Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy. 55 years old and scared.... OK this post worked. I am almost 2 mos post stroke (2nd one but minor). I feel horrible, my speech is very difficult and tiring. I constantly fatigued and sleep a lot. Also, I have Fibromyalgia and don't know how much of that is contributing to the way I feel. I had previously typed a long post with more information but it didn't work. I'm now too tired to repeat everything. Basically I'm scared and have a million questions because even though the two strokes were minor, my cognitive ability is shot, my speech is slow and I find it very hard to articulate when I try to explain something. I'm also having a hard time typing so please forgive any typos or spelling errors. Will any of these symptoms go away? I am currently unemployed but judging by how I feel now, I don't think I could ever do my job again. Any hint as to what I should expect would be appreciated.
Last edited by mod85; 01-13-2013 at 07:39 PM.
Reason: added some info
re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hello sue,
Your post did post.. welcome to stroke health boards. You will find so many more stroke victims such as I and numerous others, we are here to share and encourage each other to never quit the fight. I have encountered many other medical problems and handled them with a very positive attitude.
My wife is from the south shore. I had my stroke approx five months ago and have made some recovery strides rule of thumb here seems to be one step forward and two steps backwards. Be positive and don't get down as a stroke there is really no set time for recovery. My best to you and be patient exercise excerise every minute you can
Allen. Aka cactus all. Aloha
The Following User Says Thank You to cactus al For This Useful Post: survival sue (01-13-2013)
re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hello sue and welcome to the board. We all know how scared a stroke can be. This site has been a blessing for me and i hope you find it to be helpful for you. How are you doing???
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
I try to do things around the house each day, but some days just getting dressed exhausts me. So, for now I'm trying to take care of myself. the surgery really took a lot out of me - more than it should of but the doctor thinks it's because I have fibromyalgia. My family has been great but I worry that they aren't accepting the fact that I may have permanent damage of any kind. I'm very relieved to have found this site. Thanks for asking!
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
G’day Survival Sue,
What cool name you have, I like the use of “survival”. I don’t know too much about some of the conditions you suffer from, but it sounds like you’re a fighter. The mere fact that you’re looking after yourself is a huge achievement.
I find myself completed drained of energy by the end of the day. Some nights I just fall asleep on the lounge, other nights although very tried I am unable to sleep at all. The doctors are unable to figure it out and neither can I. But then again no two strokes are the same.
Try not to rush things, as time goes on you will improve. When and how much you’ll improve is anyone’s guess. You have to keep positive and active. Time is your best friend. You are still in the early stages of recovery.
I’m 3 years into my stroke recovery this March; I suffered a clot in the brain stem around the pons area. The doctors said ‘if he lives he’ll never walk”, I was 53 at the time. Well I’m walking and working on running again.
Keep in touch, and all the best mate.
George……
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hello and welcome to our family of stroke survivors. I agree with George I love the name especially the Survivor. I am so sorry for what you are going through and Im so sorry you are scarred. It is very common when in stroke recovery to be tired, exhaused, and scared. When you have a stroke your brain swells, it has taken a hit and it needs time to recover. Some of the sypmtoms you are having are because of the swelling. It will go down and it will become insink again but until it does some days you will feel like you are 2 steps forward and 3 back. The tiredness is a common thread with stroke. I think it is the bodies way of getting us to rest because sleep is healing and we need to let our bodies heal. You must always know that you will recovery. How much we dont know but you will continue to get better. In the beginning the brain is trying to process and deal with things and it is injured. You must always continue to push a little and be in constant believe that you will get stronger. Pushing forward with a gentle and determined program will help your brain to re-wire and improve with speech and word retrival. Every time you walk in a room name off the objects ( clock, table chair door etc) gently help your brain to constantly retreive the word and speak the word. If you speak out loud your brain always believes what it hears. Also if you read the word out loud while looking at the picture your brain, eyes and ears are working to identify and remember. Look at picture books and do the same. there are also games and exercises you can do that improve your ability. It is scarry having a stroke but always remember you were saved for a reason how great is that. You will recover and start a new life maybe a better life because adjustements will be made to create a healthier and stronger and greater life. Meditation and yoga are wonderful tools of healing and strengthening. I cant encourage you enough to give it a try. Read the meditation posts to get an idea of what to do and its benefits.
