Hello everyone, I joined the forum a few days ago and wanted to share my story.
I’m a Brit (orig. from Manchester area) living in the US. I am 59 years old, with afib. On October 2nd—as I was putting on my shoes to go to my first cardiologist appointment in over a year—I suffered a stroke. I was alone in the house, and was terrified my kids would come from school and find me there. Having afib, a stroke was always a possibility so I knew right away and called 911. I got to the hospital in good time and they gave me the clot buster. It was a bit alarming as shortly after they administered it I began bleeding quite heavily from my left nostril and ear(!). By then my wife was with me. She is a nurse but was still a bit freaked out as you can imagine. I was in the ICU a few days before being discharged.
Fast forward a few weeks and here I am. I was planning on asking for a prescription for anticoagulants that day at the cardiologists, but I guess the stroke had other plans. I can’t kick myself too much over it, as I have other fish to fry, as you all know.
Up to now the way back has been up and down. I went back to work too soon (2 weeks ago) and found myself getting tired after a couple of hours. The APRN told me not to work this week until I see her tomorrow. I’ve been able to claim some paid leave from the state, but being a contractor I don’t get proper sick pay. I’m concerned about not getting back to work as soon as I’d expected, but taking each day as it comes. I won’t ramble any more, but thanks for having me, it’s good to be here!
Ian