I had a stroke.

[Business Corgi]

I went to work on Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. About a half hour into my shift I felt a strong level of discomfort/pressure at the base of my skull/cervical spine. I thought since I was kind of leaning forward looking at my phone, maybe I pinched a nerve or irritated a muscle or something. I also have a habit of resting my head against my cube or against the lip of my chair since it doesn't have a headrest and I usually don't have anything to do for the first 3-4 hours of my shift.

 

Well several hours go by and my neck pain is getting worse. I took my lunch and laid down on my car with my head on a pillow but that didn't help.  At about 6 AM I decided I needed to leave work so I went home and went to bed. When I woke up I felt dizzy, nauseous, somewhat weak. I went to the bathroom and got back in bed. Neck pain was a bit better.

I woke up again a few hours later feeling more or less the same. I went downstairs to pour myself a bowl of cereal. When I went to swallow it would not go any further than the bottom of my throat. It just sits there. I try to swallow and I chewed it up really well but it simply will not go down.

So I went to the ER. Well... Two actually. The first ER only paid attention to the swallowing issue. No effort whatever to pursue the cerebral aspects of what was going on. They said I should get my GP to refer me to a GI doctor and sent me on my way after doing barium swallow and chest x ray. IMPORTANT: While here, I noticed that my body is sensing temperature and touch differently on both sides of my body. I mentioned this to the doctor but he shrugged it off and I was discharged. They wrote me a script for amoxicillin and and didn't treat me in any way other than giving me an IV antibiotic and swallow test. My discharge paper said to return to the ER if I cannot swallow liquid or solid. I left the ER under that exact condition.

But yeah, literally straight down the middle of my body it's like night and day how I perceive cold and hot and general senses that are more than just a soft touch. If I take an ice cube and roll it across my chest the sensation from one side of my body is completely different. I first noticed this while washing my hands. Using hot water my left hand felt the heat and the right hand felt an unpleasant electrical jolt feeling. My whole right side of my body is like this, head to toe. Sharp pokes on my right side feel like dull pokes. Toothpick or safety pin on my right side feels almost like a finger poking me... but weirder.

I went home and realized something was waaaay off and so I drove to the best hospital in the area (an hour out of the way) and I've been here ever since. Haven't eaten anything for two weeks (been getting fed thru a tube for almost 10 days). When I got to the better hospital they gave me CT scan that showed I had a paralyzed vocal cord and an MRI that came back unremarkable. Spinal tap showed no signs of infection or other oddities. My symptoms are all anyone has to go on. I was told doing another MRI would be useless since they usually won't catch anything different so soon after performing the first. If it's MS it might take months to start showing up in MRI scans. So my main doctor said another MRI probably won't happen and my symptoms are likely being caused by a viral infection having neurological side effects.

 

A few days go by. A neurologist at the hospital where I'm staying ordered a second MRI anyway. I argued about it first because the main doctor told me it would be waste.

 

It's a good thing he did because I have a 10" dissection in my left vertebral artery that has led to clots in my brain that has caused a stroke. It took about 8 days to get a diagnosis.

 

I'm in good shape. I'm in my 20's. I had no injuries. I have good health otherwise.

 

But I don't have health insurance.

 

I'm sorry but I need to vent. I'm scared of for my future both health wise and financially. I'm livid with the treatment I've gotten to this point and the amount of mistakes made to delay a diagnosis. It could be worse, I could be paralyzed... but I still can't eat anything on my own and my right side is all messed up and I can't walk without getting very dizzy.

 

So...

 

Try to stay healthy. Don't injure the back of your neck. And for the love of god get health insurance.

 

PS

 

My SO brought me my gaming PC and monitor. I might lose my job and almost everything else but at least I can play PC games on my glorious rig

 

 

Sorry for the rambling post. Maybe someone here has had something similar happen to them and they can tell me it all turned out okay. I've got a million thoughts on my mind but they're being clouded by dilaudid.

[Velvet Revolver]

That falls under workers comp and your companies insurance, you could easily get medical disability for that. If you and your doctor and specialists play the cards correctly, and have something like Manulife Insurance, you'd get a certain amount of money every month, perhaps $1500/m or more for the rest of your life.

[RGProductions]

I'm sorry. At least be happy you survived, and think about now, not the future. Make it through this, and you make it through anything!

[Business Corgi]

7 minutes ago, Velvet Revolver said:

That falls under workers comp and your companies insurance, you could easily get medical disability for that. If you and your doctor and specialists play the cards correctly, and have something like Manulife Insurance, you'd get a certain amount of money every month, perhaps $1500/m or more for the rest of your life.

I don't understand how I could get workers comp since it''s not like the company gave me the stroke. legitimately curious, I have no bad blood towards my work and I don't blame them for anything. I worried about losing my job though and I'm also worried about the lost income while I'm in the hospital. Should i contact a lawyer or a state agency for guidance on this? Workers comp isn't even something I thought of....

[Velvet Revolver]

Maybe your state or province have different laws. Its not about bad blood, its about whats rightfully yours.

[Nuluvius]

1 hour ago, Ducks_McGoo said:

I'm sorry but I need to vent. I'm scared of for my future both health wise and financially. I'm livid with the treatment I've gotten to this point and the amount of mistakes made to delay a diagnosis.

You can sue. It sounds as though you may have a strong case.

[Mug]

On ‎08‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 5:19 AM, Ducks_McGoo said:

 

But I don't have health insurance.

 

On ‎08‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 5:19 AM, Ducks_McGoo said:

I'm scared of for my future

Come to the UK, free "health insurance" (whatever that is amirite)

 

Good luck though mate... Oh, and talk to a clinical negligence person for advice on your case.

