Recovering from Brain Injury

[EastBayDave]

Thanks for sharing. I too have had strokes as-well-as MCD. Result is major loss of function in key areas. I've been put on permanent disability because of it. The biggest thing that bothers me is the short/long term memory loss, & loss of ability to do complex functions (this one is infuriating at times!)

Because of that I'm not supposed to be driving/riding; however I've managed to squeeze in a couple of very-slow newbie-type rides every summer last few years. It's pretty hard to go from top of your game (AMA Pro) to newb rider. I remember it, just can't do it anymore. Strange.

Sadly I'm pretty much done healing, & the neuro surgeons say that's about it. So, I'm spending most of my days reading these days, not much else to do. Kinda sux, but that's where I'm at.

 

[HIglesias]

damn. so sad to hear what has happened to you. at least you are recovering.
i always say, "you're good.... until you're not" or "it'll hold, until it doesn't"
sounds gay, but next time someone is doing something silly and they tell you it's alright, you then say, "yea, sure, until it's not" lol.

did you ever have any chiropractic care prior to this? specifically having your neck cracked?
not to say that this was the cause, but, i have heard of people having strokes due to having their necks cracked. mainly women are more susceptible to this because their necks arent as strong as those on men. i'm sure there's some research out there, or maybe not.
but since i heard of that, i have not had my neck serviced at the chiro.

 

[Ozymandias]

Holy.... Glad you're on the road to recovery. :thumbup Atrophy is a bitch, but you'll get it back. Just gotta work for it! :ride

A friend of mine mentioned that he did something like this but it didn't cause the issue you've had. He would hold his sneezes back and ended up blowing out a section of his esophagus.

Apparently sneezing is dangerous! :laughing

 

[MysterYvil]

did you ever have any chiropractic care prior to this? specifically having your neck cracked?
not to say that this was the cause, but, i have heard of people having strokes due to having their necks cracked. mainly women are more susceptible to this because their necks arent as strong as those on men. i'm sure there's some research out there, or maybe not.
but since i heard of that, i have not had my neck serviced at the chiro.

Nope, no chiropractic at all.

However, the docs did ask me about flexibility, and mentioned that being too flexible, whatever that means, is sometimes a contributing issue.

Holy.... Glad you're on the road to recovery. :thumbup Atrophy is a bitch, but you'll get it back. Just gotta work for it! :ride

A friend of mine mentioned that he did something like this but it didn't cause the issue you've had. He would hold his sneezes back and ended up blowing out a section of his esophagus.

Apparently sneezing is dangerous! :laughing

I'm working for it!

And actually, your experience was very much on my mind when I was laid up; a couple of strokes pale in comparison to your experience, so I figured if you could get back in the saddle so could I! :thumbup

 

[afm199]

Keep healing up dude. Glad you made it through in one piece. Without you on BARF I'd have no foil.

 

[MysterYvil]

Keep healing up dude. Glad you made it through in one piece. Without you on BARF I'd have no foil.

Thank you, and health to you, and ditto! :teeth

 

[Ozymandias]

Nope, no chiropractic at all.

However, the docs did ask me about flexibility, and mentioned that being too flexible, whatever that means, is sometimes a contributing issue.

I'm working for it!

And actually, your experience was very much on my mind when I was laid up; a couple of strokes pale in comparison to your experience, so I figured if you could get back in the saddle so could I! :thumbup

How in the world can being too flexible contribute to that?

I'm glad I could help give you the push to get in the saddle again. But in my opinion "a couple of strokes" is WAY harder to come back from than what I dealt with. Most of my injuries were just breaks and fractures. Losing motor functions... eeeesh. Hat's off to you, my good man. :thumbup :ride

 

[Nemo Brinker]

Well, I've got a friend with Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome, and her resulting hyperflexibility makes her more vulnerable to strokes and aneurysms and such...EDS is a disorder of the collagen that can make blood vessels more likely to deform or bust.

Perhaps that's what MrY's doctors were referring to? :dunno

 

[MysterYvil]

Well, I've got a friend with Ehler's-Danlos Syndrome, and her resulting hyperflexibility makes her more vulnerable to strokes and aneurysms and such...EDS is a disorder of the collagen that can make blood vessels more likely to deform or bust.

Perhaps that's what MrY's doctors were referring to? :dunno

I checked after you posted, and that is what they were trying to rule in/rule out.

In my case it was ruled out; I simply sneezed too hard, too rapidly, and too many in a row.

(And I was counseled as to how to sneeze "more safely." What a strange concept...)

 

[ThumperX]

Wow, Thank you so much for sharing this. My primary other half suffered a severe brain injury in 2007. I was reflecting upon this as he went off at speed on his ATJK last week.
Don't force the healing, but I do think exquisite sex and good beer helped mine pull through :thumbup

 

[Jaroux]

You're definitely one of the lucky ones! Great story of beating the odds.

 

[CABilly]

Oh man what a freaky thing to live through! I'm glad you're on your way back.

Note to self: no more plucking nose hairs.

 

[EjGlows]

I'm so happy to hear you are on the mend! I had a brain injury back in the day and found myself in the same situation - attempting to regain my prowess through crosswords and other stimulating games. I felt (and still do on occasion) that I cannot connect feelings/thoughts with words and am awfully frustrated. Keep moving forward and doing activities that stretch your mind and body. It'll do a world of good. Healing is a lifelong process and just continue to move forward.

