was up and finally she came in and told me that my eyelid
was drooping again and that I was to "get your ass up and goto the hospital right now". I called my doctor and he said to go to
the hospital and he would meet me there.I was admitted and started on Heparin again and then sent for another MRI.
We were convinced that the clot was breaking up and I was on my way to astroke. Later that evening they did plasma transfusions so that they could do another arteriogram. I was laying on the table after the procedure and my neurosurgeon leaned down to look at me and he said "you can go
home tomorrow (Thanksgiving Day) and eat turkey with your family." I was confused and asked him what the hell he was talking about. And then he told me my clot was gone. He didn't know why, he said it shouldn't have gone away but it did.
I left the hospital the next day - no Warafin, but I was on Neurontin for the burning. We were happy, but a little shocked. I was just getting comfortable with the fact that I had a clot and would have to deal with it and then the doctor says "JUST KIDDING". It is kind of a mental roller coaster.
Now - about 7 months later, I still have intense burning in
my right arm and leg. My doctor says it is probably some type of nerve damage caused either by the original injury or by the clot breaking up. I also find myself occasionally dropping the first
letter or number when I am writing. It is a little concerning. The
neurosurgeon says he is sure I didn't have a stroke because the MRI shows no indication of one. But it is hard to buy that sometimes. I feel like I did have small stroke and the things I am experiencing now are the effects. I have the utmost respect for my neurosurgeon. We feel like his quick catch of my problem kept me from having the big stroke that was waiting for me. He was aggressive in his treatment. He fought the insurance companies off when they questioned the length
of my stay and all the tests and procedures. He potentially saved my life.
That said, I am now switching from a neurosurgeon to a
neurologist. One that my guy recommends. My guy has said he has done everything he can and he doesn't know why I still burning. He has talking about "deep brain stimulations" or "spinal stimulators" but I'm not interested at this point. I've decided that neurosurgeons think surgically and that why he is coming up with this stuff. I'm switching to a doctor not a surgeon.
If anybody has had experience with this type of burning, I would love to hear what the outcome was. I know that my situation is not as severe as many out there, but it has been a trying time for us. We feel blessed to have made out as well as we have.
I apologize for the length of this message but it is hard to tell it as a short story.I would welcome any thoughts anybody has.
I think boards and groups like this can be very helpful and supportive to people in times of need.
Thankyou for listening.
Ken
Kenneth J. Roberts