We are glad you found us and we are here for you. Please post frequently and let us know how your doing. We have broad shoulders and big ears LOL so talk to us. Rant if you want, thats what we are here for. God Bless Mulchie
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Thanks for the encouraging words. I love your moniker too. It shouts determination! I went to the ER right after Thanksgiving because the left side of my face went numb, immediately followed by my left arm going numb. It was over in less than a minute but I felt weak and had a headache. I didn't have any visible symptoms on my right side, so they thought it was a TIA. A CT Scan was done which confirmed there was no bleeding but it did show that my left carotid artery was almost completely blocked and my right was about 65 percent blocked. I was floored - I don't smoke or drink, my weight is fine, my B/P has always been low. But, my cholesterol levels were a disaster. There concern then shifted to my arteries. I am 55 and I guess the blockage is what you would see in someone much older. I should mention that for the past 20 years I have eating "heart healthy". So I was admitted for more testing. I had an MRI done at 3:00am and was greeted by the Neuro team at 5:00am. They told me that I had suffered an ischemic stroke in the left parieto- occipital region. what they were surprised to see was that I had scarring from an old stroke in the same area. Two days later I was in surgery having a carotid endarterectomy! What fun. Apparently, I had an opening in the artery thinner than a pin and had 2 big chunks of plague that were ready to let go. I AM VERY LUCKY AND GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE. The doctors feel this was caused by genetics since my mother had an almost identical experience at 68 and died from congestive heart failure at 76. That was 15 years ago though and we are so much younger than our parents were at our age. I will do everything I am told and be proactive - just as soon as I can get off the couch Thank you for your support. I'm sure I'll be visiting this site often. Good luck to you and hope your running soon.
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hello mulchie
Happy to see you back , its really cold her e in so Calif, the oranges are chilly. Brrrr
I see you have given survival sue some good advise as usual. This is truley a valuable site with so much first hand knowledge.
I am starting to experience some muscle problems with my legs getting weaker, some days I put myself in harms way just too sure of my abilities. I started a new phase of therapy and its causing me to rethink the old way.
Its. Going into my fifth month and b'y stroke standards its very early,patience I know, I want. To walk within a year or sooner, I can walk some with my walker but my personal challenge to myself is within a year. I ma y not achieve it but you can't lose as long as you try. Right
Well I am off to start my walking with my walker excercise so wishme well, if you talk to Janet say hi from the salty dog
Stay well mulchie. You are needed by us
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Thank you Mulchie for your thoughtful words. I'm still trying to figure this message board out so please bear with me. Everyone has responded with such kindness and understanding, it warms my heart. I especially need a place that I can voice my concerns and vent. My family has been amazing but I know that my husband and two daughters, ages 19 and 23, are afraid of losing me so I try to be careful when choosing my words (and hope that my brain gets the words out). Thank you all so much for caring. I hope that I''ll be able to offer the same support to others.
By the way, how do you post your mood?
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hi Al
You sound so determined I admire your stamina my friend. Your right about the five months it is very early in recovery. I am going to be 3 years this june and I have never stopped recovering. I have gone from wheel chair to walker to cane and now alot of the time with out the cane. Your right you will get there never say never my friend. Without hope we have nothing with hope we have everything.
You are bound to improve with your determination. You are an angel to all of us reading your posts gives us an instant shot of courage.
I cant imagine you having chillie weather and oranges on the trees. Oh my gosh thats not good. We had our January thaw for three days and last night we had our flash freeze. Free skating for everyone. Farm fields filled with hockey rinks for the farm kids. I can remember my kids and my sisters kids 7 in total and our husbands out there dressed in all the used hockey equipment you could get your hands on and skate for hours. We hated to see the thaw come.
