Previous to these attacks, a feeling of a lump in my throat and hoarse voice was present since September 2011 and entire loss of voice from mid Decemeber until Thrombolysis drug was introoduced.
Saturday 21st January – Attack 1 - About 6pm (home>ambulance – admitted ward DVH)
Shaking begins in hand, followed by facial numbness and strange feeling in head, neck and right shoulder. Dizziness increases and collapse in hallway, losing mobility in right side. Ambulance called and admitted to DVH with ‘CVA’ symptoms to right side. Hot and cold flushes over brain, drooped face, blurred vision, loss of right side limbs.
Neurological consultant from Medway/Maidstone (Mr Nolan?) was brought in via webcam for assessment and decided to treat it as a stroke attack and that the best course of action was Thrombolysis. During administration of Thrombolysis drug, movement is felt along the back of throat and symptoms fluctuate between 'normal' and 'stroke' also with clear voice then no voice. A short while after complete injection of Alteplase, symptoms were dramatically improved with the voice coming and going irregularly along with vision being blurred.
Any of the doctors who witnessed the Thrombolysis were not seen again during any time spent at the hospital. At this point I could now lift both arms. Leg weakness still present but can now lift up from the bed. Admitted to stroke ward. On drip for low blood pressure and remain in bed for 3 days.
Sunday 22nd January – Attack 2 – 6pm (while in hospital - DVH)
At about 6pm, both ears go cold strange feeling in head and quickly relapse into stroke like symptoms - whole of lower face numb and slumped to the left, loss of mobility is now prominent on left side limbs. After about an half an hour symptoms improve yet face alternates between slump and slurred/no voice to feeling and normal voice - 15sec intervals. CT done: no bleed. No scan during hospitalisation done with contrast.
Second attack not mentioned or documented in DVH discharge forms.
Monday 23rd January (on ward)
Face slumped for night and half the day and returns to normal in the early evening. Drooped face and slurred speech occur again after attempted walk down hall with assistance of Zimmerframe.
Thursday 26th January (day 5 on ward) - Discharged from DVH
I was told for three days I had a stroke and positive reaction to Thrombolysis. Forth day told no stroke by a new doctor, then later that day told it was a functional stroke and that Thrombolysis had not worked and produced no result. On asking what A&E had written about the Thrombolysis, I was told by the doctor that the A&E notes were not in the folder.
Day 5 – Visit from new consultant. Told there was no stroke and likely it was Anxiety, with the positive reaction to Thrombolysis attributed to placebo effect however this doctor had only seen me 5 days after the attack and was not present during or after any attack and the Thrombolysis. Neck and voice issues were mentioned and I was told this was no significance. The discharge letter is inaccurate and diagnosis was made on the basis of incomplete information which will be resolved at a later date.
Friday 27th January - Attack 3 – 8pm (home>ambulance – Admitted ward DVH)
After walking a greater distance with assistance of a walking stick, vision worsens, lights bright, hot and cold flushes on brain and waves of nausea come and go. Voice loss again, only able to talk if chin is to right shoulder. About 1 hour later, hot/cold flushes continue, sensation of bubbles in chest and strain. Face slumps, confusion and slurring speech. Electric shocks in right cheek. Limbs do not weaken.
Ambulance called, admitted to DVH A&E and back onto the stroke ward. Hyper-reflex in left arm noted and double vision to the upper left. Mentioned feeling problems in neck yet told that symptoms to not correlate to anything in the neck.
Tuesday 31st January - Discharged from DVH
The discharge letter is, again, inaccurate and contradicts the earlier version. The information is confused and innacurate. During the hospital stay I was not consistently seen or diagnosed by any doctor who was whiteness to any of the previous attacks. It even lists a diagnosis made by a doctor I have not consciously seen. Previously, each ward doctor arrived telling me that I suffered with migraines, which I don't - I had previously (2007) been seen for headaches and migraines but these were later found out to be the result of the monthly pill – which on each trial has been discontinued for this reason.
On day of discharge, chest pain, increased heartbeat and low blood pressure was noted from both the evening and morning and were mentioned by a nurse to the doctor before discharge, however this was taken as no significance. I was advised to 'walk more' by the doctor – yet that seemed to be what initiated the third attack. I had remained in bed only due to chest pains, feeling sick, tired and dizzy.
Monday 6th February – Attack 4 – 9am (home>car to hospital>home)
Woke up with drooped/cramped face, chest pains on left side and intermittent pains running down left arm mainly near elbow and wrist joint. Breathing becomes difficult – feeling of not taking in enough air. Light headed and dizzy. Waves of nausea.
DVH – Blood tests and 10sec ECG done. Nothing abnormal apart for high pulse and low blood pressure (120bpm – 105/49). Discharged. On trying to get myself back to the entrance hall, became short of breath, felt pressure in my head then collapsed, losing partial mobility my legs. Ambulance team in hall came to assist but as A&E had only just said they could do nothing more, I refused to go back there.
Saturday 11th February – Attack 5 – 8pm (home)
Thumping heart, more sensitive to light and sound, start to feel waves of nausea. Strange hot feeling in right side of head – face goes very red. Strange 'tickly' feeling in side of head then one point of pain. Intermittent pain in various places in arms and legs. Suddenly feel very cold, shivering and shaking. Very very cold in left side – hand goes white. Chest feels painful and strained. Loss of movement in toes or ability to raise leg from the ground. On standing left side is weak – difficult to walk, sharp pain in left knee. Flush of hot, then face turns red again. About 30 minutes later it gets harder to think and talk. Tongue slumps to the left as does the face. Lasts about 4 hours. Awake until about 5pm – on falling asleep get a pain in my chest then jolt up gasping for air.
Ongoing symptoms (worsen at night):
- Lump in throat feeling. Unable to talk with head to the left and voice clear when turned to the right.
- Strain in chest. Consistently fast heart beat and low blood pressure. Head rush and dizziness. Difficult to think/remember sometimes.
- Numb/un-sensitive patches appear after each attack, now on face, neck, lower back and legs. Lower body less sensitive to temperature.
- Cold hands and colds feet. Feet remain almost white in the bath for 10+ mins, very slow to warm.
- Head rush/dizzy on standing up.
- Small infrequent electric shocks in right cheek - only last few days or with the last 3 attacks when face slumps.
- Weakness down left side of body and irregular face droop. Worsens during each attack but physiotherapy assists in gaining back movement.
- Intermittent small sharp pain in various points of the body close to joints; elbow, knee, wrist, hip, ankle, toe.
- Intermittent poor vision, like the focussing of a camera lens. Blurred vision and sensitivity to light and sound seem to precede each 'stroke like' attack.
- Double vision to the right - only occurred third attack.
- After 4th attack - Pain in my chest then jolt up gasping for air on falling asleep continuously throughout the night. Very tired.
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