Strange symptoms... - General Health Message Board

hilery79 · 04-24-2005, 04:43 PM

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I would greatly appreciate any input.
A good friend of our family(48 years old) was taken to the ER yesterday with symptoms of a stroke. All of a sudden she couldn't move one side of her body, her speech became impaired, and her vision went blurry to the point she could barely see. She got to the ER and her bp was dangerously high at 180/160. They did several tests and the Dr. didn't think it was a stroke. They got her blood pressure down and she's now at home, but she still is having trouble moving one side of her body and her speech is VERY slurred. She said it's like she has to think extremely hard just to get a word out. The only medical history she has that I know of is a thyroid goiter. From what her husband told us...they suspected maybe MS or several other conditions, but they have to wait until next week for a Neurologist to get her in.
None of this sounds right to me. I'm sure we probably don't know all of the details(her husband was very shaken up and told us all of this very quickly over the phone), but why would the hospital send her home when she's having these symptoms? Her husband said they ran tests to rule out a stroke, but what else could cause these type of symptoms? We're just so worried about her.

I would appreciate any ideas at all as to what could cause this.
Thank you,
Hilery

last1 · 04-24-2005, 06:04 PM

Hilery: I am a social worker who works mostly with neurologically impaired patients (brain injury, stroke, Parkinson's). And my mother died after suffering two strokes so, I have some history.
I would have to say that based on the symptoms that you have described, your friend seems to have suffered some kind of neurological event and stroke is as close to a diagnosis as I can suggest without having more information.
Do you know if they did CT scans? MRIs?
This is a serious situation...the sudden onset, the single sided involvement, the fact that this isn't correcting itself, etc. would make me crazy. If you are fortunate to live in a community in which there is another hospital, then I would suggest that your friend's family take her to another ER and get a second opinion and I wouldn't leave there until she was seen by a neurologist. If they live near a trauma center or teaching hospital I would go there. I hope I am wrong, I really do! Please keep us posted...

feelbad · 04-25-2005, 06:52 AM

I totally agree with cflas here and was going to suggerst basically the same thing.SOMETHING is going on here and it truely appears to be rather emergent.i definitely would take her to a different hospital asap to have a second opinion.Make sure they do an angiogram of her brain.Do you know just what tests were done at the other hospital?if not, have the husband get access to her ER records.all he has to do is call the treating hosp and ask them to send out a release of information to them,she signs it and sends it back and in most cases,within a few days to about a week,her records will arrive in the mail.This will give you some rather vital info for you as well as any other docs that she sees.You really need to find out just what kind of care(or lack of) was performed on this poor women.please keep us posted.FB

hilery79 · 04-25-2005, 05:47 PM

Thanks so much for your replys. I don't know much more today, but she did go to a different hospital early this morning. As far as I know, she's no worse...no better. I'm not sure about all of the tests she's had so far, but her husband mentioned a head CT, mri, and EEG. I've been worried about her treatment because we do live in a rural area. We're hoping they'll send her to a teaching hospital that's a couple hours from here.
Thanks again

feelbad · 04-26-2005, 06:57 AM

Ask him if she has had an angiogram.This is where they shoot dye into the various arterys of the brain to check for blockages.They actually go into the femoral artery that is located in the crease of the groin area where the leg meets the hip.The tests you mentioned are good but not everything that you need to find out will always show up on those tests.an angio would.I am glad that things have not gotten any worse,at least that buys you the time you will need to get hold of her records so you can actually see what has and has not been done.please keep us posted,FB