This is super long but my dad did not write it to be posted so I'll forgive him.

UPDATE:

Many of you know I wasn’t satisfied with the diagnosis the neurologist guessed at in my hospital room Wednesday. He said, “You definitely did not have a stroke”… said all my fancy tests showed no evidence of stroke or stroke damage. He said I could have had a TIA which could explain the abnormal sensation in my face and maybe my arm BUT would have caused that wrist to droop which he acknowledged did not (see how the mathematician in me might have difficulty understanding why symptoms didn’t match diagnoses). Then he said I probably compressed a nerve in the outside of my upper right arm which would cause the abnormal sensation (not numbness but tingling, prickly, hit-your-funny bone sensation). So I asked how that would make my face (and upper right teeth) feel funny. He said he could tell I was a type-A person who got really upset when things didn’t go right (he must be ultra-clairvoyant since he had only seen me 7 minutes at this point)… that adrenaline is the number one enemy of a type-A person… that my being upset that my arm was tingly had made my face numb… told Marty she needed to get me to count to 10 when I was upset. Marty told him I was not a type-A person… that I was pretty laid-back (I interpret that as ‘lazy’ which is more accurate than ‘type-A’!). He said I had hypertension but no one else had ever told me that… I told him I didn’t have hypertension and he said, “well, maybe borderline hypertension” !!). He said he would check my echocardiogram looking for any signs that a condition in my heart might have caused a TIA (wait, I thought he said my strong-as-usual wrist would have ‘drooped’ with a TIA and that my type-A-ness had caused the facial thing!) and if he found what he expected to find, he would give the command to discharge me. I never heard from him again but within 45 minutes the nurse started checking me out.



Marty and I were bumfuzzled… couldn’t get all this to add up. Thursday I called my GP’s office to whine and the lady set me an appointment for Friday a.m. for a sit-down with my GP. I gave him the whole squirrelly story. He said the neuro must have changed his mind between the time he saw me and when he wrote up my discharge. The neuro had called my GP and told him I probably had a TIA and possibly a “compression of the radial nerve in my right arm”. [We all know that in any diagnostic venture, having two simultaneous problems compounds the difficulty of diagnosis by an order of magnitude.] I asked the GP the difference between a TIA and a stroke and he said the difference had nothing to do with size or severity but the duration of symptoms. He said if symptoms last less than 24 hours, they usually call it a TIA and if more than 24 hours, they call it a stroke. I said I still have symptoms… I still have at least minor abnormal sensitivity in my right forearm and hand and in my right cheek and upper right teeth. He said, “Then, by that definition, you had a stroke.” Ding, ding – full circle, I guess. He said the treatment for almost all of the above is the same… take one 81 mg. enteric coated aspirin every day (and that men over 40 should all do this)… no other treatment – and that’s what the neuro had told me in the hospital. (I wonder why he didn’t prescribe meds or a trip to the Bahamas for my hypertension and/or my type-A personality/behavior. ! ?) Anyway, the GP said the neuro appeared to have made a “diagnostic leap” (and I said, “or 3”). The GP scheduled me for a fasting lab and re-check in Sept.



I wrote ALL this because some of you are worried that I would accept an unclear diagnosis and go home with a ticking time bomb that would blow up on me. Well, I may have a debilitating stroke or heart attack, etc., tomorrow… but I understand the complexities better AND I’ve already started the prescribed treatment. You know Ms. Marty and I will redouble our efforts to eat and exercise well (I had my cholesterol down to 158 this time last year). Some of you have written/called/had face-to-face contact asking “how are you?” I am fine… I am strong as an ox (well, let’s say strong as a goat)… I am active – I’ve ridden my mower, climbed on the RV trailer to photograph hail damage and more interestingly, I am scheduled to play bass with the Trinity B.C. praise team as we entertain (singing and playing) at a block party at Four Rivers Outreach at 210 S. Rusk St. in Sherman, TX this evening… music starts 5:45 to 6:15 pm (we’re not in control of that). We have 45-60 minutes of Christian and non-Christian (Rollin’ on the River, Wipe Out, King of the Road) music planned. That’s a lot of plunking for a hand that lacks 2% being back to normal but last night’s rehearsal showed it’s no step for a stepper! It should be fun. You’re invited. No rain, it’s outdoors; else, indoors.



Thanks for caring and for praying.

Dan