I hope it warms up for you all. Pick an orange for Mulchie You take care my friend and hang on to that hope. It has brought me to where I am today and Im not near as courageous as you are. Not near as tough as you are. So I can only imagine what you will accomplish. Keep in touch
God Bless Mulchie
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hi Sue
Dont worry about mistakes on this board we are all stroke survivors. as you can see I posted to Al on your post so confusion seems to run in the family here.
The board has changed its page and I dont know where to find the mood buttons. They use to be up at the top of the page but thats gone now they have changed everything on us. That is kind of mean when we are all struggling to get the word out and we really dont need anyone pulling a fast one on us LOL.
I know what you mean about family. I have a wonderful family too and the worry is terrible. My husband still asks me 5 X a day if I am ok. YES HUN IM OKAY!!Poor guy I scared him so badly. I scared my children too I have three ages 28, 30, 33 they are wonderful but I know I am always under their watchful eye. They all have their own homes and are starting to give me grandbabies and I am thrilled.
Sue everything you are feeling is normal and Im glad you are planning to post alot and chat it up with us because alot of carring people are here and can really help. Like I said sometimes we just need an ear. But sometimes we can pull an amazing amount of information from those who have travelled this path already.
Keep Posting God Bless Mulchie
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hi Mulchie. Again, thanks for your help. Yes, my family is great but sometimes they worry about the wrong things. Example- my 19 year old is convinced that I shouldn't be having my one cup of coffee a day! As I mentioned this is my second stroke and I can almost pinpoint when the first one happened which was Oct, 2011. When I mentioned this to my girls both said they had noticed my speech was slow and that I seemed to get confused a lot. They say they didn't mention it because they thought is was stress because I had just started a New job and kept getting spoken to because I was forgetting to do things and taking too long. Now that would have been helpful. But God love them, they worry about my beloved cup of coffee LOL. Take care and God bless you too. Sue
The following user gives a hug of support to survival sue: Mulchie (01-14-2013)
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hello to you survival sue!
I am Janet, and another stroke survivor with 10 years behind me. We are all happy to have you here, it has been my life saver for years now.
Have no fear about any goofs here, we have all wiggled our way around before getting comfortable with the sight. I still have troubles with certain aspects of it. In fact, when I came here I could not even put a sentence together. y posts looked like an eye chart...a bunch of non connected letters that thankfully the folks were here could somehow understand anyway.
I also understand the concerns of our families. Here you are among friends that understand all the details about stroke recovery.
Looking forward to learning more about you,
Janet
The Following User Says Thank You to writeleft For This Useful Post: survival sue (01-15-2013)
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hi Janet, thanks so much for your words of support. I would have answered earlier but I bit tired earlier, but I've got my second wind. I was reading over some of the posts and think you mentioned you are a writer. For years I was a procedural writer for a bank. I also was telephone support and one of my biggest things was to be well spoken and articulate. Now I'm struggling for words as I type this.My strokes were both in the left occipital region, ischemic, caused by a 99 percent blockage in my left carotid artery which I had surgery on 5 days later. I am so lucky to be alive as I was headed for a massive stroke. I'm sorry - I'm having trouble finding my words (and getting a little teary). After reading how brave all of you are I feel petty complaining at all. I still can't walk without stumbling to the left, I can't drive because of dizziness, and I get tired taking a shower. But I can handle those things. I'll just start using artsy gains. The thought of losing my quick mind is a hard pill to swallow, and stumbling on words. Okay, I got that off my chest. Believe me, I usually am a very upbeat person and hate complaining. Have a great sense of humor too. Like I said, all of you are so great. I' 'll be back tomorrow in a better frame of mind. Good night
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
How ya doing Sue?
Some days are tough and we really have to dig our heels in and that is easier said then done. This stroke business is complicated and it causes our world to be turned upside down. Keep pushing in a forward direction and know that your healing and your improving is not over. Never give up never say never and always always keep hope alive.
I know some days can be tough we are all in agreement with that. But there are going to be better and better days ahead.
Hope you will keep intouch. Rant if you want we all have big shoulders and big ears. We can take it.