[mmaatt747]

On Thursday, December 08, 2016 at 0:30 AM, Velvet Revolver said:

Maybe your state or province have different laws. Its not about bad blood, its about whats rightfully yours.

Workers' compensation, also known as workmans' comp, is a state-mandated insurance program that provides compensation to employees who suffer job-related injuries and illnesses.

[mmaatt747]

On Thursday, December 08, 2016 at 0:19 AM, Ducks_McGoo said:

I went to work on Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. About a half hour into my shift I felt a strong level of discomfort/pressure at the base of my skull/cervical spine. I thought since I was kind of leaning forward looking at my phone, maybe I pinched a nerve or irritated a muscle or something. I also have a habit of resting my head against my cube or against the lip of my chair since it doesn't have a headrest and I usually don't have anything to do for the first 3-4 hours of my shift.

 

Well several hours go by and my neck pain is getting worse. I took my lunch and laid down on my car with my head on a pillow but that didn't help.  At about 6 AM I decided I needed to leave work so I went home and went to bed. When I woke up I felt dizzy, nauseous, somewhat weak. I went to the bathroom and got back in bed. Neck pain was a bit better.

I woke up again a few hours later feeling more or less the same. I went downstairs to pour myself a bowl of cereal. When I went to swallow it would not go any further than the bottom of my throat. It just sits there. I try to swallow and I chewed it up really well but it simply will not go down.

So I went to the ER. Well... Two actually. The first ER only paid attention to the swallowing issue. No effort whatever to pursue the cerebral aspects of what was going on. They said I should get my GP to refer me to a GI doctor and sent me on my way after doing barium swallow and chest x ray. IMPORTANT: While here, I noticed that my body is sensing temperature and touch differently on both sides of my body. I mentioned this to the doctor but he shrugged it off and I was discharged. They wrote me a script for amoxicillin and and didn't treat me in any way other than giving me an IV antibiotic and swallow test. My discharge paper said to return to the ER if I cannot swallow liquid or solid. I left the ER under that exact condition.

But yeah, literally straight down the middle of my body it's like night and day how I perceive cold and hot and general senses that are more than just a soft touch. If I take an ice cube and roll it across my chest the sensation from one side of my body is completely different. I first noticed this while washing my hands. Using hot water my left hand felt the heat and the right hand felt an unpleasant electrical jolt feeling. My whole right side of my body is like this, head to toe. Sharp pokes on my right side feel like dull pokes. Toothpick or safety pin on my right side feels almost like a finger poking me... but weirder.

I went home and realized something was waaaay off and so I drove to the best hospital in the area (an hour out of the way) and I've been here ever since. Haven't eaten anything for two weeks (been getting fed thru a tube for almost 10 days). When I got to the better hospital they gave me CT scan that showed I had a paralyzed vocal cord and an MRI that came back unremarkable. Spinal tap showed no signs of infection or other oddities. My symptoms are all anyone has to go on. I was told doing another MRI would be useless since they usually won't catch anything different so soon after performing the first. If it's MS it might take months to start showing up in MRI scans. So my main doctor said another MRI probably won't happen and my symptoms are likely being caused by a viral infection having neurological side effects.

 

A few days go by. A neurologist at the hospital where I'm staying ordered a second MRI anyway. I argued about it first because the main doctor told me it would be waste.

 

It's a good thing he did because I have a 10" dissection in my left vertebral artery that has led to clots in my brain that has caused a stroke. It took about 8 days to get a diagnosis.

 

I'm in good shape. I'm in my 20's. I had no injuries. I have good health otherwise.

 

But I don't have health insurance.

 

I'm sorry but I need to vent. I'm scared of for my future both health wise and financially. I'm livid with the treatment I've gotten to this point and the amount of mistakes made to delay a diagnosis. It could be worse, I could be paralyzed... but I still can't eat anything on my own and my right side is all messed up and I can't walk without getting very dizzy.

 

So...

 

Try to stay healthy. Don't injure the back of your neck. And for the love of god get health insurance.

 

PS

 

My SO brought me my gaming PC and monitor. I might lose my job and almost everything else but at least I can play PC games on my glorious rig

 

 

Sorry for the rambling post. Maybe someone here has had something similar happen to them and they can tell me it all turned out okay. I've got a million thoughts on my mind but they're being clouded by dilaudid.

Hoping you can get well as soon as possible!!

[Velvet Revolver]

I had a friend who had a medical condition during work, Manulife covered his disability, he rakes in money every month, its not much. The province actually spends more for disability coverage, under $2k/m which is more then some retiree's get from their CPP. CPP-D is dependant on CPP payments. At a minimum its $400 with zero paid in, and goes up from there. A simple doctors note can garner $720/m if not more if you know what to ask for. Special diet and transportation cost are the key words My doctor was a douche bag, like he can do a proper assessment in 5 fucking minutes. I got inches of paper and going for the slam dunk once the ducks are all in row. $2,000/m goes a long way. Can get a mortgage, credit cards, loans and more, heck I would even travel hippie bum style for a long time on $2k/m.

[Zodiark1593]

So long as you can do what you enjoy, surviving is a victory in itself in the war that is life. Financials do play into it somewhat in that being reasonable secure can greatly alleviate stress. While focusing on the matter at hand (the stroke) is of utmost importance, excluding everything else could bite you later on as well. 

 

Best wishes to you and your loved ones. 

[Business Corgi]

This is really tough to get through. i just got home and there's a stack of mail six inches tall I can't even look at without crying.

 

fucking hell

[Tech_Dreamer]

glad that you made it out alive