Oh, and I find that if I am not fully rested it significantly exacerbates the symptoms. So keep on a regular sleep/wake schedule. :thumbup

 

[Gnarly Cranium]

Holy fuck, dude! You'd mentioned elsewhere you'd been sick, but I had no idea you'd exploded your noggin! :wow WTF! How the... what the... fuckin... fuck... what... fuck!

I'm so glad you're recovering well!

I'd love to go out in a naked lady avalanche

I dunno, man-- that's a LOT of knees and elbows. :laughing

Also, it is somewhat corny and ever so popular, but have you read Jill Bolte Taylor's "My Stroke of Insight?"

She, too, had a really early and unexpected stroke and had to fight like mad to regain her brain function--as a neurologist and scientist. She's developed a pretty bitchin' theory of brain plasticity, and is convinced that with support, rest, and gradual training and activities, people can regain their brain.

Her TED talk is fascinating. "Wait... I'm having a stroke!! ....Wow..... that is soooo coooool!! ...No wait! THAT'S BAD, I NEED HELP!! ....That is sooo cooooool!"

A friend of mine mentioned that he did something like this but it didn't cause the issue you've had. He would hold his sneezes back and ended up blowing out a section of his esophagus.

Apparently sneezing is dangerous! :laughing

WHAT? No! No that's supposed to be an urban legend! What kind of bizarro alternate universe did I wake up in this morning, where sneezing is exploding organs?! Gah!! I do not approve of ANY of this! Put me back! :cry I wanna go back! No more exploding!

Sadly I'm pretty much done healing, & the neuro surgeons say that's about it. So, I'm spending most of my days reading these days, not much else to do. Kinda sux, but that's where I'm at.

Don't give up, dude!

 

[packnrat]

just a sneeze ouch....i had a episode some decades back were i could not stop sneezing for 30 min, almost collapsed a lung.
my dad could not stop hic-upping. went to the kaiser and the car got totaled by a drunk (it was parked on south main outside of the emg). yes back then you could find a parking spot on south main in wc.

but good to here you are up and running again. the body is a great machine.

.

 

[ThumperX]

update please?How are you? As the new year rolls in does it look like you will be back up on 2?

 

[ThumperX]

Status updates?
How are you doing?

 

[packnrat]

and to think one night back in 81 i could not stop sneezing for a hour. one right after the other could not get a word out.
not little ones, big ones that started in the lower diaphragm.
how lucky i was.

 

[MysterYvil]

Thanks for sharing. I too have had strokes as-well-as MCD. Result is major loss of function in key areas. I've been put on permanent disability because of it. The biggest thing that bothers me is the short/long term memory loss, & loss of ability to do complex functions (this one is infuriating at times!)

Because of that I'm not supposed to be driving/riding; however I've managed to squeeze in a couple of very-slow newbie-type rides every summer last few years. It's pretty hard to go from top of your game (AMA Pro) to newb rider. I remember it, just can't do it anymore. Strange.

Sadly I'm pretty much done healing, & the neuro surgeons say that's about it. So, I'm spending most of my days reading these days, not much else to do. Kinda sux, but that's where I'm at.

I'm so happy to hear you are on the mend! I had a brain injury back in the day and found myself in the same situation - attempting to regain my prowess through crosswords and other stimulating games. I felt (and still do on occasion) that I cannot connect feelings/thoughts with words and am awfully frustrated. Keep moving forward and doing activities that stretch your mind and body. It'll do a world of good. Healing is a lifelong process and just continue to move forward.

Oh, and I find that if I am not fully rested it significantly exacerbates the symptoms. So keep on a regular sleep/wake schedule. :thumbup

Jeez, I had no idea there were so many others in "the club!"

(And apologies for not updating sooner. As is obvious, my memory is still compromised; "out of sight, out of mind" seems to be how it works. Thank you, Happy Hornet, for reminding me.)

It has been 10+ months since my stroke. Physically I'm doing well, fully recovered my left arm. Still not up to full strength, but at least now I'm able to work on it daily. Got off the blood thinners and simvistatin in October, and the fibromyalgia faded away; hate those side effects!

I'm back to riding, but only about three times per month, and either alone or with one of my partners with whom I've ridden before, as I'm still not up to Friday Night Ride proficiency.

My memory and concentration are still dodgy, some days are worse than others, though. (BTW, crosswords are the awesome for stimulation; if I do one or two to start my day, my mind seems measurably sharper.) Still having trouble with emotional "flatness" from time to time. The worst for me is being somewhere and forgetting why I'm there or where I'm supposed to be going; still working on that.

Overall, the docs agree that I had significant neural damage, but they disagree as to how far I can recover. In brain-terms, one year is apparently not much at all. So, day by day I work it, and day by day it gets better.

 

[afm199]

Thanks for the post up! Glad to hear the good news. As I am now going through a similar travail, it makes interesting reading. I recently had a very minor TIA ( or at least some of the docs think TIA) so am on warfarin and was diagnosed with atrial flutter, which means pills to slow my heart rate, which jumped to 130 a minute from mid sixties and stayed there. Things are better, two very brief incidents involving facial numbness (probably TIA), and odd tingling which they think was related to spinal stenosis and compressed disk in my neck. Weird combo. slight narrowing of left carotid but no clots or infarcts on any of the MANY scans and tests.

Best of wishes with the continuing recovery.

O, yeah, I exercise, my cholesterol is 110 (believe it or not) and I don't drink, smoke or chew :laughing