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
How ya doing Sue?
Some days are tough and we really have to dig our heels in and that is easier said then done. This stroke business is complicated and it causes our world to be turned upside down. Keep pushing in a forward direction and know that your healing and your improving is not over. Never give up never say never and always always keep hope alive.
I know some days can be tough we are all in agreement with that. But there are going to be better and better days ahead.
Hope you will keep intouch. Rant if you want we all have big shoulders and big ears. We can take it.
God Bless Mulchie
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
Hi Mulchie,
Once again your supportive words are appreciated. I'm getting ready to fight! Yesterday I went for my first evaluation at the stroke clinic and got the real deal on what my deficits are. It was actually a relief to know what's going on and how we're going to approach it. Both of my strokes were on the left side and I am experiencing most of the expected issues. My short term memory is shot, lost my math skills, can't find the right words when I talk (which I do very slowly), and My balance is horrible and I' m dizzy all the time. And, I am so tired.
But, I can't help but feel that God has been watching out for me. We think my first stroke was around 10/11. At that time we living in a suburb of Boston and had access to the best hospitals. Over the year prior stroke #1 I had gone to the emergency room on 3 different occasions because of excruciating headaches. No tests were ever done and I was told it was stress. This summer we moved to Worcester to be closer to our daughters. Worcester also happens to have UMass Medical Center which is a well known trauma hospital. Well, when I walked into the emergency room at UMass I explained that my face had gone numb for less than a minute and I was concerned. I barely had time to give my name as I was taken back and I heard voices saying "call the stroke team". And the clinic that I went to today was fabulous. There is so much that they are going to do with me. When they did the surgery on my carotid artery it was so blocked, it was only as wide as a pin and there were 2 big pieces of plaque that were ready to break off. I was hours away from a massive stroke.
So,I thank God every day that be didn' t want me yet, but brought me to a place where I would get help. Right now I feel like one very lucky woman with nothing to complain about - at least not today LOL.
Well, it's been a busy couple of days and I'm beat so off to bed. Thanks again for your support. Goodnight
The following user gives a hug of support to survival sue: Mulchie (01-18-2013)
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
I have a question. I am almost 2 mos post stroke (2nd one) and I have started developing strange sleep patterns. I usually am up late and then sleep for at least 12 hours. My energy level is still nonexistent but I try to do things around the house throughout the day. Even though I'm exhausted, I.m finding it very difficult to fall asleep. I feel like I can' t turn my thoughts off. As a result I now have nights that I'm up till 4 or 5 in the morning. Is this part of the package?
Re: Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away?
G’Day Survival Sue,
I’m 3 years old,(not a typo) this coming March, and I still have an irregular sleep pattern to say the least.
Doctors shrug their shoulders and tell me to relax, sleeping pills will do the trick. There’s no way on Gods earth I’m I going to take a pill to sleep.
I have an over active brain what’s left of it, have done all my life, it just now we have a lot more stuff being thrown around inside your head. During the day we have heaps of stuff to keep us occupied, when it comes to sleep time, that when my brain goes into overdrive with all the things I can think of to worry about. Things are not going to change if we worry about. I know it hasn’t changed any of my problems.
Recently I have begun trying to change, trying not to worry so much, it’s about as easy as trying to run again. But it slowly it improving just like my physical recovery. Effort + determination = recovery. I found that thinking of happy day past, and what I achieved that day, puts me in a mood for sleeping. It doesn’t work every night, my sleep pattern are becoming better.
Exhaustion comes with the package, your body is not firing on all 8 cylinders. Of course you’re tried, the stronger you become the better you will feel. Try not to nap during the day unless completely necessary, it might affect your sleep at night.
Anyhow I hope your recovery is speedy and your stay in good health.
George……..
Last edited by goingtorun; 01-20-2013 at 01:24 AM.
Recent stroke and carotid endarterectomy - will the symptoms go away? 
Thank you for your support. I'm sure I'll be visiting this site often. Good luck to you and hope your running soon.
