Monday, September 24, 2007

Four Days Not Having A Stroke!

You might have noticed that I have been a bit lacking in the post area for a few days. It was all due to NOT having a stroke! In what has to be the worlds oddest medical adventure, I spent an exciting day at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary.

Now I am not a medical expert, but I have heard tell that numbness in the hand and arm is not a good sign, it smacks of a stroke. So when I found myself with these symptoms, I was to say the least a little concerned. The lack of fine motor skills in the right hand has made for a bloody nightmare when trying to type or use the damn mouse.

After four days of this hell, I decided to try doctor hell! So we got to spend 8 hours at my local hospital. I have heard many bad things about Canadian health care, and the log waits for even the simplest of procedures. I found it quite the opposite, I walked up to the window, explained my plight, and within a few seconds the machine went into action! Blood pressure monitors, (I clocked in at a Guinness Book of Records 240/139, this elicited a comment of "WOW, those are some really big numbers" from the ER nurse), EKG, CT Scan, X-Rays, IV's, these guys n gals pulled out all the stops!

Then the Neuro guys turned up! A whole gaggle of them, and they looked disappointed! Oh Oh I thought, here comes some bad news! Apparently the neuro guys only get their jollies from new strokes, and the scan shows that I had not had one, but it showed that at some time in the past I have! Now I have no recollection of such an event.

So with the Neuro guys disappointed. it was at the whim of the ER doctors. Well, ER is only fun if you are dealing with near death, and they had fixed that earlier in the day. So, after giving me a Stern talking to about my lifestyle they let me escape!

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